PMA Finance

21/03/2017

Australian banks lead digital global race

AUSTRALIAN banks are outperforming their peers in North America and Europe as the transition to digital services rolls out but a new report has found there is still more work to do. The top 10 banks, including Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, National Australia Bank, Westpac and one mutual bank, are offering retail customers a wider range of account products online compared to their international counterparts, according to a new report by software developer for the banking industry Avoka. Avoka’s second annual […]
20/03/2017

Housing market is in an environment of ‘heightened risk’, but it’s not ‘the B-word’

Australia’s banking regulator says the country’s housing market is in an environment of “heightened risk”, but he won’t say there’s a housing bubble. Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority chairman Wayne Byres told a Sydney conference that he wouldn’t use “the B-word” to describe the housing market. “I don’t use the B-word. I refuse to use the B-word. It implies a binary, that’s too simplistic,” Mr Byres said speaking at the Australian Securities and Investments Commission annual forum. “We are in an […]
19/03/2017

Westpac joins NAB in raising interest rates

TWO down, two to go. Westpac has joined rival National Australia Bank in hiking mortgage interest rates for investors and owner-occupiers. Interest-only investor loans will be hardest hit, increasing by 28 basis points to 5.96 per cent per annum. Principal and interest investor loans will increase by 23 basis points to 5.79 per cent. The bank will also raise its owner-occupier rate by three basis points to 5.32 per cent, while interest-only owner-occupier loans will increase by eight basis points […]
19/03/2017

How to budget for a home on a low income

If you’re slogging it out in a 9-to-5 job for what feels like a pittance, you’ve got the double whammy of rising house prices and a low income, and the goal of home ownership can seem even more hopeless. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the average annual earnings for Aussie employees is just over $60,000, a level at which the tax office gives you a low-income tax offset. So there are plenty of others out there scratching their […]
09/03/2017

The 10 words that may signal a gathering storm for housing investors in Australia

“Supervisory measures have contributed to some strengthening of lending standards.” This 10-word sentence from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) on Australia’s housing market in its March monetary policy statement could signal something important. It seems to be a step back from the more confident tone expressed just one month earlier when it said “supervisory measures have strengthened lending standards and some lenders are taking a more cautious attitude to lending in certain segments”. “Some” strengthening. Like many of our […]