Home Loans, Mortgage Refinance, Bad Credit Home Loans

It is not only the economists that are expecting the RBA to announce a rate cut next week, most borrowers have the same expectation.

A Loan Market survey has identified that 2 out of 3 of respondents expect to see the RBA knife to rates when it meets on February 7. Thirty-nine per cent are forecasting another quarter of a percentage point cut, while 27% expect a deeper 50bp cut.

Rate cut does not only makes loans cheaper it also contributes significantly to consumer confidence and has the overall affect of stimulating the economy.

“The RBA lowering rates in November and December last year came as a welcome relief for borrowers and struggling sectors such as retail, but there are no signs of an improvement in the current global economic environment, particularly the volatile situation in Europe.

How much of the rate reduction will be passed on to holders of...

It seems that in today’s challenging economic times more borrowers are price aware than ever before. In many cases when choosing between loans, pricing of loans  is the determining factor. Borrowers are finding that lines of credit home loans are more expensive than standard home loans with a 100% offset account and consequently more borrowers opt to take up the later.

Even if in some cases a loan offers more flexibility, the financially strapped borrower tends to select loans with lower repayments today than necessarily thinking long term. While this works well in some cases in other cases the borrower is simply postponing the inevitable cost to a later period.

Line-of-credit

Non conforming loans are expected to become big business for mortgage brokers during 2012.

MKM Capital head of operations Michael Watson believes that Australian mortgage brokers can expect to see non-conforming loans and lenders return to the forefront during 2012.

Non-conforming low-doc home loans got a bad wrap with the introduction of NCCP legislation in 2011. However low doc home loans can still be NCCP compliant and should not be avoided.

“The biggest challenge arising from the introduction of the NCCP has been to communicate to brokers that low doc, coded loans can still be written with confidence in the NCCP environment.

Watson said that brokers should capitalise...

New research has confirmed that 70% of us are more confident about our financial future than we were previously.

According to the latest ING DIRECT Financial Wellbeing Index, 65 per cent of  families feel that they have become better off financially during 2011. Consumers have spent the year consolidation debts, repaying loans including car loans, home loans, credit cards etc. and saving more towards the future.

But while the majority of consumers interviewed believe that they have improved their financial position during 2011 and are confident of achieving the same thing in 2012, 32 per cent of households shave reported that their family finances are worse off today than they were a year earlier with escalating debt levels and higher monthly...

A lower than expected inflation figure is fueling speculation that the RBA will again cut rates when it meets on February 7.

The Producer Price Index, considered to be a strong indicator of the CPI, came in just below analysts’ expectations at 0.3% for the quarter. With CPI figures expected to be announced tomorrow, Westpac senior economist Justin Smirk has said inflation risks are weighted to the downside.

Other than inflation – there are daily reports of job losses across the board in the car industry as well as in manufacturing. Interest rate reduction can help boost demand in these areas and possibly create more jobs in the longer term.

Should the Reserve choose to move on rates when it next meets, the question remains whether banks will choose to pass on the cut. According to the Australian Financial Review, a Morgan Stanley analysis has predicted the banks will reprice

In a report in the Daily Telegraph today, it is alleged that  Japanese banks would like to enter the Australian market and if they do could snatch $100 billion of the Australian home loans by undercutting local lenders. Local lenders have already alerted borrowers that they do not intend to pass on all the RBA rate cuts in full. Japanese lenders will be able to take over a significant number of Australian loans if they in fact pass on the rate cuts intact.

The Treasurer, Mr Swan, said that he welcomes new lenders to Australia and believes that they will aid the competition in place for home loans and will only benefit the consumer.

At least three big banks, the $62 billion Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, $42 billion Sumitomo Mitsui...

Australians have finally learned how to consolidate debts, reduce spending and start saving. Some years ago we were amongst the nations with the lowest levels of savings and now we are amongst the best savers.

An OECD ranking of household savings rates places Australia at number 5 from the 23 countries surveyed, with 10.4 per cent of household disposable income going into savings in 2011.

Switzerland has come up as the country with the highest annual rate of saving, with a savings rate of 12.1 per cent in 2011, followed by Sweden (11.7 per cent), Germany (11.3 per cent) and Belgium (10.7 per cent).

Back in 2006, before we were affected by the GFC, Australian household savings rate was 2.1 per cent. Its OECD ranking that year was 16th.

OECD economists are expecting that Australian households will maintain their high savings rate. The forecast...

Two women who were hassled and chased by Debt Collectors have decided to take legal action over the treatment they have received.

Recent legislative changes make it illegal for debt collectors to continue to hassle a debtor once asked in writing not to do so.

The two agencies are said to have continued to contact the two Melbourne women after receiving written requests that they either stop contacting them or take legal action against them

The Consumer Action Law Centre is bringing the cases in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, on behalf of the women.

The agencies involved are Australian Receivables Limited and Baycorp Collections.

This will be seen as a test case for Debt Collectors and their debt collection strategies.

Baycorp Collections,...

Firstfolio has entered into a joint venture with Evergreen Finance for the purpose of offering personal loan products to the Australian market.

Evergreen Finance are a provider of personal loans and personal finance across Australia and New Zealand. They will develop consumer finance products that will be offered to borrowers directly through the  Firstfolio’s national network of finance brokers.

Speaking to The Adviser, Firstfolio’s chief executive officer Mark Forsyth said the joint venture was another step towards the company’s overall goal of creating a holistic and diversified business.Evergreen have developed advanced processing systems that facilitate and assist in the processing of  personal loans.Currently there is significant borrower demand for such products.  The partnership reflects our strategy of introducing additional...

According to figures provided by the Australian Bureau of Statistics,  personal finance commitments declined by 7.8 per cent during November to $7,199 billion.

The ABS today said the seasonally-adjusted commitments were down from $7.806 billion in October. This includes, personal loans, car loans, credit cards and the like.

Commercial finance overall also declined during November. There was a drop of 9.6 per cent to $33.098 billion, seasonally adjusted, from $36.624 billion in October.

Lease finance was up 15.1 per cent to $490 million, compared with $426 million October.

Home Loans taken out by owner occupiers increased by 2.2 per cent to $13.790 billion, from $13.487 billion...