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Home loan borrowing activity is increasing among both owner-occupiers and investors. Owner-occupiers committed to $17.23 billion of mortgages in October, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. That was 5.6% higher than the month before and 1.4% higher than the year before. Investors committed to $9.52 billion of home loans, which was up 5.0% on the previous month and 12.1% on the previous year.  Collectively, Australians signed up for $26.75 billion of mortgages, which was 5.4% more than the previous month and 4.9% more than the previous year.Meanwhile, borrowers refinanced $17.35 billion of existing home loans with new lenders. That was high by historical standards, but was 7.0% lower than the month before and 5.0% lower than the year before, as refinancing has declined from the record levels experienced between March and July. Get in touch if you need a home loan Hit the button below to arrange a conversation with one of my loan specialists to find a deal that's best for your situation. Chat to us today We partner with over 50 lenders so you can find the perfect solutionFollow Facebook Linkedin Do you have questions about mortgages or loans?Ask us in the comments below … [Read more...] about Mortgage borrowing increases 5.6% month-on-month

Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) governor Michele Bullock has outlined why the RBA might be forced to make another increase to the cash rate.The challenge, as she explained in a speech to the Australian Business Economists, is that inflation has entered a new phase, which will make it hard for the RBA to reduce inflation from 4.9% now to its target range of 2-3%.Governor Bullock said the initial surge of inflation, during which inflation rose from 2.1% in July 2021 to 8.4% in December 2022, was largely driven by international supply-chain disruptions. Now, though, the remaining inflation challenge “is increasingly homegrown and demand-driven”. We know that because:Inflation is broad-basedPrices for services (such as hairdressers and dentists) are “rising strongly”Companies are struggling to keep up with customer demand "This point is important because it has implications for the appropriate policy response," Governor Bullock said.If inflation was still being driven by international supply-chain disruptions, raising the cash rate would have little effect. “However, a more substantial monetary policy tightening is the right response to inflation that results from aggregate demand exceeding the economy’s potential to meet that demand,” she said.Need a home loan? Let's talk.Hit the button below to arrange a conversation with one of my loan specialists to find a deal that's best for your situation. Chat to us today We partner with over 50 lenders so you can find the perfect solutionFollow Facebook Linkedin Do you have questions about mortgages or loans?Ask us in the comments below … [Read more...] about Inflation fight has entered new phase: RBA

An increasing number of property investors are buying interstate, potentially because they’re chasing affordability, diversification or stronger returns. PropTrack has reported that, over the course of this year, 23% of all buyer enquiries on realestate.com.au have come from people based in a different state. That compares to 17% in 2022, 15% in 2021 and 11% in 2020. South Australia is the state that’s received the most interstate enquiries this year, at 29%, followed by Queensland (27%), Western Australia (25%), Victoria (23%) and New South Wales (15%). If you’re a property investor who doesn’t want to self-manage your asset and doesn’t feel the need to drive by the home from time to time, it makes sense to at least consider buying throughout Australia rather than just locally, so you have more options. Get in touch if you’re thinking about buying an investment property, whether locally or interstate. I’ll help you get a home loan pre-approval, so you know your budget. Want to buy in 2024? Let's talkHit the button below to arrange a conversation with one of my loan specialists to find a deal that's best for your situation. Chat to us today We partner with over 50 lenders so you can find the perfect solutionFollow Facebook Linkedin Do you have questions about mortgages or loans?Ask us in the comments below … [Read more...] about More and more people buying real estate across state boundaries

While interest rates have increased significantly over the past 18 months, this increase, thankfully, has been less than one might have expected, due to competition, according to the Reserve Bank.Between April 2022 and September 2023, the cash rate increased by 4.00 percentage points. However, banks increased their variable rates by, on average, only 3.32 points for owner-occupiers and 3.28 points for investors. This was due, in part, to “the effect of competition between lenders on variable-rate housing loans”. Meanwhile, banks’ funding costs increased further between the June and September quarters, which is likely to lead to higher interest rates and more pain for households.The increase in funding costs came “as banks replaced maturing bonds issued at much lower rates and average deposit rates increased”.Banks generally ‘buy’ funding on the wholesale market, add a margin and then on-sell this money to borrowers in the form of home loans (and other loans). So when banks' funding costs increase, they generally have little option but to increase rates as well.Want to compare interest rates? Let's talkHit the button below to arrange a conversation with one of my loan specialists to find a deal that's best for your situation. Chat to us today We partner with over 50 lenders so you can find the perfect solutionFollow Facebook Linkedin Do you have questions about mortgages or loans?Ask us in the comments below … [Read more...] about Why interest rates have climbed

A new report from CoreLogic has found that median property prices increased in 82.4% of local markets in the three months to October, based on a sample of 4,506 suburbs across Australia.That included price increases in 83.1% of house markets and 80.6% of unit markets.Focusing just on house markets, prices increased in:Perth - 99.7% of suburbsAdelaide - 99.0%Brisbane - 98.7%Sydney - 91.4%Melbourne - 80.8%Canberra - 71.1%Hobart - 59.1%Darwin - 59.1% CoreLogic's head of research, Eliza Owen, said many housing markets across the country were growing, despite high interest rates and weakening economic conditions.“It’s often noted that Australia is not ‘one housing market’ and we’re currently seeing increased diversity in capital city market performance,” she said.“That’s reflected in city-wide growth rates, the various levels of supply that’s available in some cities over others, and it’s reflected in the different suburbs we analyse in this report."Reach out if you want to refinance.Hit the button below to arrange a conversation with one of my loan specialists to find a deal that's best for your situation. Chat to us today We partner with over 50 lenders so you can find the perfect solutionFollow Facebook Linkedin Do you have questions about mortgages or loans?Ask us in the comments below … [Read more...] about Property market keeps growing despite high interest rates

The great transition of the mortgage market, from having a heavy share of fixed-rate loans to now being dominated by variable-rate loans, has gathered pace, according to Reserve Bank data.During 2020 and 2021, when interest rates fell to record-low levels, enormous numbers of borrowers took out two-year and three-year fixed loans at very low interest rates. Many of those loans then expired as rates started rising, meaning that many borrowers have been reverting from ultra-low fixed rates to significantly higher variable rates. “The fixed-rate share of total outstanding housing credit declined to 22% in September, well below its peak of just under 40% at the start of 2022,” the Reserve Bank reported in its recent Statement of Monetary Policy.Over recent months, the number of fixed loans that have expired have outweighed the number of new fixed loans that have been initiated, by a ratio of more than five to one.“Most of the remaining fixed-rate loans are expected to expire by the end of 2024,” according to the Reserve Bank.Reach out if you want to refinance Hit the button below to arrange a conversation with one of my loan specialists to find a deal that's best for your situation. Chat to us today We partner with over 50 lenders so you can find the perfect solutionFollow Facebook Linkedin Do you have questions about mortgages or loans?Ask us in the comments below … [Read more...] about The share of fixed-rate loans continues falling

There's been a big rise in home loans activity over the course of the year, with investors leading the way.Between February and September, the total volume of mortgage commitments rose 9.5% to $25.0 billion, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.Owner-occupied borrowing climbed 6.1% to $16.1 billion, while investor borrowing jumped 16.0% to $9.0 billion. Three other key facts:The number of loans taken out by owner-occupier first home buyers increased significantly between February and September, rising 18.4% to 9,213 loans.Refinancing with external lenders fell 7.1% to $18.5 billion, although that figure was still well above the long-term average.Borrowing for alterations, additions and repairs increased 9.4% to $502 million.I love helping all kinds of borrowers, from first home buyers and investors to renovators and refinancers. Reach out if you need assistance.Need help? Request a call backHit the button below to arrange a conversation with one of my loan specialists to find a deal that's best for your situation. Chat to us today We partner with over 50 lenders so you can find the perfect solutionFollow Facebook Linkedin Do you have questions about mortgages or loans?Ask us in the comments below … [Read more...] about Borrowing increases as property market heats up

The Australian Taxation office (ATO) has reminded taxpayers to lodge their taxes by the October 31 deadline or engage with a registered tax agent to avoid late lodgment penalties. If you have simple tax affairs, you can lodge online, often in under 30 minutes, through the myGov portal. Most of the information you need will already be pre-filled – just check it's correct, add any additional income and claim your legal deductions. The ATO has also stressed the importance of making sure any claims you make for work-related expenses are accurate, which means you can't just automatically copy/paste the previous year's claims. “We want people to get their deductions right on the first go and claim what they are entitled to – nothing more, nothing less. We have a series of 40 occupation and industry-specific guides which you should have a look at,”ATO assistant commissioner Rob Thomson said. “It may be tempting to boost your refund by leaving out income or inflating your deductions – but remember, we have sophisticated data analytics that will pick up returns that look suspicious.”Want to compare interest rates? Let's talkHit the button below to arrange a conversation with one of my loan specialists to find a deal that's best for your situation. Chat to us today We partner with over 50 lenders so you can find the perfect solutionFollow Facebook Linkedin Do you have questions about mortgages or loans?Ask us in the comments below … [Read more...] about Deadline fast approaching for people who do their own taxes