In just three months since APRA pushed for tougher lending criteria, interest-only home loans have now dropped to a historic low of 16.9% of new lending, from 30.5% in June.
It’s not uncommon for the average Aussie to experience financial stress, particularly with their mortgage, but recent figures from the National Cities Performance Dashboard has revealed that 1 in 10 Western Sydney households have been hit the hardest with ‘mortgage stress’.
It’s been a tough year for interest-only borrowers with APRA’s crackdown on risky lending, but a recent analysis from Morgan Stanley has found interest-only borrowers guilty of poor money management and a risk to financial institutions.
As a Director at comparison site Mozo.com.au, I consider myself to be pretty on top of my finances. So you can imagine the shock I got recently when reviewing my home loan rate to find that it had become seriously uncompetitive.
The festive season is fast approaching, and lenders are certainly getting into the Christmas spirit, with 30 lenders lowering rates on variable rate home loans since the beginning of October, Mozo data shows.
The pressure to meet tighter lending criteria is not a worry for many Victorian first homebuyers who now occupy 18.5% of the market first time in four years, according to recent figures by the Housing Industry Association and the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The property market is a tough game for many Aussies simply after the Australian dream, however, new research by St.George has revealed that not all Aussies take on the same battle.
The Bank of England recently raised interest rates in the UK for the first time in ten years, and Mozo Data Manager Peter Marshall has said Australia could be next in line for an increase.
Australians may soon be rewarded for their good credit history with cheaper home loan and credit card rates under a new initiative set to be announced by Treasurer Scott Morrison at the Intersekt fintech festival in Melbourne later today.
In an effort to put an end to ‘liar loans’, Westpac have revealed they will now be enforcing a tougher lending process to potential homeowners looking for a home loan with the big bank.