News Archive for May 2015

According to the latest results of the HIA New Home Sales Report, new home sales continued to see an upward trend in April, making it a fourth consecutive monthly rise for this year.

In a bid to boost small businesses, the recent Budget has unveiled a number of tax measures including a fall in the tax rate of all incorporated small businesses from the current 30% to 28.5% from 1 July 2015.

Non-bank lenders are expected to benefit from the interest that will come from investor borrowers. This is a consequence of loans from the Big 4 banks running thin due to the pressure from APRA.

The Aussie love for cruising hit a new high with the latest numbers revealing that more than one million Australians went on a cruise holiday in 2014.

Smartphone shopping is becoming increasingly popular with 43% of Australians shopping on their mobile phones in the last 12 months, according to a research commissioned by ING DIRECT. With online shopping trending high, it’s hardly surprising that the use of cash is seeing a dip. More than 50% of people said they use cash less than they did one year ago, and expect to use it even less in the next 12 months.

New research by Morgan Stanley predicts that the value of loans made through peer-to-peer lending (P2P) platforms in Australia will increase to $22 billion in the next five years.

A new analysis has indicated that after the federal government’s proposed changes to the pension, people with average incomes or below could lose more than $100,000 over the course of their entire retirement period. This means that middle Australia could be worst hit by the changes.

With 9.8% of Perth locals planning to buy or build a new house or property in the 12 months to March 2015, Roy Morgan research has predicted Perth may become Australia’s next hot property hub.

Aussie retirement savings are being drained by underperforming bank owned super funds, after new data by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) revealed that average annual returns to industry super funds in the not for profit sector have been higher compared to bank owned super funds over the past 11 years.

Aussie consumers have had a positive reaction to the RBA rate cut and the announcement of the Federal Budget 2015, by increasing their spending. The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence report said that consumer confidence had jumped 3.6% last week to 114.6 to the highest level since early November.

With the growth of imitation taxi services across Australia like uberX, the Australian Tax Office has announced that drivers on ride-hailing platforms will now have to declare their earnings and pay GST.

Online banking has become increasingly common over the years, but unfortunately, so have phishing attacks. It is very important to secure your bank account details, because instances of phishing attacks are one of the most common scams reported to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

The 2015 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index by the World Economic Forum has been released, revealing the countries that effectively use their travel and tourism sector to drive sustainable economic and social benefits.

As ski season approaches, news.com.au has reported that Aussie skiers are putting themselves at risk by “shunning” travel insurance despite increasing snow-sport related injury rates.

Australia is in for a mini baby boom with the birth rate expected to rise by 6.4% over the next five years. According to the business information analysts at IBISWorld, this is good news for a number of industries that are set to grow between 3.0% to 36.2% thanks to the newborns.

The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) has released some of the strangest requests its travel agents have received over the last year and unsurprisingly many of them were made by brides and grooms-to-be.

Women find themselves more stressed about financial matters than men, reveals the fifth ANZ financial literacy report.

With Aussie cities like Adelaide and Melbourne topping international travel bucket lists in 2015, it has never been a better time to travel domestically. And you can do it on the cheap with Tigerair’s enticing airfare sale for domestic return flights this mid-year from just $17.

The federal budget announced on Tuesday had some good news for parents with young children, but it is sure to disappoint couples expecting a child.

If you’re a small business owner, you probably have nothing but praise for last night’s Federal Budget announcement, which introduced the first small business tax cut in 13 years.

With just a little over six weeks to go until the end of financial year, it’s the perfect time to start planning your tax return to keep yourself ahead of the game. Here is a week by week checklist to make sure you’re not losing some of your precious salary just because you left it too late.

With savings account rates dropping consistently over the last year, one thing's clear - it’s not the best time to stash all your money in a savings account.

With last year’s Federal Budget announcement dubbed by many as a “political disaster”, this time round Joe Hockey has ensured his second budget would not receive the same fate.

Last week the Mozo team carefully watched the home loan market to see whether the banks would pass on the full RBA 25 basis point rate reduction.

The first of a series of reports entitled Future Leaders Index 2015 has found that prohibitive property prices in Australia are causing more Gen Yers to turn to the “Bank of Mum and Dad” to fund their property dreams.

After the RBA announced a record low cash rate of 2% last week, the demand for fixed rate home loans has seen a rise. With borrowers keen to take advantage of the rate cut, Mozo saw a huge lift of 350% in visits to its fixed rate loan pages last week compared to the previous month.

A new report by Master Builders that focuses on the importance of non-mining investment to rebalance the economy like housing and the building industry, has shown that builders across Australia are looking to tomorrow’s Budget announcement to lift business confidence and drive the building industry.

While the Reserve Bank of Australia dropped the official cash rate by 25 basis points to a record low 2% at Tuesday’s board meeting, Australia’s biggest banks the Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and NAB have only passed on a portion of the RBA rate cut.

Real Insurance has taken out top honours in the Mozo People’s Choice Insurance Awards, being named Australia’s Best Car Insurer based on the reviews of almost 10,000 insurance customers.

The Commonwealth Bank declared its unaudited March quarter results, announcing cash earnings of about A$2.2 billion. The results were mostly unchanged compared to the same period in 2014.

ANZ has declared a half year cash profit of $3.7 billion, which is a little ahead of what analysts were predicting. The news of the bank’s net profit growth of 3% comes right after Westpac announced a flat net profit of $3.6 billion, for the first half, which remained unchanged from the same period last year. The bank also reported a 4% increase in the interim dividend to 86 cents a share.

With the Reserve Bank of Australia cutting the official cash rate to a record low 2% at yesterday’s May board meeting, the question on everyone’s lips is - will home loan lenders follow suit? <>

It’s good news for homeowners this May with the Reserve Bank of Australia cutting the official cash rate from 2.25% to a record low 2% at today’s board meeting.

With Mother’s Day just around the corner, it’s a good time to thank your mum for all the precious wisdom she has passed on to you. A new study by St.George bank reveals that one in five (22%) of the women surveyed learnt their lessons in finance and budgeting from their mother, while more than half (54.2%) women used the Internet to teach themselves the tricks of the trade.

We know you would never leave it to the last minute to search for the perfect gift to buy for the special woman in your life this Mother’s Day. So we wouldn’t have to remind you that Mother’s Day this year is Sunday May 10.

Westpac Group today announced a First Half 2015 net profit of $3.6 billion which is unchanged from the same period last year.

It will be a jolly Christmas for homeowners across Sydney, if predictions by Domain Group ring true with the median Sydney house price tipped to reach $1 million by the end of the year.

Navigating the inner city streets can be tricky with everything from tight laneways to small parking spots, so it’s no wonder that small car sales have increased by 15% in the first three months of 2015, according to news.com.au.