It’s official. After months of speculation it finally happened. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) raised interest rates by 0.25 percent. It’s the first interest rate rise since November 2010 and for a generation of home loan borrowers, rising interest rates may come as something of a shock. While it’s true this small rise of just 0.1 percent takes the cash rate to a still tiny 0.35 percent, more rate rises have been predicted between now and the end of 2022. Not to mention if you’ve never had to grapple with rising interest rates, you’re in for a steep learning […]

Should I fix my home loan in 2022? Fixed vs Variable home loans With the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) flagging an imminent interest rate rise, should you be fixing your home loan interest rate now before it’s too late? For the last few years, while the world’s economies battled against the pandemic, the RBA reassured Aussie home buyers that our historically low interest rates would remain as they are until at least 2024. Despite the voices of doom and gloom, and with the official cash rate remaining at just 0.10%, the always robust Australian property market went into hyper-drive. […]

Interest rates are low. House prices are soaring. So why did APRA make changes to lending rules now? And who is likely to be affected? The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) recently wrote to banks advising they must increase their buffer rate on home loans from 2.5 to 3 percentage points. And they only have until October 31 to comply. With interest rates remaining at record lows and house prices soaring, you might ask why APRA decided to make it harder for people to borrow money and why are they doing this now. It can be frustrating to navigate the changes and require considerable effort […]

Get ahead of the competition to buy your dream property One of the unexpected fallouts of the COVID-19 pandemic is the effect it’s had on the Australian property market.  Initially Aussies were concerned about the Australian economy and braced themselves for property values to tumble. And although there was some initial trepidation by first home buyers and investors, the mind blowing landslide just didn’t happen. Not only did the market rally after a brief dip, sections of it have been breaking records. With Australian house prices soaring in 2021 in many parts of the country. According to CoreLogic, Melbourne’s median […]

A common misconception is that only millionaires can afford to buy investment properties. In reality, people with a relatively low income can still buy investment properties, but will just need to plan carefully and be creative when starting their portfolio. If you’ve got a low income but big property investment dreams, we’ve got some tips to help. Find a loan that is friendly to investors Low income earners will take longer to save for a deposit, meaning a loan is essential for buying an investment property. The tables are further turned against low income earners because some lenders will demand […]