Having a mortgage is cool. Or it must be, because the trends show that we Australians are much more in love with mortgages than we were two decades ago. Reserve Bank statistics on mortgage debts, which they only began to record in 1990, show that our thirst for mortgages has been increasing at a rapid pace. Who would’ve thought that this thing we complain about so often is actually something we can’t get enough of?.... Keep Reading »

This time round, sadly, the Reserve Bank hasn’t surprised us: at this morning’s March meeting the powers that be announced that they would be raising the official cash rate by 25 points to 4.0 per cent, effective from tomorrow. After the surprise announcement in February that the cash rate wouldn’t rise – despite pretty much everyone in Australia being certain it would – the Reserve Bank has continued with the expected trend of having several rate rises during this year and now we’re going to have to start paying a bit more on our mortgages..... Keep Reading »

If you’re not a member of the Australian mortgage (chain) gang yet, a study released this week might be bad news for you. According to the quarterly Housing Industry Association-Commonwealth Bank first home buyer affordability index study which was just published, affordability for buying a house (and the accompanying mortgage) in Australia has got worse again, and first home buyers might really struggle to break into the market. The statistics are quite shocking: the December quarter shows a fall of 18.4 per cent in affordability of housing for first home buyers, a huge drop especially when seen next to the annual fall of 22.3 per cent..... Keep Reading »

Are you one of the increasing number of Australian home loan holders who are having problems making their mortgage repayments? Apparently the number of people getting into trouble with their mortgages is on the rise, according to data released earlier this week. Not only that, the prediction is that it’s only going to get worse..... Keep Reading »

I may not always be a big fan of politicians – from any party – but any politician who tells my bank not to raise my mortgage interest rate has got to be okay in my books. That’s what the federal treasurer Wayne Swan has been saying this week after a big government announcment on the ending of bank funding guarantees..... Keep Reading »

Despite many predictions to the contrary, the Reserve Bank of Australia met today and decided not to raise the official cash rate again. Good news, and quite unexpected, for all of us mortgage holders out there who had been expecting to see another rise in interest rates..... Keep Reading »

There are many different variations on mortgages and home loans out there for you to choose from, but two kinds which have some distinct differences are a regular mortgage and a line of credit (also known as a home equity loan). Just before I bought my first home a few years ago, I got a tip that a line of credit might be the right kind of loan for me. If you want to know if it’s right for you too, then read on..... Keep Reading »

If you’re looking to get your first mortgage, or even to refinance, you’ll most likely have a meeting with a lender or mortgage broker – someone who’s an expert in mortgages and home loans. The problem is these experts sometimes forget that we’re not all experts, and they might bamboozle you with mortgage terminology or bank jargon that starts to make little sense. But it’s really important that you understand what they’re going on about – this is your money, and most probably it’s quite a lot of your money..... Keep Reading »

I don’t know which is scarier: choosing your first house, or choosing your first mortgage. Of course, these are exciting times, but they are big decisions that have a significant impact on your future, so these choices should definitely not be made lightly..... Keep Reading »

It’s official: the Christmas interest rate rise pretty much the whole of Australia was expecting came through in last week’s Reserve Bank announcement. From 2 December 2009, the official cash rate was raised by 25 basis points to 3.75 per cent, just as anticipated..... Keep Reading »

The Reserve Bank is getting ready to, by all accounts, give us an un-Christmas present later on today. Like we suggested a couple of weeks ago, an interest rate rise in December looks like something no smart money would bet against.

While we won’t know for sure until the middle of Tuesday afternoon whether or not the Reserve Bank has decided to raise interest rates, apparently many Australians are already planning for an interest rate rise. According to a survey written up by the Sydney Morning Herald, more than half of the respondents (56%) claimed that because of the likelihood of interest rate rises on their mortgage, they were already planning to scale back their spending on Christmas gifts and the holiday season in general. Apparently, one in three people intend to put extra money into their mortgage repayments or credit card debt over the holiday season too, and you might want to check around to find out if your family and friends belong to the one in seven respondents who said they would be asking for gifts of money instead of material items.

The likely interest rate rise to come out of the Reserve Bank meeting is another 25 basis points, according to most commentators, which means the cash rate would rise to 3.75 per cent. Judging on their recent behaviours, it would look likely that the major banks will pass on the same quarter of a per cent rise, and that will mean nearly $50 a month more to pay on the average mortgage of $300,000. The sentiment around the place is that this won’t be the last rate rise, either, so plenty of mortgage holders, or those looking to sign up for a new mortgage soon, will be realising they have to tighten up their spending over a time of the year when we traditionally go a little crazy at the cashier..... Keep Reading »

With mortgage interest rates starting to rise, a lot of people are starting to think about buying their first property or upgrading to their next home. With a good chance that interest rates will rise again before Christmas, the media is getting on board too with plenty of surveys, advice and features about who will be buying, where, and how they will afford to pay their mortgage back..... Keep Reading »

You know how people always ask if you want the good news first, or the bad? That seems to suggest good and bad news always come together, and this week that seems to be true again. Let’s start with the good news in Australia: unemployment figures are looking healthy..... Keep Reading »

While Australians are still enjoying mortgage rates a lot lower than past years, that interest rate figure is creeping up. Last week, while many Australians were distracted from some kinds of money matters by the more pressing issue of how much money they could win on the Melbourne Cup, the big four banks raised their variable mortgage interest rates to match the official 25 basis point increase from the Reserve Bank..... Keep Reading »

The recap of mortgage, home loan and housing news in Australia..... Keep Reading »