On Wednesday the Reserve Bank released its most recent credit growth data, which pointed to a slight tapering of demand for debt.
Over the month of October, overall housing credit growth was +0.4%, lower than September's +0.5%.
On annualised basis for October, housing credit growth was 7.2% - down from 7.3% in September, and 7.6% in August.
For owner occupiers this was down to 7.7% from 7.8%, and for investors, 6.2% down from 6.4%.
Before the RBA's latest tightening cycle beginning in May, owner occupiers' demand for credit was posting annualised levels not seen since the start of the 2010s.
Westpac economist Andrew Hanlan said the housing sector was particularly sensitive to interest rate rises.
"The housing market is showing the adverse impacts of sharply higher interest rates. New lending for housing is now declining, and declining at a rate of knots, as borrowing capacity is reduced in recognition of higher interest rates," Mr Hanlan said.
"Over the eight months to September, lending is down by 24.3% [ABS figures], including a 26.4% fall for investors and a 23.2% decline for owner-occupiers.
"A policy u-turn is well underway. The RBA has quickly removed ultra-easy monetary policy, shifting towards a contractionary stance, to fight a significant inflation challenge."
Inflation as detailed in the ABS' new monthly series was 6.9% for October, lower than the September quarter's figure of 7.3%.
Despite the "soft" figure, ANZ economists said this won't result in the RBA waivering from its tightening cycle, with its next meeting scheduled for Tuesday.
"As we saw last quarter the softer first monthly CPI of the quarter wasn't a particularly useful predictor for the quarter as a whole," ANZ economists Catherine Birch and Felicity Emmett said.
"Given the natural pause in January when the Board doesn't meet, we expect another 25 basis points at next week's meeting."
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