Housing demand, award-winning insurance, parental pressures: All in this week’s best banking news

• Border closures decreases housing demand and rentals
• 2020 Mozo Experts Choice Awards for Insurance are announced!
• Raising children during a pandemic: Aussies feeling parental pressure 
• Meet NOW FINANCE’s new fee-free personal loan 
• Low income renters feeling energy hardship 
• People’s Choice Credit Union: where do basic home loans sit now?

All in this week’s best banking news: editor’s pick.

Housing market: lack of internationals pushes down rentals

New stats have revealed that border closures (as a result of COVID-19) are likely to decrease housing demand by 129,000 to 232,000 dwellings over the next three years. 

These numbers come from the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC), who predict that Australia’s population could fall by up to 214,000 between 2019 and 2021. 

For almost 13 years international migrants have accounted for almost 60% of our population growth. So with Aussie borders closed, there are many houses that are now empty. 

And it has affected renting prices across the inner areas of major cities - take Sydney and Melbourne for example: 

Sydney

• Darlinghurst: -25% 
• Haymarket: - 15% 
• The Rocks: -15% 

Melbourne

• CBD: -22% 
• Elwood: -20% 
• Southbank: -15% 

Read full article: Housing demand, rents fall as overseas migration comes to a halt for more from the NHFIC. 

Where can you get the best insurance? Check out the 2020 Mozo Experts Choice Award winners 

Looking to insure your home, investment property or your car? Stop your search because our experts have found the best policies on the market. 

This week, we dropped our 2020 Mozo Experts Choice Awards for Insurance across car, home and landlord insurance. 

“Insurance is one of those things you don't really want to have to pay for it until you need it, but if something happens and you can make a claim it can make a massive difference to how well you recover from a bad situation”,  Mozo Expert, Peter Marshall said.

”It is important to make sure you understand what a policy does (and does not) cover to get the right insurance for your situation.”

But who came out on top? There were two stand-out providers that took out the major awards this year: 

• Budget Direct: 2020 Car, Home and Landlord Value Insurer of the Year 
• NRMA: 2020 Car, Home and Landlord Quality Insurer of the Year 

Read full article: Mozo reveals the 2020 Experts Choice Awards for Insurance for a full rundown of this year’s winners.

Pandemic pressures: Aussie parents struggling with kids in lockdown

Being a parent can be hard work. But being a parent while working from home is a whole other challenge. 

One in three Aussie parents said they need their partner on parental leave to help share the duty of looking after kids during the pandemic, according to new stats from ING. 

The bank found that the top reasons parents feel this way were: 

• Limited contact with friends and family (65%) 
• Feeling isolated and lonely (59%) 
• Lack of down time from parenthood (56%) 

But it’s not all doom and gloom. In fact, 35% of Aussie dads said that their bosses are ‘more understanding’ of their parenting responsibilities. Plus, 33% reported that their colleagues are now ‘more compassionate’ after seeing family through video calls. 

Read full article: Parental pressures top of mind during pandemic, says ING and read what ING head of retail banking Melanie Evans says about the stats. 

Want to go fee-free on your personal loan? With NOW FINANCE you can!

Early in the week, NOW FINANCE unveiled a no fee feature on its Unsecured Personal Loan. 

The offer comes with no establishment, ongoing or early repayment fees and is for customers borrowing from $5,000 to $15,000. 

But for customers looking for a larger loan there is no fee-free option. Instead, they’ll face a $495 upfront fee as well as an ongoing $13 monthly service fee. 

According to the Mozo database, there are nine other lenders that have fee-free products. These include Alex, Citi, Credit Union SA, Liberty, MoneyPlace, Police Credit Union, SocietyOne, Southwest Slopes Credit Union and Sydney Mutual Bank.  

Read full article: NOW FINANCE drops fee-free personal loan to start comparing fee-free personal loans today. 

Energy costs tough on low income renters, says AHURI

A massive 40% of Aussie renters struggle with energy hardship, says research from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI).  

The stats showed that low income renters were amongst those most vulnerable, along with those with existing health issues or living in poor conditions. 

A major concern for renters when attempting to reduce energy costs is the quality of the dwellings they live in. For example, 18% of public renters and 14% of private renters struggled to stay warm over the winter months. 

Read full article: Low income renters struggle with energy costs, says AHURI and check out what Dr Lyrian Daniel from the University of Adelaide says about the findings. 

People’s Choice Credit Union cuts it’s basic home loan rate: how the rest of the market compares 

This week, People’s Choice Credit Union reduced it’s Basic Variable Home Loan rate from 2.69% (2.69% comparison rate*) to 2.49% (2.49% comparison rate*). 

According to the Mozo database, the average variable rate for a basic, owner occupier, principal and interest home loan is currently 3.15%. 

But while People’s Choice Credit Union’s rate sits a happy 0.66% below average, it just missed out on being one of the top five rates on offer. 

The top five variable rates right now for basic home loans: 

• Reduce Home Loans Super Saver Variable Home Loan: 2.04% (2.19% comparison rate*) 
• Firstmac Basic 80 (Broker Special) Home Loan: 2.19% (2.59% comparison rate*) 
• Homestar Star Essentials Home Loan: 2.29% (2.32% comparison rate*)
• Pacific Mortgage Group Standard Variable Home Loan: 2.44% (2.44% comparison rate*) 
• loans.com.au Smart Home Loan 80: 2.48% (2.50% comparison rate*) 

Read full article: People's Choice Credit Union cuts rate: where basic home loans sit now to find out how the big banks compare. 

Want to weigh up home loans right now? Check out the options below!