Mortgage stress is a “cancer”, says Wizard Home Loan’s Mark Bouris, and it’s moving from the battler suburbs to the affluent people in places like Bondi. A joint survey by Wizard Home Loans and Fujitsu Consulting has found that 784,000 of Australia’s 8 million households suffer from some form of mortgage stress, a rise of …
Mortgage stress is at its highest in New South Wales, according to the Trends in Australian RMBS Collateral: 2004 -2007 report. The report analysed around a million mortgages totalling $178 billion, and found that 0.66 per cent of mortgages in NSW were 90 days past due, triple the rate of the rest of Australia. The …
“I think the industry as a whole is facing a similar situation that funding costs day-by-day are continuing to increase; it’s just a fact of the market. The fact of the matter is, over time, interest rates being charged will increase unless we see significant drops in rates both internationally and locally.” – Ralph Norris, …
There was a really interesting article on 60 Minutes tonight covering the sub-prime crisis in America and the possibility of a similar situation taking place here in Australia en masse. If you missed it, here’s the full transcript for the 60 Minutes piece, “House of cards”.
Mortgage stress is the big word for 2008, and it’s generally defined as what happens to you if your mortgage repayment is more than 30% of your net income. So if you bought a home in Brisbane for $500,000, with a mortgage of $400,000, your weekly repayments would be about $775. If you want that …
They’re doing it tough in the USA at the moment, with a massive number of properties being hit by foreclosure (what we call, “mortgagee repossession”). In California, one in three home resales are the result of foreclosures. Have a look at this video, where an American estate agent drives around the streets of Atlanta, Georgia, …
Ok, so just ignore what I’ve said previously – interest rates have gone up. But will it have any impact on property prices here in Brisbane? Well, I’ve spoken with a couple of agents about this, and they felt that there would be no real drop in the property market. The bottom end of the …
The Reserve Bank will meet in Sydney today to chat about interest rates. With petrol prices heading skyward, it is expected that the Board will play a little cautiously and keep things stable for the time being. However, inflation is up to 3 per cent, which has currency traders anticipating an interest rate hike. Which …
Property prices might be dropping in some areas, but apparently home buyers are now borrowing more against their property value. According to a study by mortgage broker Australian Finance Group, buyers are borrowing 71.5 percent of the home’s value, more than 5 points higher than in January 2005. Clearly people aren’t too concerned about the …