Up until recently average Australian Housing Lending Rates have closely followed the official interest rate as issued and declared by the Reserve Bank of Australia. The graph included in this post illustrates this correlation. Please note the margin between the rates is getting larger.

Historical Australian Housing Lending Rates

Australian Housing Lending Rates 2012

As the margin gets larger, so does the need for demanding better service from your lender. Lenders make a lot of clerical mistakes and hope you do not notice. It is very important that you keep all your loan statements and check them for errors regularly. You can set up your own excel spread sheet or purchase one of the many, mortgage checkers available these days.

Key Fact Sheet

Ask your lender for a copy of your loans “Key Fact Sheet”. I have written a post on these important documents previously. Keep a copy of this fact sheet with your home loan statements, just in case you get into a dispute with your lender. You have to ask for it, they will not readily supply it, as the Government forced these sheets onto the lenders and they don’t like being told how they should conduct their business.

From the web:

One banking reform to make the choice of home loans easier for customers is being delayed by banks.

The requirement for banks to publish home loan ”key fact sheets” by September could be delayed because they are struggling to meet the government-imposed deadline.

As part of Treasurer Wayne Swan’s banking reforms, lenders must give potential customers one-page documents that set out the costs of a loan in a consistent format that allows them to compare rival deals.

Banks have strongly opposed the planned changes, arguing there is ample information available for consumers to make comparisons on loans and credit cards.

Ask for a key fact sheet and keep it with your statements. I know I just repeated myself, but it was worth repeating.

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Specific mortgage exit fees have always been very reasonable. Most lenders charge a standard fee to tidy up their book work. My experience is that it is around $100.00 depending on the number of securities involved. So removing this fee is not a huge saving for consumers.

I guess lenders will still charge a “Mortgage Discharge Fee” and there will also be the other “disguised” exit fees such as “Deferred Establishment Fee” and “Break Cost”.?

“Break Cost” was a huge money spinner for the Banks and other residential mortgage lenders when the GFC forced the RBA to cut rate significantly from October 2008 through March 2009. Borrowers with fixed rate mortgages at 8% or there about, found they had thousands to pay in “Break Costs” when they went to re-mortgage at lower rate. The media was full of hue and cry regards the unfairness of this. However, my view is that most things we do financially involve some sort of gamble. Will rates rise or fall; we can only guess using the information available to us. Most of us did not see the GFC coming.

“Deferred Establishment Fee” is defiantly intended as a deterrent for mortgage holders not the switch lenders or products frequently. But, you usually have a choice to pay the loan establishment fee upfront or over a number years. So if you leave a mortgage early and have elected to pay off the establishment fee over a number of years, shouldn’t you expect to pay what was outstanding?

I don’t see all this Bank bashing as productive. The real problem with the Bank’s is their outsourcing of administration overseas. Australians want their Bank to employ local people and are happy to pay for the privilege. (This is just my opinion)

Are credit unions the answer? I think not, they are generally staffed by bank rejects at management and executive level. The great people at branch and call centre level are subject to rising complaints by customers over the ever increasing level of fees. My credit union experience tells me that fees are higher at credit unions than they are at main stream banks.

So what to do? Easy I say, choose your lender carefully and be prepared to stick with them and your strategy for the long haul. Chopping and changing lenders will cost you in the long run, and a 30 year mortgage is a long run.

A most prudent strategy is to check your home loan statement for mistakes.

The bad news of the day is that the RBA has increased its cash benchmark
rate by 25 basis points (to 4.25%).

The RBA has been spooked by real-estate data indicating an Australia wide increase in property prices.

Making it hard to borrow or hard to repay is one way to curb home owner or prospective home buyer enthusiasm.

So what can we do? Already Australia’s biggest home lender the Commonwealth Bank, has announced that it will increase its variable rate by the .25% starting this Friday. The rest of bailed out banks will no doubt follow suit in the days ahead.

Try and pay off all your loans and credit cards as quickly as possible. Chop up your card if you can, or at least take some time to understand how a debt consolidation loan may help. Sell your second car, car pool or take the bus. Switch to Naked DSL instead of a land telephone line. Search for a cheaper power supplier or embrace solar energy. Put in a water tank. Grow a veggie garden. Start jogging instead of going out. (You can meet some really interesting people jogging on the beach.) Brew your own beer. Get the idea? I think we are headed for a big recession, but the RBA thinks it has some divine providence after it flukes the idea of dropping of interest rates in 2008 and 2009.

Better to be ready, and who knows, luxury items and big TV’s may be cheaper next year.

Foot note: When rates go up banks make mistakes. Check your Home loan statements

The RBA has lifted rates by .25% today. For home mortgage holders this means a minimum increase of $47 a month on an average $300,000 mortgage. However, I expect the banks to increase above the RBA. They have been issuing spin on the subject for the last six weeks or so to soften the blow.

Australia’s reliance on all things imported and high currency value has distorted the CPI figures to the extent that the RBA feels it has to appear to be doing something about it. The truth is, the rise will just suck money from an already dry economy.

Look for a rise in house values. The higher interest rates should make it easier to borrow money. Get on the phone to your mortgage broker, find out if you can afford an investment property. Property is still the darling asset of Australians.

If you dont have a mortgage broker, click the link below. It will take you to Mortgage Choice. They will tell you the truth and help you if they can. Their service is first class and they are funded by commissions, so they work hard to get you a good deal.


Our Specialist will compare up to 400 Mortgage Products to find the Loan that Suits You.

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• Be prepared to pay a higher application fee if you are buying a unit or property off the plan.

• If you plan to repay or refinance your loan within 4 years from the date of first loan drawing, you may also be slugged a “Deferred Establishment Fee”. This fee can vary from $700 to $2000 depending on the lending institution.

• Loan service fees: Usually $8 to $10 per month.

• Settlement attendance fee, usually $150 to $350.

• If you are changing lenders, you will also usually have to pay a security discharge fee of between: $350 and $1000 for the privilege.

• Be prepared to pay big if you want out of a fixed rate loan early. Lenders usually will not give any leeway to contract breakers. Picking the direction of home loan rates can be tricky. Just look at the historical rates for the last 50 years.

This is just a snapshot of the fees you can expect when taking out a new fixed rate home loan or changing from a standard variable home loan to a fixed rate home loan. Be sure to get a comprehensive list of fees from your lender or mortgage broker before you sign on the dotted line.

The recent cut of .75% in this rate should bring about further relief for home mortgage borrowers who have standard variable or market rate loans. This recent cut is the third in three months and now sees the cash rate at 5.25%. There is usually a gap of around 1.8 to 2.50% from the cash rate to the rate your lender may be charging you. This gap plus account keeping fees is your lenders profit. Historically home loan rates will take a week or so to come down. So check your next statement and remind your lender of the cut if they have not made the change.

When ever there is a change of interest rate, there is an opportunity for you lender to make a mistake with your mortgage interest figures. And unless you pick it up you could be adding years to your loan and be ripped off thousands of dollars. I implore you to get some mortgage checking software. Check all your statements including your credit cards.

Most have bought their rates down by .21%. I take this as proof that the Federal Government’s bail out of the finance sector has eased the pressure within the lending community. Ahmed Fahour, chief executive of The National Australia Bank is even quoted as saying he thought “further home loan mortgage rate cuts were possible in the near future“.

The banks have changed the names and descriptions of their variable or basic home loan product many times in recent years. So how do you tell if you have one of these loans and will you benefit from the rate cut? It is not easy.

For example ANZ offer home loans under the banners of: “Simplicity Plus” or just straight “Variable” the current rate is 8.57% with a comparison rate of 8.69% for the “Variable” and 7.87% and 7.92% for the “Simplicity Plus”. Both are touted as being variable. I remember my loan was variable, but which one do I have, my statement does not tell me much?

Now, I actually know which one I have, but my point here is, we should not only be aware of what type of home loan mortgage we have, but we must also know what sub category or name it is known by. The banks and other lenders will do their best to confuse, as it helps them justify the fees and charges on various products. The media reports only standard variable rates for convenience, so they are really no help. To understand our individual historcal home loan rates, we have to narrow down our focus or get help to make sense of the mumbo jumbo of home loan talk.

A competent mortgage broker will help you sort the wheat from the chaff when it comes to home loan mortgages. Get friendly with one as soon as possible. You don’t need to be refinancing to use their service, a good mortgage broker will help you anyway. You can then reward them by referring friends or transferring your loan administration to their “book” if you like their service.

Continued pessimism and low clearance rates for property sales in Australia has led to a chorus of economists predicting official interest rates will be near zero by 2010. Home loan rates are linked to official rates, so it would appear we could be in for some welcome news and lower mortgage stress over the next few years. Analysts expect the Australian cash rate to be close to 3.75% by March 2009, so home loan rates could be as low as 5.75%. Historically they have been lower, in fact as low as 5% in my lifetime.

Whilst many politicians and media pundits have publicly lauded the Australian Governments bail out of our economy, privately there is pessimistic talk that the global financial system meltdown will drag on for years and our economy may still require a further injection of cash to prop it up over the long term. I for one hope Mr Rudd increase’s the age pension or at least the rental subsidy for non home owner age pensioners. I would also like him to consider our manufacturing sector. We need jobs in our cities.

Whatever the Government decides to do with interest rates and pensions, people still want to come to Australia and live. They will need accommodation, This means opportunity for property investors. It is time to do some homework. Visit your local council, find out what new developments they are planning. Are they planning to change the zoning regulations in an old industrial area?

The Board of The Reserve Bank of Australia today decided to lower the official Government cash interest rate by 1% from 7.0% to 6%, effective Wednesday 8 October 2008. For standard variable home loan mortgage borrowers, this drop may translate to a 0.5% to 0.8% reduction in their individual rate.

This huge drop is a direct response to the turmoil in world financial markets. The Bank in my opinion, is attempting to stimulate lending in both business and home loan sectors. Both benefit the bank executives and the top end of town. The benefit to ordinary home owners is a fortunate side dish winner for a government craving credibility, and wondering what will become us if China stop buying our commodities at an obsene rate. The drought has ment our ability to produce food for export is diminished and our manufacturing sector is almost dead after decades of neglect by sucessive governments. I guess we still have mountains of gold somewhere in the outback.

I hope the radical rate drop works, despite my misgivings for its reason, but I for one would also like to see an increase in all Centrelink payments, including the age pension and newstart allowance. This act will stimulate the economy, as the less fortunate will spend their money giving a boost to our biggest industry, retail.

If your Bank or Lender does offer to reduce your rate, please check their work. Banks and other financial institutions make huge profits and sometimes huge errors. Get some mortgage checking software, keep them honest.
Stumble It!

Could Australian property prices collapse and go bust as part of a domino effect from the US Sub Prime crisis and credit default swap dilemma?

Last week many popular media outlets reported that the US credit markets may be headed for the drain. Maybe it could happen, and maybe Australian property owners and mortgage holders would be hit with more mortgage stress. Well that was until the US government stepped in with a so called “conservatorship” of the two giant us domestic mortgage providers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in a bid to avert what many doomsayer’s prophecy as a global financial system meltdown. The US government as I understand it have taken over the running and financial backing of these two companies.

What a great move. In the past all I have ever seen is governments selling off public assets in a time of crisis. Literally, throwing billions of potential income to the private sector. Buying private assets when they are cheap? This surely is a move in the right direction. This purchase may give the government of the US the largest public ownership of housing outside the China and Russia. You see in the US, mortgage holders are not as personally liable for the mortgage debt as they are in Australia, they can simply just hand back the keys to the house and walk away, leaving the bank to worry about the mortgage and the house. People are dying to get to the USA to improve their lives, and they will want the American dream. Watch out China, this could be the catalyst for the USA economy and its people to resurrect the great boom nation and move it to a new higher plain of economic strength.

If sanity prevails and greed is good as the fictitious Gordon Gecko from the movie Wall Street extols, the worlds debt security markets should be back on track in no time. The US government and therefore tax payers may even make some profit from the recovery. Please be assured, someone will profit big.

Historical Australian Mortgage Interest Rates may indicate more than you think? Cast your mind back to when our Australian Mortgage Interest Rates were 18%. I am sure some people got rich in property, by making a few sacrifices? Recent financial media speculation centres around our Australian Mortgage Interest Rates moving down. I hope they are right. With the downward move I expect an improvement in the liquidity of Australian Property, but maybe not a price increase. The US credit situation will continue to dampen enthusiasm.

My advice? Start scouting for your next property. Some folks will get scared with all this media doom and gloom and sell up, in that case you could find some bargains in the Australian Property market very soon. Make an appointment with your mortgage broker or mortgage home loan coach and be prepared to move quickly before everybody gets on the property boom band wagon again.