Home loan news and advice

Australian home loan approvals fell in January following a series of interest rate hikes.

Property investors are making up a growing proportion of home loan applicants and recipients.

Homeowners on the Gold Coast are looking to upgrade their properties despite rising interest rates, according to the mortgage broker Loan Market.

Aussies must work almost three times harder to pay off the average family mortgage than they did 50 years ago.

More than one quarter of Australians looking to buy their first home in the next two years will give up on the purchase if interest rates rise by another two percentage points, a new survey has shown.

The Reserve Bank’s decision to raise the official cash rate this week will make it even more difficult for first home buyers to enter the property market, it has been claimed.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has raised the official cash rate for the first time this year.

Homeowners who try to refinance their mortgage risk incurring a rising number of exit fees, a commentator has said.

ANZ, Australia’s third largest bank, has recorded a 16 per cent surge in the company’s underlying earnings for the first four months of the 2010 financial year.

A growing number of Australians are choosing to share the costs of home ownership by buying property with their friends and family, it has been revealed.

Commonwealth Bank is set to offer cash payouts and home loan cuts to clients of Storm, the recently collapsed Queensland investment broker.

National Australia Bank is considering plans to begin pricing residential mortgages according to the risk profile of individual borrowers.

Aussie Home Loans has been named as one of Australia’s top ten fastest growing franchises in BRW Magazine’s annual Fast Franchises list.

The federal government is taking steps to promote competition in the home loan market, treasurer Wayne Swan has said.

Mortgage holders can save money by investing their spare cash in a home loan offset or redraw facility it has been claimed.

Housing affordability fell dramatically at the end of 2009, it has been revealed.

House prices in Melbourne’s outer suburbs rose dramatically last year and will continue to increase this year, it has been claimed.

New laws to be brought in next year will mean that credit reports record more "bad behaviour" like late payments on credit cards or utility bills, a commentator has said.

Homebuyers are in nearly twice as much debt as they were five years ago, new figures show.

Australians who are considering buying their first home should do it now, an expert has said.

Last year saw a record number of Australians enter the property market for the first time.

Bank customers will struggle to secure 100 per cent home loans, an industry group has said.

Westpac has announced high profit figures for the end of last year, proving that it is still a popular choice among Australians.

Monthly repayments on an average home loan will rise by between $250 and $500 by the end of the year, an expert has predicted.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) decided to fix interest rates this month so that it could judge the impact of earlier rate rises on the economy, it has been revealed.

AMP, a second-tier mortgage lender, has cut interest rates in a sign that borrowers are benefiting from a return to competition in the mortgage market.

Mortgage sizes are significantly outgrowing property price rises and wage increases.

Credit underwriting standards for home loans will tighten further this year, a study has suggested.

The Western Australian state government has injected an extra $25 million into its low-cost home loan scheme as part of a major policy overhaul.

Home loan approvals fell for a third consecutive month in December, reflecting dwindling confidence among potential new home buyers.