First-home buyers to take advantage of new government scheme in 2020
There could be 20,000 first-home buyers in 2020 who buy their property with a deposit of as little as 5 per cent under the new federal government home loan deposit guarantee scheme. The number [...]
New depreciation legislation for Australian property investors
In one of the most dramatic changes to property depreciation legislation in more than 15 years, Parliament has passed the Treasury Laws Amendment (Housing Tax Integrity) Bill 2017 as at Wednesday 15th November 2017, with [...]
Lenders blacklist more than 100 suburbs in new apartment crackdown
Big banks are set to announce tougher measures to crack down on high rise apartment purchases including blacklisting more than 100 Brisbane suburbs, doubling the minimum apartment to qualify for funding, evidence of rental cash [...]
How to get the best deal on your home loan interest rate today
HOME loan customers are reveling in record-low interest rates but many could be missing out on nabbing rock-bottom deals by failing to pay attention. The Reserve Bank of Australia has kept the cash rate [...]
Fewer poor performing super funds – but banks still worst offenders
The latest annual report on 'fat cat' superannuation and managed funds by online investment platform, Stockspot, shows an 18 percent fall in the number of poor-value funds from last year. However, funds owned by the big banks [...]
Transition to retirement strategies are down but not out
TAX incentives for pre-retirees have been watered down dramatically this year but there’s still a chance to grab extra cash and other financial benefits. Lucrative transition to retirement pensions, which allowed people aged over 56 [...]
Scammers pretending to be from NBN or ATO are after your money
SCAMMERS impersonating government agencies are sharpening their methods to steal money and information from consumers. A fresh warning has come from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission about a surge in National Broadband Network impersonators, [...]
Getting a CBA home loan just got even harder
Australians will find it harder to take out new home loans with the Commonwealth Bank after the lender tightened repayment tests for borrowers. When customers with an existing CBA home loan apply for a new [...]
Westpac raises interest-only rates as mortgage stress heightens
Westpac is the latest lender to put up interest rates, increasing pressure on interest-only borrowers. The bank yesterday announced it would increase rates on interest-only variable home loans by 34 basis points to 5.83%, and [...]
Not in their interest: The home loan borrowers that have been left out to dry
There is a hidden and worrying risk lurking for a particular set of mortgage borrowers, whose level of financial stress is about to get a whole lot worse. It's those home owners with interest-only loans [...]