Interest Rates Rise in March

March 6, 2010

The base rate has been increased by a quarter of a percent in March to 4.00% – marking the first rate rise in 2010.
All four major banks have already followed suit by increasing the interest rates on their variable products. Mortgage brokers expected the major banks to follow the Reserve Bank’s rate rise so there [...]

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More Competition Returning to the Mortgage Market

February 28, 2010

In another sign that competition is emerging in the mortgage market a major aggregator has announced a deal with a building society.
The Advisor has reported that national Mortgage Brokers (nMB) will partner with The Rock Building Society to sell a new suite of products through its broker network.
The building society will provide underwriting for the [...]

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Rates to be Matched with Risk

February 25, 2010

The National Australia Bank is to introduce interest rates on its mortgage products based on the individual risk profiling of its applicants.
Currently borrowers are awarded an interest rate based on the product that they are approved for. This has been standard practice within the home loan market for many years and across all major lenders.
However [...]

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First Time Buyer Numbers Dropping

February 21, 2010

The proportion of mortgages taken out by first time buyers has dropped steadily since the First Home Owners Grant (FHOG) was wound down late last year.
Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that first home buyers account for ten percent less of the property market than they did in early 2008. First home [...]

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Competition Returns from Non Bank Lenders

February 17, 2010

The announcement of a half-year profit of $139.7m from Bendigo and Adelaide bank is an indication that good times are returning for non-bank lenders.
The figure represents more than a 20 percent year-on-year increase in profits, another sign that Australia’s financial services institutions are returning to full strength after enduring tough times during the Global Financial [...]

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The End for Mortgage Broker Trailing Commissions

February 14, 2010

Trailing commissions paid to mortgage brokers on completed cases could soon be a thing of the past.
At a recent seminar the FBAA suggested that trailing commissions might not have a long term future. Some lenders have already reduced the amount of trailing commission paid to mortgage brokers and the trend may continue.
When a mortgage broker [...]

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Heritage Pulls Back on Broker Market

February 10, 2010

Heritage Building Society has severed its lending relationship with all but a few mortgage aggregators. A number of aggregators were contacted by Heritage in January to inform them of the decision.
The move from Heritage is one of several big changes to the mortgage broker landscape of late. RAMS recently exited the broker channel and several [...]

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RBA Holds Rates Steady in Feb

February 7, 2010

The Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia has voted to leave the cash rate on hold at 3.75 percent at its 2-Feb-2010 meeting.
Some lenders have raised their rates higher than the cash rate in recent months prompting the Board to adopt a wait-and-see policy by not adjusting the cash rate any further. Although mortgage [...]

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Lender Bucks the Trend and Lifts LVRs

February 6, 2010

Going against the trend set by the major banks over the past few months financial services group Future Financial has lifted the Loan to Value ratio on its full doc mortgages to 95 percent.
Westpac recently cut its LVRs from 97 percent to 87 percent citing increased risk factors as the main driver of the unfavourable [...]

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Latest Inflation Figures Point to more Rate Pain

January 31, 2010

Figures released from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) indicate that more interest rate pain might be on the horizon for mortgage holders.
The underlying rate of inflation reached 0.7 percent last quarter pushing the annualised rate up to 3.4 percent. This is above the annual inflation rate of 2 to 3 percent targeted by the [...]

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