Mortgage rates hit record lows

Original article by Jonathan Shapiro|Clancy Yeates|Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 24-Jul-14

Three of Australia’s four major banks reduced their fixed mortgage interest rates on 23 July 2014, after the five-year swap rate fell to just 3.11 per cent in the previous week. The Commonwealth Bank’s five-year fixed rate has fallen to a record low of just 4.99 per cent, with Westpac and National Australia Bank reducing their rates for new customers to the same level. Meanwhile, market watchers expect the Reserve Bank to leave the cash rate on hold after inflation rose to three per cent in the second quarter

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA|WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC|NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB|RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA|AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ|BELL POTTER SECURITIES LIMITED|BELL FINANCIAL GROUP LIMITED – ASX BFG|UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD|MALAYSIAN AIRLINE SYSTEMS|AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS|RATECITY PTY LTD|MOZO PTY LTD|MEMBERS EQUITY BANK PTY LTD|UBANK

The $2500 house deposit; high-risk mortgages return

Original article by Nick Lenaghan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 14-Jul-14

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has made banks cut the number of mortgages they write that have high loan-to-valuation ratios (LVRs). However smaller and nonbank providers now offer LVRs of as high as 99.375%, causing concern about a situation similar to the sub-prime mortgages crisis in the US in 2007. A new joint venture by home construction businesses BGC and Metricon even advises buyers to rely both on the first-home owners’ grant and a personal loan to raise a 5% deposit, with as little as $A2,500 of their own money. Meanwhile residential real estate prices have risen some 10% during 2013-14

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, BGC (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, METRICON HOMES, HIVE EMPIRE PTY LTD, DIGITAL FINANCE ANALYTICS, RP DATA LIMITED, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, RISMARK INTERNATIONAL PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, RAMS MORTGAGE CORPORATION LIMITED, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, THE LOAN COMPANY, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, BANK OF ENGLAND