Australia’s fast-rising housing prices are a consequence of lower interest rates and people’s ability to spend more on homes, and not even the recent boost to supply from apartments and HomeBuilder-driven dwellings will change that, Reserve Bank officials said on Tuesday.

Increased supply of new dwellings, which some private sector economists say could even reach a net oversupply of 150,000 dwellings by 2023, would reduce the growth in prices but would not be enough to offset the greater spending power coming from low interest rates and easier lending standards, RBA assistant governor Luci Ellis said.