MORTGAGE LOANS – AUSTRALIA

Banks suffer as battle for home loans heats up

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Original article by Samantha Bailey
The Australian – Page: 21 : 20-Jun-19

Data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority shows that home loan approvals fell by 16.5 per cent year-on-year in the March quarter. The figures also show that the value of mortgage loans written by Australia’s major banks increased by just 2.6 per cent over the last year, compared with growth of eight per cent for customer-owned banks. The total assets of the latter increased by 1.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter, while the assets of the ‘big four’ banks declined by 0.4 per cent.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, CUSTOMER OWNED BANKING ASSOCIATION

Banks not passing on cut nothing new: Treasury

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Original article by Matthew Cranston, James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 7-Jun-19

Westpac and ANZ have been criticised for withholding part of the Reserve Bank’s official interest rate cut. The central bank has cut the cash rate a total of 19 times since 2008, and analysis by the Treasury shows that there have been 13 occasions when at least one of the four major banks failed to pass on the full rate. The banks have also reduced their rates by a higher margin than the official interest rate cut on several occasions since the global financial crisis.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Banks defy the Treasurer, RBA

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 5-Jun-19

Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has criticised the ANZ Bank for reducing its variable mortgage interest rates by just 0.18, after the Reserve Bank of Australia cut the cash rate by 0.25 per cent to a record low of 1.25 per cent. Westpac has cut its variable rates by 0.20 per cent, while National Australia Bank and the Commonwealth Bank have passed the central bank’s full rate cut on to customers. RBA governor Philip Lowe also says the major banks should reduce their mortgage rates by the full amount, given that their wholesale funding costs have fallen significantly.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

New squeeze on big banks

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 20 : 31-May-19

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority is expected to soon announce that smaller banks will have to hold less capital in terms of supporting their mortgage lending. This will enable them to offer cheaper home loans and higher deposit rates, making them more competitive with the larger banks. APRA’s announcement will follow shortly after the Reserve Bank’s June meeting, when it is widely expected to reduce official interest rates to 1.25 per cent.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE

ScoMo effect sends us cruising

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis, Luke Griffiths, Lisa Allen, Samantha Bailey
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 29-May-19

Anecdotal evidence suggests that the Coalition’s surprise federal election win has boosted activity in several sectors of the economy. Banks and mortgage brokers say there has been a sharp increase in home loan enquiries in the wake of the 18 May poll, with Commonwealth Bank CEO Matt Comyn noting that it received more mortgage loan applications in the week after the election than it had in more than six months. Cruise lines have also reported an increase in enquiries and bookings, particularly among retirees who would have been hard hit by Labor’s reforms.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSSIE HOME LOANS LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN FINANCE GROUP LIMITED – ASX AFG, NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE, REGENT SEVEN SEAS, OCEANIA CRUISE LINES PTY LTD, ACCOR ASIA PACIFIC, COUNCIL OF SMALL BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED

Coalition rejects interest rate risk on loan plan

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 15-May-19

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann has downplayed concerns that the Coalition’s First Home Loan Deposit Scheme could prompt banks to impose higher interest rates on participants in the scheme. He is confident that banks will want to be involved in the scheme and will not charge higher interest rates, arguing that banks’ exposure will still be restricted to a maximum loan to value ratio of 80 per cent. The New Zealand government introduced a similar scheme in 2003.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, KEYSTART HOME LOANS, NEW ZEALAND. MINISTRY OF HOUSING, HOUSING NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION

RBA pressures banks to cut rates

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Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 19 & 28 : 8-May-19

Australian banks’ net interest margin fell by 11 basis points in the first half of 2018-19, compared with the previous corresponding period. Jarrod Martin of Credit Suisse says ongoing margin pressure means the banks are unlikely to reduce their variable mortgage interest rates independently of the Reserve Bank. Victor German of Macquarie Group adds if the Reserve Bank had reduced the cash rate by 25 basis points on 7 May, the banks would probably have reduced their variable rates by around 20 basis points.

CORPORATES
CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC

Negative equity feared as house prices plunge

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Original article by Michael Roddan, Luke Griffiths
The Australian – Page: 2 : 11-Apr-19

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s deputy governor Guy Debelle says the number of homeowners with negative equity has increased, although he notes that it remains largely confined to Western Australia and mining regions. He adds that it is unusual for house prices to fall sharply at a time when the economy is continuing to grow and the unemployment rate is low. Debelle says the outlook for the labour market is likely to determine whether there is a further increase in negative equity and mortgage arrears.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, S&P GLOBAL RATINGS, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC

NAB kills off scandal-plagued mortgage referral program

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 16 : 26-Mar-19

National Australia Bank has advised that it will end its controversial ‘loan introducer’ program from 1 October. The program sees non-bank employees receive a fee for referring home loan clients, with NAB stating in 2018 that it generates one out of every 20 mortgages written by the bank. NAB also says the program has generated around $2.4 billion worth of home loans, and that around $100 million in referral fees have been paid. Interim CEO and chairman-elect Philip Chronican says he wants customers to come to NAB because of its products and services, not because a third party receives a fee for endorsing it.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE

Reserve urges stingy banks to open up the credit floodgates

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Original article by Paul Garvey, David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 19 & 29 : 21-Mar-19

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s assistant governor Michele Bullock has urged the nation’s banks to be less risk-averse with regard to mortgage lending. She has used an Urban Development Institute of Australia speech to argue that banks should relax their lending standards in the wake of the Hayne royal commission and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s move to ease restrictions on lending. Bullock added that a credit crunch in Australia is unlikely, but this could depend on the outlook for the housing market.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, URBAN DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BANKING ASSOCIATION