Home Loan

16/03/2017

National Australia Bank raises variable, investors’ home loan rates

National Australia Bank will tap the brakes on a resurgent investor market by hiking interest rates on variable home loans for property investors, while also increasing rates for owner occupiers. The bank will lift the variable interest rate on owner occupiers’ loans from 5.25 per cent to 5.32 per cent, and on residential investment home loans from 5.55 per cent to 5.80 per cent, from next Friday. “Clearly the investor market is seeing very strong levels of demand across Australia, […]
14/03/2017

Reserve Bank hints at further home lending restriction

The Reserve Bank has flagged throwing more “sand in the gears” of the housing market, as runaway price rises in Sydney and Melbourne renew bubble fears. The most recent home value indices put annual price rises in Sydney above 18 per cent, Canberra at 15 per cent and Melbourne more than 13 per cent. Those price gains are being driven by a surge in property investment, with Bureau of Statistics figures out on Friday showing that new investor lending grew […]
14/03/2017

Families worried economic uncertainty could cost them jobs and mortgages

JOB security is chief among the concerns of Australian mortgage holders, with new research revealing 41 per cent of families fear they may not be able to service their home loan if their employment situation changed. Loan protection insurance provider ALI Group commissioned the survey of 1000 Australians to identify the main concerns people have around their mortgage and found job security caused sleepless nights for 36 per cent of all mortgage holders. Single workers with kids were more worried […]
14/03/2017

Rate rises in the US won’t force Reserve Bank of Australia’s hand

INTEREST rate rises will be on the minds of many in the world of finance this week, but Australian home buyers should be safe, for now. Economists and analysts believe the US central bank is almost certain to increase its official interest rate when it meets midweek, possibly the first of four rate rises for the world’s largest economy. However, Australia’s Reserve Bank — which left its official rate unchanged at 1.5 per cent last week — is widely expected […]
08/03/2017

RBA leaves cash rate on hold in March

THE Reserve Bank has left the official cash rate on hold at 1.5 per cent for the sixth meeting in a row. The RBA was widely expected to keep rates steady at its March meeting after the national accounts released last week showed a marked turnaround in economic growth. Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe last month spoke three times about keeping rates on hold to balance the need to boost inflation while maintaining financial stability amid record household debt. Real […]