News Archive for September 2013

On the back of RBA's warning, lenders are increasing the "buffers" used to assess borrowers ability to repay their mortgage, amongst concern that they may not be able to meet repayments when Australia's record low interest rates begin to rise again.

It's no secret that Australians love their cars but new research from CommBank has revealed that Australians' love of driving comes at a high price. On average, Australian's fork out $3,854 to run and maintain their car each year not including the costs associated with loan repayments or car depreciation.

There seems no end in sight to Sydney's property boom with last weekends 86% auction clearance rate making September the strongest month on record.

According to a recent survey conducted by Aussie Home Loans, the most important consideration for home buyers when they come to choose a new property is a good neighborhood.

With the Australian dollar now trading at well over 95 US cents, money savvy travelers will be locking in the savings with cost effective destinations and prepaid travel cards.

We've all heard the expression money can't buy happiness, but new research from The University of Western Sydney may have proved the reverse. It turns out that cheerfulness attracts money.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released a paper this week calling for tighter lending rules and lower LVRs to be introduced globally to prevent banks from fuelling housing bubbles. With Auction clearance rates at record levels and the value of homes in major cities up 5.84% on last quarter, the Australian property market recovery may be in full swing but the latest from the IMF and APRA could tamper the flame.

Australia's home buyers and investors are set to be the big winners as the big banks heat up their marketing efforts in a bid to grow their market share.

At its monthly meeting today, the Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia decided to leave the official interest rate untouched at 2.50%.