‘Liar loans’ on the rise as risky mortgages drive house price boom

'Liar loans' on the rise as risky mortgages drive house price boom By business reporters Michael Janda and Gareth Hutchens Based on a survey of around 900 borrowers, UBS estimates that 41 per cent had inaccurate mortgage applications.(ABC News: Elise Pianegonda) Australian home prices have surged almost 20 per cent over the past year, and investment bank UBS has warned that a record level of "liar loans" as buyers "chase the market" could be one reason why. Key points: A record 41 per cent of loan applications contain factual inaccuracies The most common fudges are under-representing living costs and financial commitments The banking regulator says it has seen "no obvious poor-quality lending"

The bank's annual survey of around 900 people who took out a mortgage over the past year showed that 41 per cent submitted loan applications that were not completely factually accurate — so-called "liar loans".

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Mortgage costs to jump as interest rate rises loom, warns CBA

Mortgage costs to jump as interest rate rises loom, warns CBA ahead of Reserve Bank meeting By business reporter Michael Janda CBA is expecting interest rates to rise earlier and faster than many other institutions. (ABC News: John Gunn)

Australians could soon be paying more than $26 billion a year in extra mortgage repayments as interest rates begin to "normalise", but the Commonwealth Bank argues there are several reasons why most households will be able to cope just fine.

Key points: The RBA's interest rate decision will be announced at 2:30pm AEST, followed by a rare press conference from the governor No-one is expecting a rate rise, but there are likely to be announcements about the future of other measures that have kept mortgage rates very low CBA says households should be able to cope with a forecast rise in the cash rate from 0.1 to 1.25 per cent over the next two-and-a-bit years Read more
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Home loans buoyant, but investors subdued

Home loans buoyant, but investors subdued Colin Brinsden, AAP Economics and Business Correspondent  Despite ultra-low lending rates, 20 per cent of Australians are estimated as under mortgage stress. The amount of outstanding mortgages in Australia grew by the fastest monthly pace in four years. But economists doubt financial regulators will be too concerned at this stage with investor loans still relatively subdued. New figures from the Reserve Bank of Australia showed housing credit grew by 0.6 per cent in May, the largest rise since June 2017. Annual growth now stands at 4.8 per cent, its highest since 2018. Owner-occupier loans rose 0.7 per cent in the month to 6.6 per cent, also the highest year rate since 2018. However, growth in loans to housing investors remained relatively modest, rising 0.4 per cent in May to 1.6 per cent. …
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Many Aussies are making a big mistake with home loans

Many Aussies are making a big mistake with home loans: here’s how

How mortgage hunters could be dudding themselves out of the best deal, all because of an unfounded fear.

Rebecca Le May

Many mortgage hunters have an unfounded fear of non-bank lenders and could be dudding themselves out of the best deal.

After the Reserve Bank of Australia slashed the cash rate to record lows earlier this month, it was the smaller, little-known outfits Athena, Reduce Home Loans, Homestar Finance, Homeloans.com.au and Pacific Mortgage Group that led the charge in passing on interest rate cuts to customers. RateCity research director Sally Tindall said non-bank lenders had helped drive prices down across the entire home loan market, particularly in recent months as record numbers of mortgage holders moved to refinance, especially when it came to fixed rates. “Right now, the lowest fixed rate loan on the market is just 1.…
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