The recap of this weeks mortgage, home loan and housing news in Australia.

The top stories for the week ending 02/03/08:

Brace for it
The Australian
Paul Kelly writes the Rudd Government’s first term will be shaped by its policy response to the economic challenge, unmatched in severity since the beginning of the Reserve Bank’s era of independence……In order to bring inflation under control the RBA intends to impose a growth slowdown on Australia that will dampen domestic demand, involve more interest rate increases during the next six months, intensify the price pressures on working Australian families and increase the unemployment rate by a significant extent. View Story »

Banks pass rate-hike pain on to borrowers
Sydney Morning Herald
Interest rates are set to rise by up to 0.4 percentage points within weeks of the Reserve Bank board meeting on Tuesday pushing the monthly repayments on a 25-year $250,000 mortgage up by $69 writes David Potts. The rise in rates prediction based upon the expected hike by the Reserve Bank this Tuesday by .25% and and increase in the cost on the money market of0.1 to 0.15% which the banks are expected to pass on. View Story »

Non-prime loans higher: analyst
MySmallBusiness - Fairfax
A leading mortgage industry analyst warns the level of non-prime home lending in Australia may be much higher than previously acknowledged writes Andrew Linden. Mortgage industry analyst Martin North, from Fujitsu Consulting, says he believes the level of ‘non-prime’ loans - including sub-prime, non-conforming and credit-impaired loans - has been exacerbated by mortgage brokers ‘’sexing-up” loan applications. View Story »

Reverse with care
The Age
Anne Lampe ploughs through some of the ins and outs of reverse mortgages covering two recent studies from SEQUAL and ASIC indicating there is little customer understanding of the product. View Story »

Bricks and mortified
The Age
Annette Sampson looks for the answer to the question that many investors asking - is it time to move from the share market to the property market? Responses to the question come from Monique Wakelin, a director of Wakelin Property Advisory; Craig James of CommSec; Shane Oliver, AMP Economist; Robert Keavney, of Centric Wealth; Angie Zigomanis, of BIS Shrapnel;. And with a line up like that it is a must read for the puzzled investor. View Story »

Property: Rates, yields and street smarts
Smart Company
Monique Wakelin writes: interest rates are rising faster and higher than many property investors may have foreseen and in this climate it is crucial to concentrate on an investment strategy that focuses on the relationship between interest rates and rental yields. View Story »

Are house prices set to boom following the share rout?
AMP - Oliver’s Insights
Dr Shane Oliver, Head of Investment Strategy & Chief Economist at AMP writes in his current report: Australia has a shortage of housing, but against this it is very overvalued, affordability is terrible, mortgage stress is at record levels and interest rates are rising. The most likely outlook for Australian house prices remains for modest gains on average, with this masking a very mixed picture depending on the area. View Story »

Home loans a far from simple affair
The Age
Kevin Davis takes a look at the some of the complexities for consumers in comparing home loans and some of the pros and cons of the comparison rate. View Story »

Fitch foresees credit squeeze coming
The Sheet
Fitch Ratings has added its voice to the growing consensus that Australia is heading into a credit squeeze. The ratings agency believes local banks may have to start rationing loans before the year is out. View Story »