No Picture
Australian Housing

Investor mortgage rates rise on confirmation of housing bubble

Nine banks have today hiked interest rates, out-of-cycle, on regulators confirmation of a housing bubble. On Monday, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) chairman Greg Medcraft remarked “I’ve been saying for a while I thought it was a bubble, other people are catching up now,” The latest Australian Bureau

No Picture
Australian Economy

Australian Banks placed on Credit Watch Negative

Credit rating agency Fitch has placed Australia’s banks on a negative credit watch, citing an increase in macro-economic risks stemming from the property asset bubble. Fitch indicated a key risk for the banking system was the banks’ exposure to the overheated property market. Of special concerned is strong increases in

No Picture
Australian Economy

Up, up and away. Why are mortgage rates on the rise?

Australia’s property investors and debt slaves were in shock on Friday, when Westpac joined the ranks of smaller banks, significantly hiking mortgage rates out of cycle, on its fixed term loans. Westpac’s five year fixed investment loan will jump 60 basis points or 2.4 times the standard Reserve Bank increase

No Picture
Australian Economy

Systemic mortgage fraud under investigation

Australia’s unprecedented housing bubble has forced a significant number of mortgage applicants to falsify loan applications, simply to get a foothold in the ever challenging market. A recent UBS survey found mortgage fraud in Australia was rife, with 28 per cent of applicants admitting to falsifying loan documents. Many had

No Picture
Australian Economy

Australia’s big 4 banks “almost too big to get sick”

Australia’s banking regulator has expressed “perpetual concern” about the dominance of Australia’s big four banks in the lending market. Charles Littrell, Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) supervision general manager told a Centre for International Finance and Regulation showcase event on Thursday, “In 1990, the four major banks had 40 per

No Picture
Australian Housing

Commonwealth Bank second to hike rates

As expected, the Commonwealth Bank is today the second bank to hike interest rates out of cycle, notching rates up 15 basis points. ANZ and NAB are expected to follow. As did Westpac, the CBA blamed the rates decision on increased capital and regulatory requirements. (‘Banking regulator announces tighter capital

No Picture
Australian Housing

Westpac hikes interest rates

Westpac will hike mortgage rates by 20 basis points on the 20th of November, and in a win for savers, increase term deposit rates by 25 basis points come Friday. Australia’s other big banks could be expected to follow suit. Westpac has blamed the rates decision on increased capital and

No Picture
Australian Housing

AMP halts lending to property investors

AMP has today announced a freeze on lending to property investors while existing property investors can expect a 47 basis point increase in mortgage rates from the 7th September 2015. AMP Limited acknowledges the changes are in response to APRA’s crackdown on investor housing loan growth and will review the

No Picture
Australian Housing

ANZ first to hike mortgage rates for investors

ANZ is the first bank to move, increasing mortgage rates for investor loans by 27 basis points effective from August 10. The bank says it is following instructions from the banking regulator, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). On Monday APRA announced increases to average risk rates for Australian residential

No Picture
Australian Housing

Banks continue to curb investor lending

As widely expected, Australia’s central bank decided today to leave the official cash rate unchanged at 2.0 per cent. In the statement following the policy decision, the Reserve Bank, as it has done over the past couple of months, reiterated “The Bank is working with other regulators to assess and