Iden Money wins Cannex 5-Star Rating

Iden Money home loan products has received an official CANSTAR CANNEX 5 Star Rating for Outstanding Value ahead of its competitors including major players in the market. The products that won the 5-star are: 

         - Offset 1 Year Fixed
         - Offset 2 Year Fixed
         - Offset 3 Year Fixed
         - Offset 5 Year Fixed
         - Investment Offset 1 Year Fixed
         - Investment Offset 2 Year Fixed
         - Investment Offset 3 Year Fixed
         - Investment Offset 5 Year Fixed 

Click on the “Downloads” menu to view our products and rates that can be easily downloaded on your computer.  

If you have any questions or you would like to book a no-obligation appointment with one of our staff, call our hotline 02-8844 8989 or email marketing@idenmoney.com.au  

Source: http://www.canstar.com.au/

Housing loan numbers begin to fall for first home buyers

(source: REIA Housing Affordability Report, September Quarter 2009)

Although there were no significant changes in housing affordability in the September quarter, the total number of loans began to decrease, particularly in the first home buyer market.

The number of loans to the first home buyers decreased by 11.7% to 48,507 loans. Despite this decrease in the September quarter, over the year, loans for first home buyers nationally increased by 72.8% and the total number of loans increased by 41.3%.

The Australian Capital Territory remained the most affordable state or territory in which to buy a home, where the proportion of income required to meet loan repayments increased slightly to 17.2%.  This is 11.8 percentage points below the national average. New South Wales remained the least affordable state or territory in which to buy a home, where the proportion of income required to meet loan repayments increased to 31.2%; 2.3 percentage points above the national average.

For the September quarter, Tasmania and Queensland showed the biggest improvement in housing affordability, with the proportion of income required to meet loan repayments decreasing by 1.3 percentage points. Housing affordability in Victoria declined the most, with the proportion of income required to meet loan repayments increasing by 0.9 percentage points for the September quarter.

Australian House Prices Rise Strongly

Melbourne and Sydney housing markets recover

According to the latest RP Data-Rismark National Dedonic Index, Australian home values rose by an indicative 1.4 per cent in October after a sluggish 0.4 per cent growth in September.

Over the first 10 months in 2009, house prices have now risen by 10 percent. According to RP Data’s Senior Research Analyst, “the strong growth figures throughout October after a slowdown during September show that the market is very resilient and that the 25 basis point interest rate increase during the month has not immediately impacted the market.”

The biggest story of 2009 has been a strong recovery of Sydney and Melbourne housing markets with Melbourne leading the way by delivering capital gains of +14.9 percent while Sydney had a cumulative growth of 9.9 percent. Other cities that have performed strongly this year besides Melbourne and Sydney are Darwin (+12.7 per cent), Canberra (+11.0 per cent), Brisbane (+6.9 per cent), Perth (+6.1 per cent) and Adelaide (+4.6 per cent).

Rates rise but opportunity exists for savvy borrowers

Probably the safest bet that anyone could have placed on Melbourne Cup Day was on the rate rise by the Reserve Bank. As expected by most people, the Reserve Bank of Australia increased their interested rate – this time by 25 basis points. With this rate rise, the new official cash rate is now 3.5 percent.

Read More »

RBA’s rate rise catches industry unawares

Source: mortgagebusiness.com.au

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision to raise interest rates yesterday by 25 basis points took most by surprise.

According to Mortgage Business’ recent straw poll, 71.8 per cent of brokers didn’t expect the RBA would raise rates in October. Of the 351 respondents only 25.4 per cent tipped the RBA to raise rates while 2.8 per cent were unsure. Read More »

New Credit Card Scams: Beware

We felt that this would be appropriate for us to share with you all an email that we received recently from a friend. Unlike most of the spam mails and chain letters, we believe that there is some truth behind this story.

Credit card scams, identity thefts are very sensitive issues and many people have suffered. So hopefully this message below can help you be aware of one of those scams.

“New Credit Card Scam”

“This one is pretty slick since they provide YOU with all the information, except the one piece they want. Read More »

Nation’s property hotspots

St George’s National Property Report released on 17 September 2009 has revealed 24 locations across the nation that are likely to provide the strongest value for home buyers.

Suburbs have been chosen based on their location attributes, the value of housing in the area, the level of amenities in the suburb and the demographic mix.

According to St George chief economist Besa Deda, the locations should continue to grow and therefore suit buyers looking to live in a blossoming area and investors seeking capital growth.

In Sydney the best ‘value for money’ suburbs were Granville, Rockdale, Lidcome, Riverwood and Waterloo.

Granville’s 18.5 km distance to the inner city and median house price of $347,500 made it the standout performer in Sydney. Read More »

Should I float on variable or fix my home loan interest rate?

There is a common view from the financial gurus in Australia that variable interest rate rises are inevitable. From financial commentators to bank economists to the Prime Minister, the view is that during 2010 the Reserve Bank will move the cash rate up. How much? We don’t know, but the PM suggested about 1% by July. Also, banks have not discounted raising interest rates independently of RBA decisions.

What does this mean to home loan borrowers? Let’s take a look. Read More »

First home buyers pass the baton to upgraders

Posted by Infochoice 0n 11/9/09

The big worry for lenders in the housing finance market has been that when the strong push from first home buyers came to an end the market would lose its momentum and be back in the doldrums.

Housing finance figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics  this week suggest that first home buyer demand has indeed peaked.  After rising steadily in response to low rates and government stimulus first, home buyer share of all dwellings financed peaked at 28.5 per cent in May and fell back to 27.1 per cent in June and 25.7 per cent in July. Read More »

The recession and interest rates - breakfast with the economists

In Sydney on 26th August a group of Economists joined together in front of 1500 delegates to discuss the current state of affairs in the global and Australian economies. These Economists were:

Stephen Koukoulas: Global Strategist, Currency & Fixed Income Research, TD Securities
David Wyss: Chief Economist, Standard & Poor’s
Dr Subir Gokarn: Chief Economist, Standard & Poor’s, Asia Pacific
Warren Hogan: Head of Australian Economics & Interest Rate Research, ANZ
Bill Evans: Global Head of Economics, Westpac
Rory Robertson: Interest Rate Strategist, Macquarie
Sally Auld: Interest Rate Strategist, J.P. Morgan Australia Limited Read More »