Articles

Clancy Yeates| 18 June 2018| Sydney Morning Herald https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/highly-geared-borrowers-tipped-to-face-extra-scrutiny-20180615-p4zlp7.html Property investors seeking to borrow many times their income are tipped to come under increased scrutiny, as banks respond to regulatory pressure to restrict higher-risk mortgage lending. Following a direction from the Australian Prudential and Regulation Authority (APRA) in April, banks are grappling with how to […]

David Scutt| Business Insider| 1 June 2018 https://www.businessinsider.com.au/australia-home-prices-valuation-location-analysis-2018-6 Australia’s median home price fell for an eighth consecutive month in May, leaving it down 0.4% over the past year, the first decline seen since October 2012. From the recent cyclical peak in September 2017, the median price has fallen by 1.1% to $555,274. However, Australia’s housing […]

Jacob Greiber & Ben Potter| 13 June 2018| Australian Financial Review https://www.afr.com/news/economy/monetary-policy/property-falls-manageable-says-rbas-lowe-20180613-h11ch9 Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe has downplayed concerns over falling property prices, saying they are still 40 per cent higher in Sydney and Melbourne than they were just a few years ago. “As long as it’s not a very large decline – it’s […]

The market pauses for breath. Negative reports for the big capital city property markets. Banks on the nose. But, look past the headlines and there is still a lot of positive happening. Australia’s population growth remains strong, this week the ABS predicted the nation’s population would hit 25m this August. While investors may be sitting on the sidelines, […]

Clancy Yeates| Sydney Morning Herald| 17 May 2018 https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/business-loans-growth-to-outpace-mortgages-nab-says-20180514-p4zf98.html Business loans are likely to grow more quickly than lending for residential property, in a changing of the guard that would see banks compete more fiercely for business customers, National Australia Bank executive Anthony Healy says. As the slowing housing market dampens banks’ outlook, the chief customer officer […]

Clancy Yeates| Sydney Morning Herald| 24 April 2018 https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/interest-only-mortgage-holders-face-7-000-a-year-hit-rba-20180424-p4zbb9.html Borrowers with a typical interest-only home loan face a $7000 jump in their annual mortgage costs when their interest-only period ends and they are forced to start paying back principal, the Reserve Bank says. With almost $500 billion in interest-only mortgages set to expire in the next […]