Are you cutting back on Christmas festivities this year? You’re not the only one. As Aussies grapple with rocketing interest rates, they’re choosing between a Christmas feast and paying the mortgage or rent. St Vincent De Paul says that 761,000 children and their families are struggling to pay essential bills and put food on the …
More Aussies seek financial help during the holiday season Read More »
In the past, credit cards were used for frequent flyers or emergency spenders. Now, the everyday Aussie is using it for survival. Finder.com found that 15 per cent of Aussies have signed up for a credit card in the last twelve months alone. And guess how much we have spent using this paperless currency? $34.7 …
Aussies need a way out. Are credit cards the answer? Read More »
As a season of fixed rates ends, lots of Aussies are scrambling to make ends meet. And that means one thing: people are refinancing. With a slew of people comparing lenders to get the best rate possible, Aussies did $20.60 billion in refinancing this August. For comparison, that’s 12.4% higher than August 2022. So basically, …
The great Australian dream of owning your own home feels a little far-fetched right now. But it doesn’t have to be. Because the federal government’s Home Guarantee Scheme (HGS) means first home buyers (and even those who haven’t owned a property in 10 years), might only need a 5 per cent deposit to purchase their …
In positive news for home owners, the Aussie real estate market has finally swung in their favour. Why? Because after months of seeing forlorn ‘For Sale’ signs on empty houses, sold stickers are going up. And, according to CoreLogic, the combined value of Australian real estate reached $10 trillion at the end of August. The …
10 Trillion Reasons to Refinance for Aussie Home owners Read More »
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 …
Albanese government sets ambitious homebuilding target Read More »
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 …
“No solution on horizon” for tight rental market Read More »
“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 …
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 …
Lenders have not passed on all of the RBA’s rate hikes Read More »
