DMC Online Blog

With many parts of Australia in lockdown, the number of properties for sale has been falling, which has put upwards pressure on property prices. Across Australia, the total number of property listings in August was 9.6% lower than the month before and 26.3% lower than the year before (see chart). At the same time, asking prices have increased: * Ho...

What will Australia look like in 40 years' time? The fifth Intergenerational Report has provided three key conclusions about the next four decades: * The economy will continue to grow, but slower than previously thought. Growth is forecast to be 1.5% per year over the next 40 years, compared to 1.6% over the previous 40 years. * Our population (cur...

Residential construction is booming in some outer suburbs of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, according to the Housing Industry Association. The HIA's new Population & Residential Building Hotspots Report has identified the top 20 homebuilding hotspots in Australia (see chart). Of the 20 hotspots, 17 are in capital cities, with most of those in ...

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Usually, the answer is yes assuming your circumstances don't change for the worse between your approval and settlement of your loan. There are still things to be aware of in this period.  Don't change your job or take on any further debt or liabilities before discussing this with your broker as this could mean that your loan is ...

Low mortgage rates, a swift economic recovery, which has spurred consumer sentiment, and low listing volumes have catapulted national housing values to new record highs. At the end of March, the CoreLogic national home value index increased a further 2.8%, placing values 5.6% above the previous market peak in October 2017. The combined value of Aus...

Rather than being forced to live in an area that they might not necessarily want to, people are considering the rentvesting strategy. Put simply, it's 'Live where you want to live, invest where you can afford." Click here for the full article by Mike Wood - Australian Broker           25 Mar 2021

Australians will have their private financial hardship information included on their credit reports for the first time with the passing of the National Consumer Credit Protection Amendment (Mandatory Credit Reporting and Other Measures) Bill 2019. While before, credit reports were only required to include credit inquiries, defaults and serious infr...

The customer-owned bank has announced that it is to start trading under a new name and call itself a bank by the end of the year.

Credit Union Australia (CUA) has announced that it will begin trading under a new name, Great Southern Bank, as it moves to cater to a younger audience.

CUA’s CEO, Paul Lewis, said the bank had conducted research which showed that it needed to change its name from a ‘credit union’ to a ‘bank’ due to younger adults not having a strong understanding of what a credit union was or how it operates.

He said: “This is vital so that more members and younger generations understand that we offer the same products, services and security that a bank does – with the benefit of reinvesting 100 per cent of our profit back into our customers.

“Reflecting our strong and proud Australian history, we will begin trading as Great Southern Bank later this year,” he said.

A brief summary of the recent CoreLogic Hedonic Home Value Index for February 2021Housing values continue to rise as of early 2021Regional housing rising at twice the pace of capital city marketsHouses are increasing faster than unitsNational home sales 23.9% higher over the last 3 months compared to the same time last yearHousing activity on ...

September marked a striking turn in housing market sentiment; consumer confidence increased, new listings rose, and six of the eight capital cities recorded a rise in home values over the month. However, falling values in Melbourne and Sydney, which make up approximately 40% of Australian's housing stock by number and 55% by value, pushed the natio...

HomeBuilder - Background Document  The Morrison Government's HomeBuilder will provide eligible owner-occupiers (not just first home buyers) with a grant of $25,000 to build a new home or substantially renovate an existing home.  Summary   HomeBuilder is a time-limited and demand-driven grant program to help the residential construct...

I hear and see people complaining about so much lately whilst being in lockdown. Cannot do this can't go there. But is this going to be the new normal? Maybe not everything, but I do think some of these changes might stick! Business especially has quickly been forced to adapt, to do things differently. Maybe working smarter, from a different locati...

Do you know what your credit score is? It's a great idea to find out, so that you can stay in control of your finances. If you don't know what your credit score is, finding out at least three to six months before you want to apply for a loan or a new credit card can allow you time to boost your credit score, if it's a little lower than you expected...

When you're looking for a new home loan, the question is not, 'How much can I borrow?' Instead you should be asking, 'How much can I afford to repay?' This key factor is one of the ways lenders work out the size of your loan, and it's called 'serviceability.' Everyone would love to have no home loan, but a mortgage is part of life for the majority ...

James Frost Financial Services Writer - Financial Review Apr 23, 2019 Strict interpretation of responsible lending laws has created a bottleneck of mortgage applications with massive delays in the approval process contributing to a rise in the cost of credit and vastly reduced borrowing capacity in the post-royal commission environment.   Data...

What happened in 1985-87 - by John McGrath Last week I discussed the risks to everyday Australians that I see in the changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax proposed by Federal Labor if it wins the election. In short, Labor intends to abolish negative gearing on established investment properties purchased after January 1, 2020 and halve t...

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has reported a cash net profit after tax (NPAT) of $4.7 billion for the first half of the 2019 financial year (1H19), an increase of 1.7 per cent from 1H18. However, much of the bank's home loan growth was generated through the broker channel, which originated 45 per cent of CBA's home loan flows, up 5 per c...

By Alex Anderson - Founder and CEO of Chesswork Group This article is in response to some of the remarks made by the Royal Commissioner and the deflections toward the broking industry made by the CBA CEO in the face of scrutiny by the commission. Currently, consumers have access to the expertise of professional mortgage brokers without having to pa...

From February 2019, a new bank called "Health Professionals Bank" will be launched under the Teachers Mutual Bank Limited brand.It joins Teachers Mutual Bank, UniBank and Firefighters Mutual Bank as the group provides finance options for various industry sectors and their families. Teachers Mutual Bank CEO Steve James said they had identified a sec...