Blog - Loans Near Me

How low rates killed the affordable housing dream

By business editor Ian Verrender The possibility of younger people breaking into the property market was short-lived during the coronavirus pandemic.(Reuters: David Gray) For a brief, flickering moment, the dream of a generation seemed within reach.

House prices were on the cusp of one of the biggest falls in decades, hit by what was shaping up to be a near-lethal combination of mass unemployment and zero immigration.

After decades of a seemingly unstoppable real estate bubble, the prospect of a sustained fall in housing prices brought a glimmer of hope to those under 35 that home ownership may become a possibility if they could hold on to a job.

Even relatively conservative analysts were forecasting house price declines of 20 per cent and back in May our biggest bank, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, pencilled in the prospect of a 32 per cent collapse.

Zero-interest loans coming for ACT electric car buyers

Zero-interest loans coming for ACT electric car buyers Peter Brewer An ACT government vehicle charges at a new electric vehicle charging station at the West Belconnen Child and Family Centre in Holt. Picture: Sitthixay Ditthavong The ACT will be the only jurisdiction in Australia to offer zero-interest loans to help subsidise new and used electric vehicle purchases under the new governing agreement signed between Labor and the Greens. Electric vehicles will be cheaper to buy in Canberra than anywhere in Australia once the zero-interest deal kicks in as part of a key pre-election promise made by the Greens. The party had its political hand strengthened by claiming six seats across the territory in the recent ACT election and took an ambitious pledge on electric cars to the election, whereas the two major parties generally avoided the issue completely. The Greens' strong electoral perfo…

Old home loans costing Aussies

Old home loans costing Aussies 'thousands' by not switching By Stuart Marsh • Senior Producer Australians with older home loans are missing out on thousands of dollars in savings, a new report has found. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) today submitted its final report into the Home Loan price inquiry. It found that borrowers are potentially spending far more money than they need to by not seeking a lower rate from their existing lender or switching to a new lender. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) today submitted its final report into the Home Loan price inquiry. (Supplied) "A significant number of Australian home loan borrowers have not switched lenders for several years, yet they stand to save so much money by doing so," ACCC Chair Rod Sims said. "There are factors standing in the way of home loan borrowers switching lenders, such as a lack of clear and transparent pricing, as well as inconvenience …

Fixed rate home loans are at their lowest ever — but they come with a catch

Fixed rate home loans are at their lowest ever — but they come with a catch By David Taylor The banks want to lock you in as a customer now for as long as they can.(ABC News: Grant Wignall) Interest rates in Australia have plumbed new depths since the Reserve Bank's monetary policy announcement on Melbourne Cup Day,

It's taken several weeks, but following a number of extraordinary policy measures by the RBA (including a formal adoption of Quantitative Easing), at least one bank has taken the decision to offer a three-year fixed home loan rate of 1.89 per cent.

That's low. In fact, according to interest rate comparison site, Mozo, it's the lowest commercial fixed interest rate (with an 80 per cent Loan to Value Ratio or LVR) the country has ever seen.

Fixed rates are dropping to all-time lows because the banks are desperate for your money. So far the evidence shows they're…

Newcastle Permanent to supply online lender Athena Home Loans with home loan funding

Newcastle Permanent to supply online lender and "mortgage disruptor" Athena Home Loans with an initial $300 million in home loan funding NEWCASTLE Permanent has joined forces with Athena Home Loans, with the Hunter-founded building society supplying the Sydney-based "mortgage disruptor" an initial $300 million in home loan funding. The Perm, in its 117th year of operations as one of Australia's largest mutual organisations with $11 billion in assets, and the comparatively new online lender Athena announced the strategic partnership in the national home loan market on Wednesday. Under the agreement, Newcastle Permanent will supply Athena with an initial $300 million in home loan funding with the potential for future transactions and a broader partnership. A statement from the Perm said it was able to seize the opportunity when it presented itself due to the organisation's "strong liquidity and capital reserves built over a numb…

NAB to offer six-month deferred loans for businesses

NAB to offer six-month deferred loans for businesses impacted by coronavirus

NAB is introducing a business loan package, which will enable small businesses to access up to $1 million.

Gerard Cockburn

NAB will offer small businesses loans of up to $1 million with a six-month pause on repayments. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De MarchiSource:News Corp Australia

National Australia Bank will defer loan repayments by up to six months for businesses urgently needing to access funds to endure the economic storm sparked by the coronavirus pandemic.

The major bank will implement a new loan scheme, which will allow small businesses to access up to $1 million, with no repayments required for the first six months of accessing the debt facility. NAB’s new Business Support Loan follows a revision of the SME guarantee scheme, which is providing businesses with debt that is partly backed b…

Westpac, St George: Banks hit by class action over car loan ‘flex commissions’

Alannah Fox was forced to pay a whopping $24,864 in interest for a 2015 Hyundai. Now, she and many other Aussies are fighting back.

Alexis Careycarey_alexis When Alannah Fox bought her first new car, she trusted she was getting a fair deal on her loan. Instead, the teachers’ aide, who was 25 at the time, was charged 12.99 per cent on a loan of just over $47,000 – which meant she had to pay a staggering $24,864 in interest for her 2015 Hyundai ix35. She claims she was only told of the interest rate after the deal was struck. “They didn’t tell me the interest rate until I went to pick up the car. We bargained hard on the initial price, but I believe they knew what they were doing and slugged me with the high interest rate to compensate,” Ms Fox said. Ms Fox is now one of the lead applicants in a new class action over shonky bank car loans, which leadi…

Home loan customers may need to pay mortgage brokers to save money

Home loan customers may need to pay mortgage brokers to save money y business reporter Daniel Ziffer Posted SatSaturday 9 FebFebruary 2019 at 6:07am Almost 60 per cent of Australians use a mortgage broker to arrange their home loans.(AAP: Lukas Coch) Borrowers may have to pay an upfront fee when their home loan is arranged, in a move applauded by consumer advocates but which mortgage brokers say would devastate their industry.

The new fee, one of the most contentious changes recommended by the final report of the Hayne royal commission, would kill off one of the key methods brokers are currently paid — an arrangement commissioner Kenneth Hayne rubbished as "money for nothing".

Currently, most brokers are paid an upfront commission by the bank that finances the loan. The banks then also pay an ongoing fee, called a trail commission, over the life of the loan.

Under the comm…

OnDeck Australia targets young and unsecured

OnDeck Australia targets young and unsecured By Shaun Drummond OnDeck Australia chief Cameron Poolman says there is a big opportunity for the new business lender to satisfy demand from emerging entrepreneurs who cannot offer up a home as security for a bank loan. Cameron Poolman, local chief executive of US online business lender OnDeck, says it wants to be a mainstream business lender, not just a small alternative.CREDIT:LOUIE DOUVIS The local arm of one of the biggest of the new online business lenders, OnDeck Capital, quietly began lending in Australia two weeks ago, seven months after establishing its third office outside the United States. In Australia, banks don't lend to small business without security – usually the family home. But Mr Poolman said apart from the existing 2.1 million small businesses, there is emerging demand from an increasingly entrepreneurial younger generation who have no home to offer as security. …