Bank to reassess Mackay lending restrictions

DECEMBER 2, 2015: The National Australia Bank (NAB) has promised to reassess their lending restrictions for Mackay home buyers.Earlier this year the NAB changed their guidelines for Mackay to restrict home loan lending to only those who could provide a 30% deposit.Following a meeting in October with more than 20 real estate industry leaders, I issued an invitation to the National Australia Bank’s CEO to visit Mackay and hear firsthand about the effects of the bank’s ruling that buyers in Mackay were essentially a "credit risk".Very few people can afford a 30% deposit for a house, so the NAB restriction made it more difficult for people to get finance and more difficult for people to sell in this market.This did nothing to stimulate our economy and encourage investment.As a result of my invitation, the NAB sent senior executives to meet with me in Canberra today, and last week they sent senior executives to Mackay to meet with the Mackay Regional Council and other business leaders.The upshot is they are going back to the drawing board on this decision; they have promised me they are going to reassess it.I appreciate the bank’s prompt response on this, and I look forward to further communication from the NAB on what was essentially a massive disincentive for those considering investing in Mackay real estate.