Home Loans, Mortgage Refinance, Bad Credit Home Loans

According to a new research by the Loan Market Group, an increasing number of homeowners are downsizing to a smaller home in an effort to reduce their mortgage debt.Having a large debt for your home is a luxury that few can afford.

Loan Market chief operating officer Dean Rushton said the majority of downsizers are aging baby boomers getting ready for retirement. but many home owners who are younger simply do not have the capital to sustain their current lifestyle so they need to reduce debt by selling up and moving to a smaller property.

“We have had a recent case from one of our

Bankwest is looking to appeal to loyal borrowers through a new home loan product which allows them to save more the more they stay.

The new Rate Cutter Home Loan will “improve with age” according to the bank, offering customers up to 0.80 per cent off the standard variable rate after the first 4 years with the bank.

Initially the Rate Cutter home loan offers a discount of only 0.40 per cent, with that discount increasing by 0.10 per cent each year. Once borrowers reach the 0.80 per cent discount they will be eligible for that saving for the life of the loan.

Dean Gillespie, heads up the mortgages division at the bank. He believes that more borrowers are keeping their loans...

A decline in lending figures, lower commission rates and only a slight expansion of the franchise network were the ingredients for a 12.5 per cent fall in earnings for broker franchise operator Mortgage Choice in the year to June.

Mortgage Choice has reported yesterday a net profit of $23.5 million for 2009/10, a drop from $26.8 million in 2008.

Origination commission income dropped by two per cent, from $53.4 million to $52.1 million. Trail commission income fell 16 per cent, when calculated on a statutory basis, or two per cent on a cash basis.

The business operating expenses were down nine per cent, from $30.6 million to $27.9 million.

Mortgage Choice chief executive Michael Russell said the group had a very strong focus on cost...

Major Australian lenders have been urged not to take advantage of the current political uncertainty by lifting home loan rates outside of RBA movements.

It would be most unfortunate if lenders were to take advantage of the situation at the cost of the already overstretched Australian borrower – said a representative of the Real Estate Institute of Australia.

Knowing that the Government is in caretaker mode and is unlikely to reprimand lenders at this time, unscrupulous funders could choose to act irresponsibly at this time.

It would be very helpful if banks and other lenders...

According to BIS Shrapnel’s Long Term Forecasts 2010-2015, serious inflationary pressures are expected to challenge any new Australian government before the next election scheduled for late 2013, and may push cash rates up to 6.5 % and home loan rates out to 9%.

The report forecasts economic growth to accelerate by an average of 3.8% per annum over the next three years, while unemployment will fall under 4%. These tightened labour markets and household spending will drive up inflation, the forecaster warns.

BIS Shrapnel says the current housing shortage is a “major problem” because it inflates mortgage debt, increasing consumer sensitivity to growing...

Analysts believe that home loan interest rates are likely to go up in a matter of weeks, once the election outcome becomes known.

This is despite the fact that the Reserve Bank is not expected to change the official cash rate until late this year.

According to Housing Industry Association figures published this week, the average monthly loan repayment in Victoria has hit $2238, up from $1499 a year ago,

Banks are continuing to make a huge profits even though we have seen a lot of complaints about the increased costs of funding affecting their bottom line.

Commonwealth Bank chief Ralph Norris, speaking as the bank posted a record $6.1 billion profit last week, said it “may well have to” pass on higher costs to customers.

ANZ chief Mike Smith said...

National Mortgage Company has has made a decision to introduce rete cuts to some of it’s fixed home loan products.

NMC’s one and two year fixed rate mortgages will now be offered at 7.30 and 7.50 per cent respectively.

The move comes after the NMC reduced both its two and three year fixed rates to 7.60 per cent just over a week ago. However since that rate cut some other players in the home loan industry have come out with significant rate reduction for fixed mortgages. Aussie Home Loans for one had cut it’s fixed rates to 6.99%.

Head of sales Fernando Lemos said NMC had observed a slight shift to fixed rates with consumers...

AMP’s has reported in it’s half yearly profit announcement that it has seen a drop in demand for home loans as compared to prior reporting periods.

AMP Bank contributed operating earnings of $21m to the group’s overall bottom line in the six months to June 2010, up from the $18m reported during the corresponding period during the first half of 2009.

The group announced that while the home loan market has been down overall in Australia and this is well recognised by other players in the industry, AMP has done quite well with it’s deposit division.

AMP’s statement added that second tier banks continued to experience ongoing funding constraints.

Overall, AMP Limited reported an underlying profit of $383m...

Bank of Queensland has yesterday finalized the pricing on it’s $1.6 billion of mortgage-backed securities sold through the Series 2010-2 REDS. The amount is twice that sought when the bank began marketing the issue earlier last week and is the second largest in Australian history following Westpac’s $2bn issue last December, attracted 14 investors, including the Australian government and ‘a couple of Singapore-based investors’, according to a bank spokesperson.

The securities are backed by fully verified loans and are fully insured by Genworth and QBE. The loans had a weighted average loan-to-value ratio of 56%, and an average period since the loans have been...

Although some improvements have been introduced, significant barriers remain for borrowers looking to switch home loans.

According to research conducted by RateCity consumers are finding it very difficult to switch home loans and switch transaction accounts between banks.

One of the most significant stumbling blocks with mortgage refinance is the mountain of paperwork required by the new lender. The next big issue is costs. By the time a borrower takes into account what they will need to pay their current lender to part ways – it is often cheaper to stay.

Damian Smith, RateCity CEO, said switching barriers remained a key...