Financial News Archives - Bayland Finance

Finance Update June 2024

With the government announcing major home loan reforms and property prices growing strongly in many parts of the country, there’s a lot happening right now:

Govt unveils mortgage reforms
How many loans have under 20% deposit?
City-by-city property prices
SMSF tax return guidance

The federal government has unveiled a series of reforms to the banking sector, which aim to help consumers access lower home loan rates and higher savings accounts rates.

As part of the reforms, Treasury will investigate how behavioural economics could be used in the banking sector to encourage consumers to switch to cheaper home loans and banking products.

Also, lenders will be required to make it easier for customers to refinance their mortgage, by ensuring they have direct and easy access to the forms needed to switch.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said these changes would “help bank customers get a better deal, including through more choice, lower prices and better services”. For consumers, that could mean:

Getting alerted about lower-rate home loan options
Being nudged to think about refinancing to a better home loan
Having an easier, faster refinancing process

Those outcomes, if they occur, would be welcome, because the essence of a broker’s role is to make it easy for consumers to compare loans and, when necessary, refinance to a more suitable loan.

While it’s often said you need a 20% deposit to qualify for a home loan, a significant number of borrowers are securing mortgages with smaller deposits, according to the latest data from APRA, the banking regulator.

In the March 2024 quarter, 31.0% of new home loans (by value) had deposits of less than 20%, while 6.2% of new loans had deposits of less than 10%.

Generally, you will need to pay lender’s mortgage insurance (LMI) if you purchase a property with a deposit of less than 15-20%. However, some lenders give LMI exemptions to certain professionals, such as doctors, dentists, physiotherapists, lawyers and accountants.

While more than three in 10 borrowers are taking out loans with deposits under 20%, these figures are relatively low by historical standards. Back in December 2020, for example, 41.7% of new loans had deposits of less than 20%, while 11.3% had deposits of less than 10%.

This illustrates how banks have tightened their lending standards, to ensure borrowers don’t take on an excessive amount of debt.

Yet it’s still possible to buy a property with a small deposit, provided your financial circumstances allow it and you structure your loan application correctly.

The Australian property market is growing briskly right now and has grown significantly since the pandemic. But the city-by-city performance has been more varied.

Over the year to May, the national median price rose 8.3%, according to CoreLogic. But at a city level, growth ranged from a staggering 22.0% increase in Perth to a 0.1% decrease in Hobart.

Meanwhile, growth since March 2020 has ranged from a high of 62.6% in Perth to a low of 11.2% in Melbourne.

CoreLogic’s head of research, Eliza Owen, attributed the contrasting results to diverse market conditions.

“The highest-performing markets have generally come off a low base, with housing conditions and demographic trends relatively weak over the years preceding the

pandemic,” she said.

“Differences in capital growth trends are marked by the varied supply-demand balances of each city, and in turn migration, affordability factors and dwelling completions influence that supply and demand dynamic.”

Ms Owen said annual growth had started to slow across the combined capital cities. “This could mean a slowdown in growth across Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide is on the horizon, and could see the range of growth eventually narrow across the capital cities,” she added.

If you’re one of the many Australians who’ve purchased a property through a self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF), the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has provided valuable guidance about how to file your annual tax return.

The ATO said that if you want your SMSF annual return to be processed without delay, you should make sure:

You include members’ information and tax file numbers (in Section F).
You provide the correct SMSF auditor number and auditor details, including the date the audit was completed (Section A Item 6).
The closing account balance equals the sum of accumulation and retirement phase account balance amounts. If the member’s closing account balance is zero or a negative amount, write 0 (Section F Label S).

If you want to wind up your SMSF and lodge your final return, you should make sure you have paid member benefits if a condition of release has been met or rolled over funds to an APRA account via SuperStream, according to the ATO.

Finance Update May 2024

The Budget and inflation have been dominating the headlines recently. Here are four other stories that are important to know:

Variable loans surge in popularity
Housing scheme milestone
ATO warns investors
Building costs explained

Back in March 2020, at the start of the pandemic, 13.38% of new borrowers were choosing fixed-rate loans and 86.62% were choosing variable. But in March 2024, a staggering low of only 1.40% of new loans were fixed, compared to 98.60% variable, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The reason so many borrowers are going variable right now is because of a widespread belief that interest rates are at or near their peak, which means variable borrowers would benefit from any future rate cuts. Conversely, in July 2021, when interest rates were at record-low levels, 46.02% loans were fixed, while only 53.98% were variable.

If you’re wondering whether fixed or variable is right for you, here are the main pros and cons of each option:

Are you a first home buyer or single parent who wants help getting a property? If so, you’ll be interested to learn that the federal government’s Home Guarantee Scheme (HGS) has now supported more than 150,000 buyers since its inception in January 2020.

Eligibility is limited. There are property price caps, which vary from state to state. Income caps also apply – $125,000 for individuals and a combined $200,000 for joint applicants.

The HGS consists of three programs:

First Home Guarantee – eligible first home buyers can purchase a property with just a 5% deposit, without having to pay lender’s mortgage insurance (LMI). There are 35,000 places available this financial year.
Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee – the same as above, but for regional first home buyers only, with 10,000 places this financial year.
Family Home Guarantee – eligible single parents and single legal guardians can purchase a property with just a 2% deposit without paying LMI. There are 5,000 places this financial year.

Of the 150,000 buyers who have used the HGS, 51% have been women and 55% have been under the age of 30, according to Housing Australia, which administers the scheme.

Contact me if you’re thinking about accessing the HGS. I’ll let you know if you’re able to qualify for the scheme and manage your loan application if you are.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has warned property investors it will pay close attention to their reported income and deductions this tax time, with official data showing that about 90% of investors get their tax returns wrong.

ATO assistant commissioner Rob Thomson said general repairs and maintenance on your rental property can be claimed as an immediate deduction – but expenses that are capital in nature (like immediate repairs on a property you just bought or improvements some time after purchase) are not deductible as repairs or maintenance.

“We often see landlords making mistakes when it comes to repairs and maintenance deductions on rental properties, so we’re keeping a close eye on this. This year, we’re particularly focused on claims that may have been inflated to offset increases in rental income to get a greater tax benefit,” he said.

“You can claim an immediate deduction for general repairs like replacing damaged carpet or a broken window. But if you rip out an old kitchen and put in a new and improved one, this is a capital improvement and is only deductible over time as capital works.”

Since late 2019, homebuilding costs have increased by nearly 40%, according to a speech by Reserve Bank assistant governor Sarah Hunter, while general inflation (referred to as headline CPI in the graph) has been less than 20%. So why have residential construction costs grown twice as fast?

Ms Hunter said one reason is that building materials and labour have “risen sharply” since the pandemic. Another reason is that higher interest rates have made it more expensive for developers to fund their projects.

High building costs have partly contributed to “an imbalance between new supply of housing and growth in demand,” according to Ms Hunter. She said there were several ways in which these imbalances may be resolved, including a slowdown in the growth in building costs and an increase in average household size.

“But it will not be a quick fix. Demand pressure, and so upward pressure on rents and prices, will remain until new supply comes online,” she said.

Here are three things to consider if you’re thinking about building a home in 2024:

Begin by speaking to me, so I can calculate your borrowing capacity. This can vary significantly from lender to lender, especially as some lenders are more builder-friendly than others.
Do you homework when searching for a builder – ask friends for recommendations, check online reviews and ask builders for the contact details of their most recent clients.
Be conservative with your planning – projects often run overtime and over budget.

Finance Update April 2024

My goal is to make sure you’re always across the latest finance and property news, which is why I’ve got four important stories about home loans activity, interest rates and price growth.

Mortgage activity up 13.3%
Prices rise in 88.4% of suburbs
Borrowers meeting commitments
Five tips to beat other buyers

The value of new mortgage borrowing is continuing to increase, as more buyers enter the market and property prices – and therefore loan sizes – keep rising.

Borrowers committed to $26.40 billion of home loans in February, according to the most recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. That was 1.5% higher than the previous month and 13.3% higher than the previous year.

The owner-occupier share was $16.87 billion, which was up 1.6% on the month before and 9.1% on the year before.

The investor share was $9.53 billion, which represented a 1.2% month-on-month increase and 21.5% year-on-year increase.

But while Australians are taking out more new loans, they’re refinancing fewer existing ones.

Borrowers refinanced $16.55 billion of loans in February, which was 3.0% higher than the previous month but 17.9% lower than the previous year.

Australia has hundreds of different property markets, which are often at different points in their cycle, so it’s common for there to be many markets where prices are increasing and many where they’re decreasing. Right now, though, the vast majority are in growth mode.

An analysis of 4,625 house and unit markets around the country by CoreLogic found that 88.4% experienced median price increases over the year to February 2024.

That compared to 52.9% in July 2023 and 39.1% in February 2023.

CoreLogic economist Kaytlin Ezzy said the reason prices had risen in most markets over the past year was due to an ongoing imbalance between housing supply and demand.

“Despite three rate hikes, worsening affordability, and the rising cost of living, the increasingly entrenched undersupply in housing stock, and above-average demand thanks to strong net migration, has helped push values higher,” she said.

Despite the rise in inflation and interest rates over the past two years, “nearly all borrowers continue to service their debts on schedule”, according to the latest Financial Stability Review from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).

“Households with lower incomes, including many renters, have felt these budget pressures acutely,” the RBA said.

“Most mortgagors have experienced an increase in their minimum scheduled payments of 30–60% since the first increase in the cash rate in May 2022. Sharply higher housing costs (for borrowers and renters) and broad-based cost-of-living pressures have weighed heavily on the budgets of many households and contributed to very weak consumer sentiment.”

Nevertheless, borrowers have found a way to get by.

“While housing and personal loan arrears have increased since late 2022, they remain below their pre-pandemic peak,” the RBA said.

“At the same time, a small but increasing share of borrowers have requested and received temporary hardship arrangements from their lenders, which has contributed to arrears rates remaining a little lower than would have otherwise been the case.”

Property buyers are being forced to compete hard in many markets around Australia, so how can you improve your chances of securing your dream home?

Here are five tips to beat out other buyers:

Have a home loan pre-approval in place. This will make you look more attractive in the eyes of real estate agents, because it will position you as a serious buyer who can move quickly if their client accepts your bid.

Build good relationships with agents. Real estate agents work for vendors, not buyers, so they prioritise their clients’ interests. But if you can establish a good working relationship with agents – even while keeping some of your cards up your sleeve – they might favour your offer over those of other buyers.

Be realistic with your offers. If you’re buying via private treaty, avoid the temptation to begin with a lowball bid, otherwise agents will take you less seriously than the buyers who are making serious offers.

Make an offer before the auction. If you’re buying via auction, get ahead of the competition by making an offer before the auction. If your price matches what the agent expects to get at auction, they might tell their vendor to play it safe and accept your offer.

Be flexible around settlement. Tell the agent you’re willing to accept different settlement conditions (assuming that’s possible). This might include a short or long settlement, or a scenario in which you let the vendor rent the property for some time before you move in.

Finance Update March 2024

Happy autumn! Hope you’re enjoying the falling leaves and the return of the football codes. Here’s what’s making news in finance and property:

Investor activity rises
Stamp duty costs rising
Conditions improving for FHBs
New home purchases up 5.3%

The latest tranche of home loans data from the banking regulator, APRA, has revealed three interesting shifts in the mortgage market over the past year.

First, there’s been a meaningful rise in investor activity during that time. During the December 2022 quarter, 30.2% of new loans were for investment purposes; but in the December 2023 quarter, the share increased to 32.4%. There’s been a corresponding decline in owner-occupier activity, which fell from 67.7% to 65.6%.Second, there’s been a sharp decline in borrowing with a debt-to-income of 6 or greater (e.g. someone on a $100,000 salary borrowing $600,000 or more). This fell from a 11.0% share of new loans in December 2022 to only 5.6% in December 2023.

Finally, the share of borrowing with a loan-to-value ratio of 80% or higher has actually increased, from 30.6% of new loans in December 2022 to 31.4% in December 2023.

Whether you’re an owner-occupier or investor, I can advise you about your borrowing power and help you get a great home loan.

New research by the e61 Institute and PropTrack has revealed there’s been a significant increase in relative stamp duty costs in recent decades.

Back in the early 1980s, buyers in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide needed to do about one month’s work to cover the cost of stamp duty, assuming they purchased a median-priced property and earned the average post-tax income. But as of 2023, it takes about six months’ work in Sydney and Melbourne, five in Adelaide and four in Brisbane.

Last year, almost all buyers faced a stamp duty rate equivalent to at least 3% of the sale price, while, in the early 1990s, almost all buyers paid less than this amount.

PropTrack senior economist Angus Moore said the two reasons stamp duty had become relatively more expensive were because property prices had grown faster than incomes and state governments had allowed ‘bracket creep’ to occur with stamp duty tax brackets.

“Bracket creep happens, firstly, because the price brackets have been updated only infrequently and, secondly, because home prices have grown, often substantially, since the brackets were last set,” he said.

“That means more properties have moved up the brackets and are now paying higher rates of stamp duty.”

First home buyers are able to enter the market a little faster than a year ago, new research has found.

At a national level in February, it took 4 years 9 months for a first home buyer to save a 20% deposit on an entry-level house, compared to 4 years 11 months the year before. For an entry-level unit, the time to save a deposit was 3 years 5 months – one month faster than the year before.

Domain classified an entry-level property as one ranked at the 25th price percentile (with the 1st percentile being the cheapest home and the 100th being the dearest). Domain’s calculations assumed that first home buyers were a couple aged between 25-34, earning an average salary for someone their age.

The reason that first home buyers are now able to save a deposit more quickly is not because property prices have fallen over the past year – because they’ve actually increased. Rather, it’s because earnings power (through a combination of higher wages and higher savings account interest rates) has grown faster than property prices.

Finance Update February 2024

The stories that caught my eye this month cover home loans, lender’s mortgage insurance and the property market:

When should you buy?
FHB loans rise 12.9%
50% of borrowers unsure about LMI
Rental growth continues

Many economists believe the Reserve Bank will start cutting interest rates in the final quarter of 2024. So if you’re thinking about entering the market, should you buy now or wait for those potential rate cuts to occur?

To answer that question, it can be helpful to consult long-term data. During the decade to January 2024, Australia’s median property rose 80.1%, according to PropTrack. Prices rose faster in the combined regions than the combined capital cities (92.5% vs 75.7%), while house growth exceeded unit growth (89.4% v 44.4%). But the general trend for all these categories was the same – up.

Domain’s chief of research & economics, Nicola Powell, believes buyers should take a longer-term view and not get too hung up about how the market is currently performing.

“When you’re purchasing a property, it’s for a long-term investment and you are going to ride multiple property cycles, and that’s how you build financial wealth. So if I would give any advice, it would be to buy when it’s right for you. Housing markets are complex and often impossible to predict.”

Ultimately, the question or whether to buy now depends on your personal situation and goals. For some, now will be the right time; for others, it will be better to wait. I’m happy to have a chat and crunch some numbers for you, so I can present personalised loan options for your situation.

There’s been a significant increase in first home buyer activity over the past year, based on the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

There were a total of 9,491 owner-occupier first home buyer mortgages issued across Australia in December 2023, which was 12.9% higher than the year before.

First home buyer activity rose in six of the eight states and territories, with Queensland and Tasmania being the exceptions to the rule.

While it can be challenging to buy your first home, this data shows it’s not impossible. Here are four tips to get on the property ladder:

Look for ways to decrease your spending
Check whether you’re eligible for the First Home Guarantee or Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee
Consider asking your parents or another relative to guarantee your home loan (so you can drastically reduce or even eliminate your deposit requirement)
Contact me, so I can explain your options and coach you through the process

A significant number of borrowers are unclear about lender’s mortgage insurance (LMI), according to a recent survey of mortgage brokers by LMI provider Helia.

The survey found that 85% of broker respondents think LMI can benefit buyers who want to get into the market earlier, while 70% believe it can also help renters who want to transition into ownership. However, 50% of respondents feel borrowers generally don’t properly understand LMI.

LMI is a form of insurance that protects the lender in case the borrower defaults on the mortgage and the lender can’t recover the loan from selling the home. The premium varies, depending on the size, type and location of the property.

Lenders generally insist borrowers take out LMI if they want to buy a property with less than a 20% deposit – although, for some professions, such as doctors and lawyers, it’s possible to buy a property with a smaller deposit without paying LMI.

The upside to using LMI is you can enter the market with a smaller deposit; the downside is the cost.

I’d be happy to discuss both the potential benefits and costs, so you can make an informed decision about whether LMI is right for your personal situation.

Rents have increased in most capital cities over the past year and are likely to continue rising throughout 2024, according to a leading property data expert.

Between the December quarters of 2022 and 2023, the median rent on realestate.com.au rose 11.5%. That included double-digit gains in Perth (20.0%), Melbourne (18.3%), Sydney (16.7%) and Adelaide (12.5%), as well as increases in Brisbane (9.1%) and Darwin (1.7%). By contrast, rents stagnated in Canberra (0.0%) and declined in Hobart (-4.8%).

During the same period, the vacancy rate fell from 1.3% to just 1.1%. With rents growing and vacancies falling, this is potentially a good time to be a property investor.PropTrack’s director of economic research, Cameron Kusher, forecast that the “tough rental market conditions” would continue.

“We expect supply to remain tight and demand to stay strong, likely pushing rents higher,” he said.

“Lending to investors trended higher over 2023, indicating that investors are returning to the housing market. However, many investors continued to sell, resulting in a relatively small pool of rental properties being available for the large number of people seeking accommodation. The rapid increase in Australia’s population exacerbated rental market challenges, as most people migrating to Australia become renters.”

Finance Update January 2024

I hope you had a lovely Christmas. We’re now a few weeks into 2024 and there’s been plenty of big news:

Investor borrowing up 18%
Property prices rise 8.1%
Building approvals rise
How to be better at money

Every state has recorded a rise in property investor borrowing over the past year, with Western Australia leading the way.

Throughout Australia, investors took out $9.72 billion of home loans in November 2023, which was 18.0% higher than the year before, according to the most recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Looking at the individual states, the year-on-year increases in investor borrowing ranged from 3.5% in Victoria to 42.1% in Western Australia.

This strong increase in property investor activity might be because investors are enjoying a double wealth gain right now: during 2023, investors enjoyed increases in both the national median property price (by 8.1%) and national median rent (by 8.3%), according to CoreLogic.

One of the key things to remember with investor loans is that your outcomes can vary significantly from lender to lender. Depending on your financial position and the property you want to buy, different lenders will offer you different loan products, loan sizes and interest rates. As your broker, I will compare the market for you and shortlist lenders that suit someone with your specific scenario.

Australia’s median property price reached a record $757,746 at the end of 2023, after another year of growth.

The median price rose 3.0% during the pandemic year of 2020, surged 24.5% in 2021, contracted 4.9% in 2022 and then climbed another 8.1% in 2023, according to CoreLogic.

The median price for the combined capitals ended 2023 at record levels, while the combined regions were just 1.5% off peak.

December was the 11th consecutive month of price gains (see graph) – however, as CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless noted, it was also the smallest of those monthly gains, at 0.4%.

“After monthly growth in home values peaked in May at 1.3%, a rate hike in June and another in November, along with persistent cost of living pressures, worsening affordability challenges, rising advertised stock levels and low consumer sentiment, have progressively taken some heat out of the market through the second half of the year,” he said.

As interest rates move up and down, so does the average person’s borrowing power. Borrowing power tended to decline in 2023 and is likely to change again in 2024 as rates evolve. The other point worth mentioning is that your borrowing power can vary significantly from lender to lender. The good news is that I can match you with a bank that wants to lend to someone with your situation.

More owners and developers are planning to construct new homes and renovate existing properties, according to the latest home building approvals data.

In January 2023, only 12,185 building approvals were issued. But after trending higher throughout the year, the number of approvals reached 14,529 in November, an increase of 19.2%.

Please contact me before you start a building or renovation project, so I can explain how the finance works.

Unlike with a regular home loan, where you receive the money in a lump sum, a construction loan involves a series of progress payments (typically five) as your project proceeds. The advantage of this approach is that instead of paying interest on the whole loan amount, you pay interest only on the portion received.

Another difference is that construction loans typically start as interest-only; you can then switch to paying principal and interest once the project is complete.

Becoming a better budgeter can help you save more, invest more and get ahead on your home loan.

To stay on top of your finances, there are two broad approaches you can take.

The first is to plan how much you’ll spend on each category (groceries, entertainment, etc) each month. If you stick to your budget, you’ll know in advance how much you’ll save.

The second approach is to throw out the budget and focus on saving instead:

Decide how much money you want to save each month
Set up an auto-transfer to move this amount of money from a transaction account to a savings account whenever your salary gets paid
Spend whatever is left in the transaction account, however and whenever you like

The first approach suits people who want to pay close attention to their money, while the second is for people who want to ‘set and forget’ their savings.

Whichever approach you take, a good place to begin is to review your last 12 months of expenses, to see how much you’re spending and on what things. You can use that information to identify areas of wastage and set savings targets.

Finance Update December 2023

Here are some interesting stories about home loans, interest rates and property investing to round out 2023:

23% of buyers from interstate
RBA gives cash rate hint
Borrowing rises 5.6%
Credit scores rise

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.

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-based
Prices 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.

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.

Despite rising interest rates, Australians have improved their credit score over the past year.

The national average credit score rose from 846 in 2022 to 855 in 2023, according to an analysis of more than two million credit scores by credit bureau Equifax.

That means the average Australian has improved from ‘very good’ to ‘excellent’, based on Equifax’s gradings:

Excellent = 853 to 1200
Very good = 735 to 852
Good = 661 to 734
Average = 460 to 660
Below Average = 0 to 459

Lenders generally check your credit score when you apply for a loan – and the higher your score, the more likely your application will be approved and you’ll get a lower interest rate.

To build and protect your credit score, Equifax recommends:

Establishing a rainy-day fund
Paying bills, loans, credit cards and rent on time
Checking your score regularly (you can order a free copy of your credit report every three months)
Closing unnecessary credit accounts
Limiting the number of credit applications you make
Contacting your lender if you’re worried about falling behind on payments

Finance Update November 2023

Friendly reminder not to leave your Christmas shopping too late! As we approach the end of the year, here’s what’s happening in the home loans and property markets:

Home loans activity rises
Fixed-rate transition continues
Property market keeps growing
Bank funding costs increase

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.

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.

Housing Australia has not only taken control of the HGS, but also the National Housing Infrastructure Facility, which provides loans and grants for critical infrastructure to unlock and accelerate new housing supply.

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 suburbs
Adelaide – 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.”

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.

Finance Update October 2023

I hope you and your family are safe and well. Here are some important home loans, property and tax stories:

Refinancing tops $20bn
How interest rates have evolved over the past 18 months
How govt is helping new buyers
Tax deadline nears

With lots of people coming off fixed rates right now, it’s no surprise that an enormous amount of refinancing is occurring, as borrowers look to switch to lower-rate loans.

The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data has revealed that borrowers did $20.60 billion of refinancing in August – which was 3.9% lower than the month before but 12.4% higher than the year before.

Meanwhile, the ABS also revealed that the value of all new home loan commitments in August was $24.82 billion, which was 2.2% higher than the month before.

Owner-occupier borrowing rose 2.6% to $16.07 billion, while investor borrowing rose 1.6% to $8.75 billion.

That said, home loan activity has fallen on a year-on-year basis:

Total borrowing down 9.4%
Owner-occupier down 12.5%
Investor down 3.0%

The latest Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) data has shown the impact the RBA’s cash rate rises have had on the mortgage market.

The key is to compare average interest rates for all outstanding loans in April 2022 – the month before the first rate rise – and August 2023 – the most recent month for which we have data.

During that time, the RBA increased the cash rate by 4.00 percentage points. Interest rates for outstanding loans have, on average, increased by less than that amount, in part because some loans were fixed at lower rates.

For owner-occupied loans, rates have increased by an average of:

2.82 percentage points for principal-and-interest loans
3.31 percentage points for interest-only loans

For investment loans, rates have increased by:

2.83 percentage points for principal-and-interest loans
2.73 percentage points for interest-only loans

Future interest rate hikes can’t be ruled out. The conflict in the Middle East may lead to higher oil prices, and therefore higher petrol prices and higher inflation. In the RBA’s cash rate meeting earlier this month, board members noted that “some further tightening of policy [i.e. rate rises] may be required should inflation prove more persistent than expected”, according to the meeting minutes.

A new report, from Housing Australia, has revealed that about one in three of all first home buyers in the 2022-23 financial year used the federal government’s Housing Guarantee Scheme (HGS) and its three different assistance programs.

Here’s what the typical participant looked like, according to Housing Australia:

First Home Guarantee: the median participant was in the 30-34 age bracket, had a household income of $76,000 and bought a property worth $459,000.
Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee: participants were aged 25-29, earned $71,000 and bought a $389,000 home.
Family Home Guarantee (for single parents): participants were aged 35-39, earned $70,000 and bought a $422,000 home.

Meanwhile, Housing Australia is the name of the new agency that has just replaced the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation and assumed its responsibilities.

Housing Australia has not only taken control of the HGS, but also the National Housing Infrastructure Facility, which provides loans and grants for critical infrastructure to unlock and accelerate new housing supply.

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 lodgement 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.”

Finance Update September 2023

Isn’t it great to see the days getting longer and the weather getting warmer? Here are four stories making headlines in the early days of spring:

Property market milestone
FHB scheme working
Why prices are so high
Savings rates fall

The combined value of Australian real estate reached $10 trillion at the end of August, according to CoreLogic, which is the first time it’s reached this level since June 2022.

The increase resulted from a combination of more properties being built and the value of Australia’s housing increasing.

Soon after reaching the $10 trillion mark last year, the property market began a 10-month downswing, during which the national median property price fell 9.1%. Since March, prices have risen in six consecutive months, increasing by a combined 4.9%. However, the outlook is uncertain, according to CoreLogic.

“While there is a growing expectation that the RBA board is done hiking the cash rate, borrowing remains constrained by a relatively high serviceability buffer,” CoreLogic said.

“APRA [banking regulator] data to June showed the weighted average home loan assessment rate was just below 9%, and Australian Bureau of Statistics housing lending data shows mortgage lending has fallen for three of the past four months.”

The federal government’s Home Guarantee Scheme (HGS) is helping first home buyers on modest incomes enter the market with small deposits, according to research commissioned by the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation.

Some of the key findings from the research were:

The average annual income of individual HGS participants was $108,000 compared with $117,000 for the broader first home buyer market
The average deposit paid by first home buyers since 2020 increased by 3.4% (from $35,200 to $36,400) for HGS participants but 46.7% ($108,400 to $159,000) for the broader first home buyer market
The average loan amount since 2020 increased by 4.7% compared with 13.4% for the broader first home buyer market

The research also found that the average HGS property has enjoyed an equity gain of $82,000.

Under the HGS, first home buyers can enter the market with just a 5% deposit – but conditions apply. I can tell you whether you’re eligible and help you apply for a loan.

Interest rates influence property prices, but they are not the reason that Australia has some of the highest housing values in the world, Philip Lowe said in a speech just before standing down as Reserve Bank governor.

Mr Lowe said it’s true that the lower interest rates that Australia has experienced for much of the past 30 years have contributed to the increase in property prices.

“But the reason that Australia has some of the highest housing prices in the world isn’t interest rates, which have been at roughly similar levels across most advanced economies. Rather, it is the outcome of the choices we have made as a society: choices about where we live; how we design our cities, and zone and regulate urban land; how we invest in and design transport systems; and how we tax land and housing investment,” he said.

“In each of these areas, our society and politicians have made choices that lead to high urban land and housing costs. It is by tackling these issues that we can address the high cost of housing in Australia, which I view as a serious economic and social problem.”

Household savings have now fallen for seven consecutive quarters, suggesting some consumers are finding it harder to save for a home deposit due to rising cost of living.

The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data show that the share of income that households save fell significantly between the quarters of September 2021 and June 2023:

Sep-21: 19.3%
Dec-21: 12.9%
Mar-22: 11.3%
Jun-22: 8.1%
Sep-22: 7.2%
Dec-22: 4.4%
Mar-23: 3.6%
Jun-23: 3.2%

This decline in saving has been partly caused by the pandemic: people spent less during lockdown, because they were stuck at home, and then engaged in ‘revenge spending’ after being released. But it’s also been caused by the high inflation we’ve experienced during that time, which has forced consumers to spend more money just to buy the same items.

If you have a mortgage and you’re struggling to make repayments, get in touch so we can speak to your lender. Lenders tend to be more flexible with borrowers who get on the front foot about any financial problems they may be experiencing.

Finance Update August 2023

Great to be with you for another month! Here are four home loans and property stories that are making news right now:

Refinancing jumps 12.6%
Interest rate data revealed
Rental shortage set to linger
Govt sets homebuilding target

“Refinancing activity has remained at record highs in recent months, as borrowers continued to switch lenders amid interest rate rises,” according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Owner-occupiers and investors refinanced a combined $20.2 billion of loans with external lenders in June, the ABS reported.

While that was 3.1% lower than the month before, it was 12.6% higher than the year before.

More significantly, the last 14 months have been the 14 biggest months in refinancing history.

Unfortunately, interest rate rises are affecting a lot of households at the moment. That’s why refinancing can be such a smart strategy. I can take a look at your existing loan and situation, compare the market and potentially present some options that may save you money.

Despite the interest rate rises that have occurred since last year, rates are lower than one would expect due to “strong competition between lenders”, according to the Reserve Bank.

Between May 2022 and June 2023, the cash rate increased by 4.00 percentage points. But during that same period, the average interest rate for outstanding variable-rate loans increased by only 3.37 percentage points.

When all outstanding loans (variable and fixed) are taken into account, the average interest rate increased by 2.75 percentage points during the same period. That’s because some borrowers still have low-rate fixed loans that were issued before the rate hikes began.

“The share of borrowers rolling off fixed-rate mortgages – taken out two to three years ago at low interest rates – onto much higher rates peaked at just under 5.5% of outstanding housing credit in the June quarter; it will stay high for the rest of this year, before declining in 2024,” the Reserve Bank said.

“These expiries will see the average outstanding mortgage rate continue to increase as the effect of the rise in the cash rate since May 2022 flows through to a greater share of borrowers.”

Property investors in much of Australia are enjoying very low vacancy rates – and one leading property researcher has forecast that is unlikely to change anytime soon.

The national vacancy rate in July was just 1.3%, according to SQM Research, which means there are very few untenanted rental properties right now. That makes it relatively easy for investors to find tenants and means renters will often accept higher rents to secure accommodation.

“Clearly, acute rental shortages remain with us. And besides more people grouping together to share the burden, there is no significant solution on the horizon,” SQM managing director Louis Christopher said.

Christopher added that the main cause of the tight rental market and fast-rising rents had been strong population growth. “Australia currently has, by far, the fastest growing population for any OECD country and clearly the rampant increases are currently breaching the country’s capacity to house all our people.”

The federal government has increased its housing construction target, in a bid to increase supply and improve affordability.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, after meeting with the National Cabinet recently, announced a new national target to build 1.2 million well‑located new homes over five years, from 1 July 2024. That replaces the original target of 1 million homes, which was announced last year.

Only 10,000 of those homes will be built by the federal government. The vast majority will be built by the private sector. Some will be built by the states and territories. As a result, the government also announced $3 billion of performance‑based funding for states and territories that achieve more than their targets and conduct reforms to boost housing supply.

The government also announced an additional $500 million competitive funding program for local and state governments to kickstart housing supply.

An increase in the housing supply should lead to a decrease in demand, which should put downward pressure on property prices and make housing more affordable.

Finance Update July 2023

As we reach the end of July, it’s time to reflect on the biggest news of the month. Here are four finance, property and tax stories that really stood out:

RBA reforms cash rate
HomeBuilder extension
Property listings rise
How to get tax help

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has unveiled a series of reforms, in response to an independent review commissioned by the federal government.

Starting in 2024, the RBA board will meet eight times per year to assess the cash rate, rather than the current 11. Meetings will last longer; and, before each meeting, board members will have the opportunity to speak with a broader range of RBA staff.

“The less frequent and longer meetings will provide more time for the board to examine issues in detail and to have deeper discussions on monetary policy strategy, alternative policy options and risks, as well as on communication,” RBA governor Philip Lowe said.

“Likewise, the staff will have more time for analysis, with less time spent preparing summaries of recent developments.”

In another change, the governor will hold a media conference after each cash rate meeting, which “will provide a timely opportunity to explain the board’s decisions and to answer questions”.

Meanwhile, the federal government has decided not to grant Governor Lowe a second seven-year term. As a result, the current deputy, Michele Bullock, will assume the top job in September when Governor Lowe’s term expires.

The deadline for existing HomeBuilder applicants to submit supporting documentation has been officially extended to 30 June 2025.

The deadline was previously set at 30 April 2023, but, in March, the federal government proposed to extend it, subject to the agreement of states and territories – which has now been secured.

This extension applies only to people who had already received formal approval under the HomeBuilder scheme for off-the-plan purchases or renovations. Applicants do not need to do anything to access the extension – it will automatically apply.

The reason the government extended the deadline was to support people who had entered into financial commitments on the basis they’d received the grant, but, through no fault of their own, were unable to use it due to supply constraints and construction industry delays.

Applications for HomeBuilder closed in April 2021. States and territories administer the scheme on behalf of the federal government.

In good news for buyers, there’s been an increase in the number of properties listed for sale, as well as an increase in the total number of properties on the market.

SQM Research has reported that the number of new listings (i.e. those less than 30 days’ old) in June was 1.6% higher than the month before.

At the same time, the number of for-sale properties – which includes both new listings and older ones – was 1.8% higher than the month before.

So more homeowners are listing their property for sale and those homes are taking longer to sell.

With more properties on the market, buyers have more choice, which means they don’t have to compete as hard on price. In the month to 4 July, there was a 2.0% reduction in prices being asked by vendors.

Given that market conditions are favouring buyers in many parts of the country, this might be a good time to buy. Contact me if you’d like me to find you a great home loan.

If you’re feeling confused about preparing your tax return, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has advised you to seek help from its digital self-help tools.

“We get lots of calls from the community about topics that can be easily resolved through our digital self-help tools, so it may be better to not wait in a queue to speak to someone when you can do it yourself, at a time and place that suits you,” ATO chief service delivery officer David Allen said.

“Our website has a wealth of information that you can refer to, including specific pages that explain what’s new this tax time for individuals and tax professionals. There is even a virtual assistant called ‘Alex’ that can help you track down the information you need.”

The ATO also provides digital tools, including myTax and the ATO app, which you can use to answer questions and perform specific actions on accounts. You can also seek help from the ATO Community, an online, peer-to-peer platform.

Online tax returns will take up to 14 days to process, according to the ATO.

Finance Update June 2023

There’s been an enormous amount of finance, property and tax news since my last newsletter. Here are four of the biggest stories right now:

Fixed-rate cliff explained
ATO warns property investors
Regulation coming to BNPL
Tax scam warning

Australia’s mortgage market is experiencing a significant shift, with many homeowners coming off two-year and three-year fixed-rate loans onto much higher variable rates today.

Starting during the 2020 pandemic, there was a boom in fixed-rate borrowing, as lenders slashed their fixed rates to record-low levels and many borrowers took advantage. At the peak, almost 40% of outstanding home loans in early 2022 were fixed, which was “roughly twice their usual share from prior to 2020,” according to a research paper published by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).

As of March 2023, about 25% of fixed-rate loans outstanding in early 2022 had expired. By the end of 2023, another 40% will expire; and by the end of 2024, another 20%. This is what the media has been referring to as the ‘fixed-rate cliff’.

Here are three tips if you’re about to revert from a fixed to a variable loan:

Start budgeting right now for higher interest rates
Contact me to discuss whether you could refinance to a new lender with a more suitable fixed or variable rate
Limit your spending to increase your chances of qualifying for a new loan

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has revealed it will have three key focus areas this tax time – one of which will be deductions claimed by property investors.

The reason property investors are being targeted is because an ATO review found nine in ten property investors were filing faulty tax returns. Common errors included:

Leaving out rental income
Making mistakes with property-related deductions – like overclaiming expenses or claiming for improvements to private properties

As a result, the ATO said it would match investor tax returns with data from home loan providers and insurance providers, to ensure investors don’t omit income or inflate deductions.

“Around 80% of taxpayers with rental income claimed a deduction for interest on their loan, and this is where we’re seeing mistakes,” ATO assistant commissioner Tim Loh said.

“For example, you can’t refinance an investment property to buy personal items, like a holiday to Europe or a Tesla, then continue to claim the interest expenses as a tax deduction.”

The ATO’s other two focus areas will be work-related expenses and capital gains tax.

The federal government will change the law so buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) products are regulated as credit products, like home loans.

The reason BNPL services are regulated differently is because, technically, they’re not a form of credit, as consumers are not charged interest.

However, as Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones told the Responsible Lending & Borrowing Summit: “BNPL looks like credit, it acts like credit, it carries the risks of credit.”

“We have heard that some people are opening multiple BNPL accounts, to access far more debt than they’d be able to get on a credit card or a payday loan,” he said.

However, Minister Jones also said BNPL had done a lot of good for the economy, and provided a lot of benefit to both consumers and businesses.

As a result, he said the government’s legislation would be “a proportionate solution” that would allow consumers to continue enjoying BNPL while establishing “appropriate safeguards”.

The government plans to release exposure draft legislation later this year and introduce the final bill to parliament by the end of the year.

Consumers have been warned to expect heightened scam activity and new tax scams now that tax season is almost upon us.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) received about 20,000 scam reports in the first 11 months of the 2022-23 financial year, according to Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones.

Minister Jones said impersonation scams – in which criminals pretend to be from the ATO – were common at this time of year.

Under these scams, fraudsters will contact people by unsolicited phone calls, emails, text messages and social media messages. They may offer to answer tax questions, promise fake tax refunds or direct users to fake myGov login pages. Often, their aim is to collect as much personal information as possible.

The ATO will never send you a link to login to their online services or ask you to send personal information via text, email or social media.

Do not respond if you receive any suspicious contact. Instead, call 1800 008 540 to check if it was the ATO speaking with you.

Finance Update May 2023

These are interesting times, with interest rates appearing to be close to their peak and housing prices rising again. Here’s what’s making news in finance and property:

Property prices rising
RBA to be reformed
First home buyer update
Unit rents surging

Australian property prices look to be trending upwards again, judging by the latest data from CoreLogic.

After the national median price fell 9.1% between May 2022 and February 2023, it has since risen in consecutive months – by 0.6% in March and 0.5% in April.

“Not only are we seeing housing values stabilising or rising across most areas of the country, a number of other indicators are confirming the positive shift,” CoreLogic’s research director, Tim Lawless, said.

“Auction clearance rates are holding slightly above the long run average, sentiment has lifted and home sales are trending around the previous five-year average,” he said.

Mr Lawless said it was notable this housing turnaround was occurring despite interest rates remaining elevated.

“The last time we saw housing values trending higher through a rising interest rate environment was during the mid-to-late 2000s when the mining boom was underway. This period was also characterised by surging net overseas migration that contributed significantly to housing demand,” he said.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is set for a shake-up, following a review commissioned by the federal government.

The review made 51 recommendations, including specific measures to create a clearer monetary policy framework and stronger monetary policy decision-making.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the government agreed in-principle with all the recommendations and would work with the RBA and parliament to implement them.

Subject to consultations with the opposition, the Treasurer said the government would introduce legislation to:

Reinforce the independence of the RBA in the operation of monetary policy
Split the RBA board into two – with one board to oversee monetary policy and the over governance
Strengthen the RBA’s mandate
Clarify that Australia’s monetary policy framework will aim for both price stability and full employment

Treasurer Chalmers also said the government would institute a more transparent process for appointing external members to the RBA boards.

It’s too early to say first home buyers are back, but they’ve certainly made a welcome return to the market, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The number of new owner-occupier first home buyer loan commitments rose 15.8% in March, after reaching a five-year low in February.

That said, first home buyer activity was 21.8% lower than the year before and 50.5% lower than the January 2021 high.

Now that property prices appear to be rising again (see first story in newsletter), it might be wise for first home buyers to enter the market sooner rather than later, before prices rise further. Saving a deposit can be hard, but there are two ways to speed up the process.
Under the First Home Guarantee, the federal government helps eligible first home buyers purchase a property with just a 5% deposit without having to pay lender’s mortgage insurance. Income and price caps apply.

First home buyers who have parental support can use a guarantor home loan to enter the market with, potentially, a 0% deposit. Again, conditions apply.

I love helping first home buyers get on the property ladder. Contact me for expert advice.

Things are looking up for owners of units, whether owner-occupiers or investors.

After the national median unit price fell for 10 consecutive months, it increased in both March (0.6%) and April (0.7%), according to CoreLogic.

CoreLogic economist Kaytlin Ezzy said this could signify “the start of a slow recovery phase, with inflation seemingly moving past its peak and consumer sentiment rising from near-record lows”.

Meanwhile, unit rents are not only surging (up 14.8% over the year to April), they’re growing significantly faster than house rents (8.4%).

“The mismatch between [unit] rental supply and demand has seen capital city rental growth reaccelerate, which will be unwelcome news to many tenants already struggling to find affordable rental accommodation,” Ms Ezzy said.

“While units across each of the capitals and rest-of-state regions still offer a more affordable rental alternative compared to houses, the stronger rental growth seen in the medium to high-density sector, in part due to their relative affordability, has seen the gap narrow.”

Average Loan Sizes & Investor Crackdown

Finance Update: January 2025

Buyers gain upper hand | Govt passes housing scheme | How rates affect borrowing capacity

Top 3 Ways to Finance Your Renovations

Finance Update October 2024

Fixed vs variable

Finance Update September 2024

Finance Update August 2024

Finance Update July 2024

Why you should shop around for loans

Home Guarantee Scheme update

Finance Update June 2024

Finance Update May 2024

Finance Update April 2024

Finance Update March 2024

Finance Update February 2024

Finance Update January 2024

Finance Update December 2023

Finance Update November 2023

Finance Update October 2023

Finance Update September 2023

Finance Update August 2023

Finance Update July 2023

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has unveiled a series of reforms, in response to an independent review commissioned by the federal government.

The deadline for existing HomeBuilder applicants to submit supporting documentation has been officially extended to 30 June 2025.

In good news for buyers, there’s been an increase in the number of properties listed for sale, as well as an increase in the total number of properties on the market.

So more homeowners are listing their property for sale and those homes are taking longer to sell.

If you’re feeling confused about preparing your tax return, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has advised you to seek help from its digital self-help tools.

Finance Update June 2023

Australia’s mortgage market is experiencing a significant shift, with many homeowners coming off two-year and three-year fixed-rate loans onto much higher variable rates today.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has revealed it will have three key focus areas this tax time – one of which will be deductions claimed by property investors.

The federal government will change the law so buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) products are regulated as credit products, like home loans.

Consumers have been warned to expect heightened scam activity and new tax scams now that tax season is almost upon us.

Finance Update May 2023

Australian property prices look to be trending upwards again, judging by the latest data from CoreLogic.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is set for a shake-up, following a review commissioned by the federal government.

It’s too early to say first home buyers are back, but they’ve certainly made a welcome return to the market, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Things are looking up for owners of units, whether owner-occupiers or investors.

Fixed vs variable

Why you should shop around for loans

Home Guarantee Scheme update

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has unveiled a series of reforms, in response to an independent review commissioned by the federal government.

The deadline for existing HomeBuilder applicants to submit supporting documentation has been officially extended to 30 June 2025.

In good news for buyers, there’s been an increase in the number of properties listed for sale, as well as an increase in the total number of properties on the market.

So more homeowners are listing their property for sale and those homes are taking longer to sell.

If you’re feeling confused about preparing your tax return, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has advised you to seek help from its digital self-help tools.

Australia’s mortgage market is experiencing a significant shift, with many homeowners coming off two-year and three-year fixed-rate loans onto much higher variable rates today.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has revealed it will have three key focus areas this tax time – one of which will be deductions claimed by property investors.

The federal government will change the law so buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) products are regulated as credit products, like home loans.

Consumers have been warned to expect heightened scam activity and new tax scams now that tax season is almost upon us.

Australian property prices look to be trending upwards again, judging by the latest data from CoreLogic.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is set for a shake-up, following a review commissioned by the federal government.

It’s too early to say first home buyers are back, but they’ve certainly made a welcome return to the market, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Things are looking up for owners of units, whether owner-occupiers or investors.

Who Would You Like to Chat With?

The deadline for existing HomeBuilder applicants to submit supporting documentation has been officially extended to 30 June 2025.