Great news for homeowners and prospective buyers: housing affordability is at its best level in a decade and should continue to improve throughout 2021. Housing affordability improved in all major Australian cities over the year to September 2020 despite the ongoing global pandemic, according to a new report by investor service Moody’s. “Owning a house was the most affordable it’s been in a decade in most major capital cities during the last six months,” Moody’s says. What is

Small business owners in need of credit will be buoyed by new data that shows the approval rate for loans has remained strong throughout the coronavirus crisis. In fact, about 70% of SME business loan applications received by lenders have been approved since early February, according to Australian Banking Association (ABA) statistics. That’s resulted in more than 128,000 Australian sole traders, small businesses and medium-sized businesses receiving loans, with an average loa

Consumer sentiment is surging, confidence in the housing market is booming, and the number of experts tipping a Melbourne Cup Day cash rate cut is increasing. Let’s look at why households and businesses are becoming increasingly optimistic. Ahh, spring. It’s fair to say we love it around here. Not only do we usually see an uptick in property market activity (houses always look much nicer in spring), but this year – in particular – we’re seeing consumers more upbeat about what

Thousands of families across the country who had been thinking about a new build, or tackling an overdue renovation project, have rolled up their sleeves and committed to it, according to latest ABS data. And to be honest, we’re not overly surprised. The federal government’s $25,000 HomeBuilder grant is nothing to sneeze at. But the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) Lending Indicators data makes for very encouraging reading nonetheless. It shows the total value of new lo

There was one big-ticket initiative in the federal budget that really caught our eye, and that was the turbocharged version of the instant asset write-off scheme. Today we’ll look at how it could improve your business’s cash flow moving forward. Did you catch the announcement that businesses, both big and small, can now immediately write off any eligible depreciable asset, at any cost, up until 30 June 2022? Well, that’s any business with a turnover of up to $5 billion (and I

The First Home Loan Deposit Scheme is back; bigger, better and more buyer-friendly than before. If you’re a first home buyer who missed out on the first two rounds, then here’s how to make it a case of third time’s a charm! It’s federal budget week, and this year’s big winners in the world of property and finance are first home buyers, with the federal government announcing a fresh extension to the First Home Loan Deposit scheme (FHLDS). Today we’ll look at why the third iter