Our commentary on issues important to home owners, investors and borrowers
Earlier this year, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) warned that the design and sale of consumer credit insurance (CCI) had “consistently failed consumers”.
It has also commenced enforcement action against several lenders, called for customer remediation, and warned CCI vendors to adhere to new rules or cease selling it altogether.
Read MoreProperty market sentiment has rebounded, with a greater percentage of Australians reporting they are feeling positive towards the current market.
That was the standout finding from ME’s third Quarterly Property Sentiment Report, conducted in October 2019.
Read MoreIn most places, today, more money is lent to investors than first home owners. Western Australia and Northern Territory are the two current exceptions. When I started in this business it was rare than investment loan totals exceeded that lent to first home buyers. Something is wrong here if you ask me.
Read MoreOctober saw the third interest rate cut since June with the Reserve Bank cutting official rates to a new record low of 0.75%. The underlying cash rate in Australia has halved since June.
Read MoreThe Australian Competition and Consumer Commission conducted an inquiry into mortgage pricing as recently as last year.
Now Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has asked it to do another, broader one, in order to ensure the banks’ pricing practices are “better understood”, and perhaps also to concentrate their minds on the wisdom of fully passing on the next collection of rate cuts.
There’s a lot to better understand.
Read MoreAccording to the latest research by Core Logic, the total number of home sales across Australia has fallen by 17% over the past year. Current sales levels are 30% below the peaks of September 2015, and listings are down 21% year-on-year.
Nationally, median sales prices have fallen by 5.2% over the past year and markets in all Australian capital cities have recorded decreases except for Canberra and Hobart. The largest price falls have been in Darwin, followed by Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.
Read MoreLoanscape is your information resource about lending and property.
Loanscape has today released its Borrowing Capacity Index for Q3/2024. It shows that the borrowing capacities of Australian individuals and families have started to recover after the sharp decline over the past 2 years. Lower income borrowers continue to be disproportionately impacted by interest rate increases: the family income required to qualify for the average size loan in Australia is 37% higher than 2 years ago.
Loanscape has today released its Borrowing Capacity Index for Q2/2024. It shows that the borrowing capacities of Australian individuals and families have stabilised after the sharp decline over the past 2 years. Lower income borrowers continue to be disproportionately impacted by interest rate increases: the family income required to qualify for the average size loan in Australia is 35% higher than 2 years ago.
Combined dwelling values have re-accelerated across the nation in February, with all mainland capitals soaring in value. It probably comes as no surprise that Perth claimed the top spot by gaining a whopping 1.8% for the month
Loanscape has today released its Borrowing Capacity Index for Q1/2024. It shows that the borrowing capacities of Australian individuals and families continue to decline. The more modest decline in the size of average loans being taken confirms that lower income borrowers are being disproportionately impacted by interest rate hikes: the family income required to qualify for the average loan in Australia is now 32% higher than 18 months ago.
The end of the year is fast approaching, with most capitals experiencing a strong recovery on dwelling values from the downturn that culminated at the start of 2023.
The recovery is mainly due to an influx of immigration and constricted supply, which the Government is trying to remedy with its ambitious goal of building 1.2 million homes by 2029 through HAFF.
Loanscape has today released its Borrowing Capacity Index for Q4/2024. It confirms the forecast trend that borrowing capacities of Australian individuals and families are recovering from their low levels which coincided with the last of the recent increases to borrowing rates initiated by the Reserve Bank of Australia.