First major bank makes a move on rates

National Australia Bank has become the first major to move on rates, almost 24 hours after the Reserve Bank announced it would trim 25 basis points from the cash rate.According to an announcement from the company, NAB will trim just 20 basis points from its standard variable rate, taking it to 6.38 per cent

BIG 4 Gimmicks

Recent moves byNAB and Westpac to increase home loan competition, “gimmicks”. According to Sayer, home loan discounting by major banks will add up to costs being passed on to consumers somewhere else.

“Banks have to maintain their profits. Unless they increase that bottom line year-in, year out, market share will drop and the CEOs won’t be paid out their bonuses,” he told Australian BrokerNews.

According to Sayer, the public may have seen the last of out-of-cycle rate moves for some time, but will be hit with charges elsewhere.

If your with the BIG 4 ask yourself Why…there are better deals out there.

RBA Says NO Rate Rises

Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens has moved to end the monthly round of speculation about higher interest rates, taking the unusual step of declaring he has no plans to increase them, perhaps not for a year.

”Market pricing at present has nothing much happening until quite late this year, which means they think nothing much is happening for some time,” Mr Stevens said.

If your Interest rate is not competitive give me a call or email to give your home loan a service.

Home Loan News Watch 27/04/2010. RBA will put the brake on rate hikes

Leading economists are predicting an extended pause on official interest rate rises as inflation pressures ease across the Australian economy. An AAP survey of financial market economists shows that inflation is expected to rise just 0.7% for the quarter, putting the annual figure at 3%.

 This would be inside the RBA’s target band and well down from the peak of 4.7% 18 months ago. Governor Glenn Stevens indicated that tomorrow’s release of the March quarter CPI figure would have a significant impact on the bank’s decisions over the next three months.

He added that interest rates were now “pretty close to average”. Access Economics warned, however, that inflation could build to 3.2% in 2011, driven by business activity and wage growth.

Home Loan Watch 23/04/10 Size of first homebuyer loans increases

Increased property prices have resulted in a boost to the size of loans taken out by first homebuyers.

A JP Morgan/Fujitsu report on the mortgage market shows that first homebuyers borrow an average of $280,000, about the same as established borrowers.

If interest rates were to rise to pre-GFC levels, first homeowners would be committing about 50% of their after-tax income to mortgage repayments, the report said.

Bank News Watch 20/4/2010 Rate rise not warranted

CBA released a new report today showing consumer spending in March was the strongest it has been in eight months.

The Commonwealth Bank Business Sales Indicator (BSI) rose 0.7% for the month. However, the bank warned that this was no excuse to raise official interest rates further, despite indications from the RBA that rates may go up again in May.

“While the latest figures appear solid, it’s important that the Reserve Bank doesn’t overreact,” CBA executive general manager of local business banking Symon Brewis-Weston said. “Interest rates have lifted sharply since late last year, and the effects are being felt, with housing loans down five months in a row.”

The BSI recorded an increase in sales in all states and territories. The ACT topped the list with 1.2% growth, followed by Western Australia on 1.1%. Sales growth in NSW and Tasmania was a more sluggish 0.6%.

Bank News Watch 12/04/2010 Refinancing out of Big 4 on the rise.

Who’s your home loan lender?……and are they looking after your cash flow.  Call me for a Home Loan Health check, obligation free.

Not only is there an increase in borrowers refinancing out of loans from the Big Four, but it comes with a fresh demand for capped interest rate loans. These observations support newly-released AFG Mortgage Index data that found a peak in refinancing activity of 37.2% last month – a two-year high. 

The data also found an increase in lending market share by the non-majors. observations indicate up-trends in refinance activity, with an increasing number of applications from borrowers moving away from the four major banks. There had also been an increased in capped interest rate enquiries.

Bank News Watch 7/4/2010 Home Loan Health Check Time

Changes to the official interest rate can present significant opportunities for consumers who have not already looked into refinancing options. Comparing home loans is not as simple as comparing rates alone. The levels of service offered by a lender, flexibility of repayments and other features of the loan must also be considered.

There are already clear signs that competition was returning to the lender market, with smaller banks and credit unions “making a strong comeback”. A whole range” of factors above and beyond the interest rate which could determine whether a home loan selected a few years ago still represented the best value today.

If your interested in saving your hard earned cash, I know you are, simply call me to see whats out there that might just save you giving your money to a bank.  CALL ME.

Bank News Watch 26/03/2010

Federal treasurer Wayne Swan has again slammed Westpac, claiming the bank has become a “serial offender” in “taking its customers for a ride”.

Referring to Westpac’s latest decision on credit card interest rates and its supersized home loan rate hike in December, Swan said this was “exactly why people don’t like the big banks”.

At 7.01%, Westpac’s variable home loan rate is the highest of all the major lenders. By contrast, Credit Union Australia announced yesterday it was cutting its variable rate by 25 basis points, opening up a yawning gulf between it and the big banks. CUA’s standard variable rate is now 6.37%, 0.64% lower than Westpac’s.

A professor of finance at the University of NSW, Fariborz Moshirian, told The Australian Financial Review that there was in fact no justification for extra rate rises by the banks, as international credit markets had settled in recent months.

It seems that the out of control , out of touch Westpac Bank  are about to burst………give them enough rope I say ?

General Discussions

Hello Friends, Colleagues, Clients well a technological marvel has arisen in the new discovery of Blogging for me.

If your viewing this and smilling I know you know the challenges that have been over come to get to this stage.

It is my intention to keep you my readers informed  in the world of residential lending , real estate and insurance topics as viewed by me  and my information sources. As you may or may not be aware this is my chosen path for my business and forms part of the plan to grow it.

I ask you to join me in my venture, contribute to the pool of  information and voice your opinions and share your wealth of knowledge.

Let the journey begin, but remember my motto    “Solutions not Excuses”