The Reserve Bank of Australia board has cut the official interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.25 per cent, giving mortgage holders and borrowers a pre-Christmas reprieve. The RBA announced the rate cut at 2.30pm AEDT today following the board’s final meeting for the year. It’s the second interest rate cut in as many [...]

Read Full Post »

A FRESH round is likely to begin in the mortgage price war with Commonwealth Bank pledging to beat any advertised rate among its three big rivals. The pledge has hallmarks of the ”unbeatable” campaign launched by National Australia Bank in New Zealand, a move that spurred on home lending but crunched margins among banks. The [...]

Read Full Post »

A week ago experts were warning interest rates were going up. Now lenders are cutting them.Sydney-based banks – Commonwealth, Westpac and St George – led the pack yesterday reducing their interest rates on fixed-term loans.The fixed-term rates offered by these lenders are now well below the average discount variable rates which rise and fall with [...]

Read Full Post »

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has spared borrowers an interest rate rise, leaving the cash rate at 4.75 percent in a widely expected move. The Reserve Bank last increased the overnight cash rate in November 2010 to 4.75 percent from 4.5 percent and most economists still expect a rate rise this year. “We expect [...]

Read Full Post »

These days getting the best deal from your lender is of high importance to many property owners. In fact, switching lenders can save you thousands of dollars and make your lending arrangements more flexible. “Banking competition is certainly strong and that provides borrowers with a host of options,” said Madeleine Hicks of LJ Hooker Everton [...]

Read Full Post »

The Federal Governments ban on home loan exit fees is causing confusion in the market place with many borrowers not understanding that the ban only applies to loans entered into after July 1, 2011. “Borrowers must be mindful that their existing loans may have an exit fees clause and as such the financial institution is [...]

Read Full Post »

The head of the Bank of Queensland has warned that Queensland’s economy is at its weakest level in the past five years due to falling tourism and deflated real estate values, and that any additional interest rate hike would only serve to cause more damage, according to a report by The Australian. David Liddy added [...]

Read Full Post »

The warning by Standard & Poor’s on Friday that it could downgrade the credit ratings of banks with exposure to the Queensland floods shows that the floods will continue to wreak havoc on business for a long time yet.Share prices of Suncorp and Bank of Queensland fell after the Standard & Poor’s warning, and in [...]

Read Full Post »

Well reader, I have to say it, today your editor read the most ridiculous article we’ve ever read on Australia’s now-popped house price bubble.And believe me, that takes some doing.  There’s been a heck of a lot of rubbish written over the years, but the article we read today trumps the lot.What makes it worse [...]

Read Full Post »

The big four banks have fattened their margins while complaining about being squeezed, new figures reveal. As Parliament prepares to debate legislation forcing banks to lift rates by no more than the Reserve Bank, figures from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority indicate the average rate paid by the big banks on money they borrowed rose [...]

Read Full Post »