Consumers seem happy to haggle in foreign countries for knick-knacks and knock-offs, but real deals can be found right here on Australian soil. If you’re paying the sticker-price, you’re paying too much. Absolutely everything is up for negotiation – all you have to do is ask..... Keep Reading »
It’s been, for good reason, hard to see any news in Australia this past week other than the devastation and tragedy of the Queensland floods. As the clean-up and recovery begins, there are so many far-reaching consequences that it seems to me to be a constant surprise to see the numerous knock on effects these floods will have, not just for Queenslanders but for all Australians and even abroad. .... Keep Reading »
So, how do you plan to make the most of your money in 2011? The Herald Sun ran an interesting article this week about financial resolutions, divided up into some resolutions that each generation might want to make. For me as a generation X-er, they couldn’t have been more right, pinpointing many in my generation as people who’ve recently upgraded from a unit or smaller home to a larger suburban family home – with a matching bigger mortgage. Getting ahead of such a mortgage (or sometimes even just keeping up with it) can be hard when you have young kids and as in my case, only work part-time now. So trying to set some goals on how to get a little ahead with the mortgage is a good suggestion for a 2011 goal..... Keep Reading »
It’s not often we head into celebrity territory on the Mortgage Seek blog, but the big mortgage news this week is that former Aussie tennis champion Mark Philippoussis has become a victim of the mortgage stress plaguing many of the major Australian cities. Somehow it’s comforting to hear that the rest of us normal people are not alone in dealing with mortgage dramas, but that’s no doubt fairly small consolation to Mark Philippoussis..... Keep Reading »
Last week you might recall that I was sympathising with Sydney-siders who have the worst mortgage stress in Australia. Apparently a lot can happen in a week because the new figures are now showing that Sydney people are no longer the worst off – this dubious honour now goes to mortgage holders living in Brisbane, with those paying off home loans in Melbourne being very close behind. Of course, many Sydney mortgage holders are still struggling but they’re no longer top of the table!.... Keep Reading »
Will interest rates rise in the near future or won’t they … that’s the million dollar question and one we have mulled over a lot – even as recently as last week we were contemplating what the futures market had to say about the probability of the Reserve Bank raising the cash rate and banks following suit with hikes in home loan interest rates. Now let’s throw another variable into the mix: the value of the Australian dollar..... Keep Reading »
The experts are trying to make the mortgage situation in Australia sound all optimistic – they think interest rates won’t rise too much and they suggest that plenty of Australians are still able to cope well with an existing mortgage or to enter the home loan market for the first time. But just because Australia may not have been as badly affected by the global financial crisis as many other countries, that doesn’t mean that mortgages are easy for everyone, as news this week makes absolutely clear..... Keep Reading »
There are lots of interesting tidbits in Australian mortgage news this week, so without further ado:.... Keep Reading »
All too soon, it’s almost that time of the month again: the monthly meeting of the Reserve Bank of Australia where a bunch of people vote on whether or not to raise the official cash rate or not. They’ve done it often enough lately, with five rate rises in less than a year – admittedly from a point where rates where tantalisingly low, but still. Every rise means we have to dig a bit deeper in our pockets to make our monthly mortgage repayments and that still hurts..... 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 »
Almost as expected, at today’s RBA meeting the board has moved to increase the cash rate from 6.75% to 7.0% in the fight against inflation within the Australian economy. Prior to the meeting a raft of pleas from union leaders, community groups, government and opposition members asking the RBA to consider negative ramifications on those that are currently under mortgage stress and financial pressure. (more…)
Possibly Related Posts:
The weekly recap of mortgage, home loan and housing news in Australia.
The top stories for the week ending 23/09/07:
Houses lost because of too much bad debt
News.com.au
Peter Jean reports that families are losing their homes as mortgagee repossessions rise after over-burdening themselves with debt to pay for goods such as flat screen televisions. As per the article there were 2720 court applications for repossession of properties whose owners defaulted on mortgage repayments in Victoria in the year to June.
(more…)
Possibly Related Posts:
A recap of Australian Mortgage and Home loan news.
Recapping the top stories of the week up to 1/07/07:
(more…)
Possibly Related Posts:
Housing affordability has been on the radar this week with the release of the HIA (Housing Industry Association)/Commonwealth Bank Housing Affordability Index for the March 2007 Qtr.
Possibly Related Posts:
