Westpac has followed National Australia Bank’s lead and hiked home loan interest rates for both owner occupiers and property investors, Fairfax Media has reported. The major bank announced it would increase rates for owner occupiers by 0.03 percentage points to 5.32% for customers making principal and interest repayments. For owner occupiers making just interest payments, their […]
The RBA has opted to leave the official cash rate on hold at 1.5%. At its board meeting today the Reserve Bank of Australia decided to leave the official cash rate unchanged. As widely predicted, the RBA has kept rates on hold as it continues to work in unison with the regulators to stem concerns around […]
Is your credit card rewards program still worth the money? CREDIT card reward programs are being crunched by rule changes and consumers are being urged to check whether they are still worth the money. ANZ’s recent move to scrap its American Express companion cards and reduce the benefits of its card rewards programs is likely […]
APRA on ‘high alert’ as investor lending soars Housing finance commitments posted further growth in January, driven by the investor segment. While the value of owner-occupied housing finance fell by 0.2 per cent over the month, investor lending was up 4.2 per cent to be 27.5 per cent higher over the year. ANZ Research noted […]