News Archive for August 2015

Victorians will be offered door to door installation of energy saving light bulbs, stand-by power boards and other energy efficient devices for lighting, heating and hot water for another five years reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

Australia may be one of the world’s largest suppliers of coal, however if Australia’s major cities follow in the footsteps of Canberra, we could see our greenhouse gas emissions drop considerably.

Following the state’s efforts towards better regulation of its real estate industry, vendors selling property in New South Wales may soon be required to bear a cost for the process.

A hybrid energy trial will be conducted by Ergon Energy from September in 33 Regional Queensland homes, to determine whether solar battery-powered homes could be the way of the future.

An investigation into interest-only mortgage lending by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has revealed a high level of non-compliance among lenders and brokers with responsible lending obligations when arranging interest-only mortgages.

Melbourne has once again taken out the coveted title of the ‘World’s Most Liveable City’ in The Economist’s liveability rankings for an unprecedented fifth year in a row.

According to research released by American Express, over 60% of Australian small businesses are losing out on rewards from an estimated $15.6 billion every year just because they are using forms of payment that don’t attract rewards.

With the rise of home sharing platforms like AirBnB, travellers can jetset overseas and live like the locals at an affordable price. However, there is a risk of booking accommodation through online home share sites, in the form of internet scams says eGlobal Travel Media.

Public trust in both the major banks and the commitment of their boards to put member’s interests first remains low in Australia, a recent Industry Super Australia survey has shown.

While the Australian property market has been thriving thanks to the low interest rate environment, the Housing Industry Association has released a report which predicted the residential building boom would come to an end.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has launched a $5 billion equity raising to boost its balance sheet in response to new regulatory requirements. The bank has also posted a full-year cash profit of $9.14 billion.

Since it started its operations in Australia last November, peer to peer lender RateSetter, has written $7 million of loans with investors committing to an average funding of just over $6000.

Latest figures from the RBA show Australians are saving 25% less than they were 3 years ago.

Insurance provider RACV has issued a reminder to landlords in Victoria to ensure they vigorously screen prospective tenants after new data revealed that at least one Victorian property is maliciously damaged every day.

While your credit card balance is probably the last thing you want to think about mid way through the work week, did you know you could potentially save yourself hundreds, even thousands of dollars by making the credit card switch?

Westpac announced on Tuesday that it has made a “commercial decision” to cut off from payday lenders. The move comes after the bank was in the news earlier this year with a number of media reports linking it to payday lenders that have acted unethically or unlawfully.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has met the expectations of Australian economists and left the official cash rate at a record low 2% at today’s board meeting.

When you’re on the hunt for a home your first call of action is probably to search online property engines like realestate.com.au and domain.com.au. Now UBank has introduced an app that works in the same way by using RP Data to allow home seekers to search for properties that have been sold in the past 10 years.

The Property Council of Australia welcomed comments from Treasurer Joe Hockey reported in the Weekend Australian that there is “no merit” in changing negative gearing for residential property.