Home Loans - Page 41
ANZ first cab off the rank to pass on full RBA cash rate cut
ANZ has announced it will decrease all its variable rate home loans by 0.25 percentage points, following the central bank’s decision to cut the official cash rate to the historic low of 1%. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) board decided to cut the cash rate by 0.25 percentage points on Tuesday, marking the second change to the rate this year. ANZ was the first of the big four banks to respond to the cut, saying it would pass on the full reduction from Friday, 12 July. This will bring ANZ’s standard variable rate for owner occupiers paying principal and interest down … Continued
RBA cuts cash rate: Now it's government's turn, economists say
Australia’s central bank has cut the official cash rate for the second time this year, but some finance experts warn more could be done to boost the slowing economy. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) board voted to cut the cash rate by 0.25 percentage points to a new historic low of 1% on Tuesday, as widely anticipated by financial markets and economists. Last month, the cash rate was cut for the first time in nearly three years, in the hope that it would support employment growth and provide greater confidence that inflation, or consumer prices, would improve. CommSec Senior Economist Ryan Felsman told Canstar … Continued
BOQ joins UBank and Greater Bank in offering home loan rates below 3%
A third bank is offering home loan interest rates just below 3%, with more lenders expected to follow as the nation’s central bank embarks on a rate cutting cycle. Bank of Queensland has matched the lowest rate on the market after rolling out three-year fixed home loans with an interest rate of 2.99% (comparison rates below) for owner-occupiers paying principal and interest. It joins UBank and Greater Bank as the only two other lenders on Canstar’s database to offer a rate that low. Canstar’s finance expert Steve Mickenbecker said we can expect to see more home loan rates fall below 3%, … Continued
Who has the cheapest interest rates out of CBA, ANZ, NAB & Westpac?
Australia’s four major banks have cut mortgage rates in response to the Reserve Bank’s decision to slash the official cash rate to a new historic low. Canstar takes a look at who is offering the lowest home loan variable rates. The Reserve Bank board decided to cut the cash rate by 0.25 percentage points to 1.25% on Tuesday, marking the first change since the central bank lowered it to 1.5% in August 2016. All eyes quickly turned to the banks, particularly the big four, to see how much they would reduce home loan interest rates by. Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank have … Continued
RBA cuts cash rate, home loan interest rates expected to follow
Lower mortgage rates and an easing in house price declines are expected after the Reserve Bank chose to cut the official cash rate for the first time in nearly three years. Today, the RBA board decided to lower the cash rate by 0.25 percentage points to a new historic low of 1.25%, as widely anticipated by financial markets and economists. Now all eyes are on the banks, particularly the big four, to see how much they will reduce home loan interest rates by. The last time the Reserve Bank lowered the cash rate, it was August 2016. It was the second cut for … Continued
ANZ follows CBA, Westpac and NAB with home loan rate cuts
ANZ is the last of big four banks to start cutting its fixed rate home loans this year, while Macquarie Bank makes a number of variable and fixed rate changes today. The main rivals to ANZ – Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac – have all reduced fixed rates for some owner-occupier and investor customers this year. From today, ANZ is reducing interest rates across some of its packaged and non-packaged home loans for customers paying principal and interest and interest-only. The bank’s largest interest rate cut has been made to its three-year fixed interest-only owner-occupier loan, which is now 0.60 percentage … Continued
RBA holds off from rate cut ahead of federal election
Just weeks out from a federal election, the Reserve Bank has decided to keep the official cash rate on hold despite a number of economists having predicted the first cut in nearly three years. The Reserve Bank board chose to leave the cash rate on hold at the historical low of 1.5% today, while a growing number of economists had forecast the bank to cut this month due to weak consumer prices, otherwise known as inflation. The last time the RBA lowered the cash rate, it was August 2016, following an unexpected Federal Budget day cut in May that year. The main … Continued
ING cuts and hikes a number of home loan rates
Digital bank ING has made a series of home loan rate cuts and hikes that affect mainly new customers. From today, a number of ING investor and owner-occupier home loans with a variable rate will be lowered for new customers only, while some interest-only variable rates will go up for new owner-occupier customers. A small number of fixed rates for new investors will also fall by 0.10 percentage points, including the 3-year fixed rate which will decrease to 4.09% (*comparison rate 5.48%). Rate cuts ranging from 0.20 percentage points to 0.40 percentage points will apply to new investor home loans across ING’s … Continued
BOQ's rate cuts: 'New lending becomes competitive in flat housing market'
The Bank of Queensland has rolled out a number of new home loan discounts that will deliver small rate cuts for some existing customers. From today, the bank has cut rates across its discounted two and three-year fixed standard and packaged home loans for existing owner-occupiers and investors by 0.05 percentage points. BOQ has also reintroduced its Intro Rate Variable Home Loan, where new customers can be locked into a lower introductory rate for the first two years before reverting to the applicable Clear Path Variable Rate after that period. For owner-occupiers paying principal and interest, the introductory rate would be 3.69% (*comparison rate 4.21%). Canstar’s … Continued
Westpac, Suncorp, ING move interest rates while RBA stays steady
The Reserve Bank is content with keeping the cash rate on hold, in contrary to the busy mortgage market where a flurry of lenders have been recently lifting and cutting home loan interest rates. The RBA board voted to leave the official cash rate on hold at 1.5% for the 28th meeting in a row today and gave no clear indication as to whether it was in favour of a future cut or hike. The bank’s accompanying monetary policy statement said the main domestic uncertainty centred around the outlook for household spending and falling house prices in some cities. “Growth in household income has … Continued
What I learned selling my first house: 9 ‘in the know’ Australians look back
Hiring staging furniture, understanding your target market and being open to negotiating with potential buyers are just some of the top tips recommended by a collection of savvy property owners when it comes to selling your first home. If you’re about to move onto the next chapter and sell your first home or investment property, you might be feeling mixed emotions about seeing the ‘for sale’ sign go up as you reflect on the memories you’ve made in that particular phase of your life. On top of the emotions that can come with selling your first home, there are a lot of … Continued
Royal commission aftermath: Westpac faces class action, ANZ vows to improve
Westpac is facing a class action for allegedly approving home loans to people who could not afford them, in breach of responsible lending laws. Maurice Blackburn lawyers filed an open class action against Westpac in the Federal Court today on behalf of aggrieved borrowers who allege the bank gave them unsuitable loans. This comes in the wake of the banking royal commission’s year-long investigation, which highlighted some lenders use of a low estimate of basic living expenses, known as the household expenditure measure (HEM), rather than verifying people’s expenses. Maurice Blackburn Principal Lawyer Ben Slade said thousands of people across Australia … Continued
Royal commission fallout: ASIC to amend responsible lending guidelines
The corporate regulator wants lenders to factor in the greater spending levels of higher-income earners when approving home loans. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has released a consultation paper around proposed changes it plans to make to its responsible lending guidelines in the wake of the banking royal commission. While the regulator acknowledged that lending practices have improved in recent years, it said it was timely to conduct a review and update its responsible lending guidance, which has been in place since 2010. ASIC’s paper has highlighted shortcomings of the Household Expenditure Measure (HEM) – a standard benchmark of people’s annual living … Continued
Westpac, St. George & more make changes to fixed rate home loans
Westpac has announced hikes and cuts to some of its fixed rate home loans for new and existing customers, effective from today. The major bank’s packaged home loans for owner occupiers paying principal and interest have been reduced with its two-year fixed Premier Advantage Package loan now 0.10 percentage points lower at 3.79% (*comparison rate 4.97%). For a customer making principal and interest repayments on a $600,000 mortgage over 30 years, this rate cut would equate to a monthly saving of around $35. Meanwhile, Westpac’s Premier Advantage Package five-year fixed loan will see its interest rate increase by 0.10 percentage points to 4.19% … Continued
Digital human: Mia, the new face of UBank's home loans
You could be forgiven for thinking this photo is of a real woman or perhaps of a photoshopped model. But she is in fact UBank’s latest virtual assistant. Meet Mia, short for My Interactive Agent. She is UBank’s life-like chatbot which will be launched later this month to a select number of customers as part of a pilot. The digital bank, owned by National Australia Bank, says Mia is the world’s first digital human home loan assistant and she represents a leap forward in chatbot technology. UBank Chief Executive Officer Lee Hatton says the bank wanted to give a human face … Continued
Banking Royal Commission Aftermath: A Revolution Is Coming
Opinion: Canstar Group Executive of Financial Services, Steve Mickenbecker If you wanted to see a banker bloodbath, the royal commissioner’s final report would have disappointed you. It is not a report of grand gestures, but a “roll your sleeves up” report that deals with the issues in a practical manner. The royal commission made crystal clear during the course of hearings that it considered the behaviours exposed to be reprehensible. Its moral outrage was there for all to see and it led public opinion. Even those who originally had felt the royal commission to be unnecessary, were shocked at the degree and … Continued
The Banking Royal Commission's Recommendations in a Nutshell
The banking royal commission’s hefty final report contained 76 recommendations designed to shake up Australia’s banking, superannuation, insurance and financial advice sectors. It followed 68 days of public hearings, 134 witnesses and more than 10,000 public submissions. Here’s a whistle-stop guide to some of the key recommendations contained in Commissioner Kenneth Hayne’s final report which became public on Monday 4 February 2019. Mortgage brokers The report cracked down on Australia’s $1.6 trillion mortgage market, recommending that a “best interest duty” for mortgage brokers be introduced. This would mean mortgage brokers would need to act in the best interests of borrowers and if this was breached, brokers … Continued
Judgement Day: The sweeping changes the banking royal commission has proposed
Co-author Ellie McLachlan Banning advice fees for default super accounts, overhauling the way mortgage brokers are paid and ending the hawking of insurance and superannuation products are some of the major changes the banking royal commission has recommended to stamp out misconduct. After a year-long investigation that included seven public hearings, the financial services royal commission has released its final report today with 76 recommendations. About 19 of the recommendations suggest potential criminal breaches across 24 financial institutions, including three of the major banks. However, Commissioner Kenneth Hayne’s report does not name any bank executives or individuals in relation to possible criminal charges … Continued
Time's up: What the royal commission report may mean for home loans, super & insurance
The banking royal commission’s final report is due to land on the Governor-General’s desk at any moment and its recommendations are expected to shake up the financial sector. So, what is likely to come out of the report and what could it mean for your home loan, superannuation savings and insurance? The royal commission’s seven rounds of public hearings saw executives and staff from a number of banks, insurers and financial firms take the stand and answer questions around a string of misconduct and conduct that fell below community standards. On the back of those hearings, Commissioner Kenneth Hayne is due to deliver his final … Continued
AMP Bank cuts investor home loan interest rates
AMP Bank has made interest rate cuts as deep as 0.20 percentage points to a number of its investment property loans in a bid to attract new borrowers. In August last year, AMP reduced a number of investor home loan rates by up to 0.30 percentage points only a month after making hikes to some investor rates. AMP’s latest rate changes to investor loans comes after the banking regulator removed interest-only home loan restrictions for most lenders on January 1, this year. For nearly two years, lenders were limited by the amount of interest-only mortgages they could issue as the Australian … Continued
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