The federal treasurer has given the strongest indication yet that a home loan crackdown is coming, stating that “carefully targeted and timely adjustments” may be necessary to avoid troubled waters. So what could a potential lending crackdown look like? Lending standards and fast-rising property prices have been hot topics of late. Interest rates are at record-low levels, and the typical Australian home has seen its value increase more than 18% over the past year – the fastes

Almost one-in-two SMEs have applied for new funding in the last six months, a new report has found, and of those SMEs only half were successful in obtaining the full amount they were seeking. If you haven’t already figured it out over the past 18 months, small and medium-sized business owners are a pretty resilient bunch. You know that classic 90’s Chumbawamba song: “I get knocked down, but I get up again…” Yeah, life as an SME owner can be a little like that at times. In the

With house prices going gangbusters in the first half of 2021, is it still a good time to buy property? The majority of investors think so, according to the latest annual survey. And investors have their sights set on one city in particular. The 2021 PIPA Property Investor Sentiment Survey, which gathered insights from 800 property investors across the country in August, found more than 76% of investors believed property prices in their state or territory would increase over

The average Australian homeowner is paying more than $37,000 in extra interest over the life of their home loan due to the loyalty tax, and it’s got three-quarters of borrowers feeling “ripped off” and “angry”. What’s the loyalty tax? It’s this sneaky lender trick where borrowers with older mortgages are typically charged a higher interest rate than borrowers with new loans, and it was confirmed in a study by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) last year. You see, the banks d

With interest rates at record low levels, the number of homeowners refinancing skyrocketed to an all-time high in July. Today we’ll run you through why so many people are refinancing, and why you should consider doing so too. We’re currently seeing more people refinance their home loans than ever before, and the latest ABS figures out this week prove we’re not imagining things. Refinanced home loans reached an all-time high of $17.2 billion in July, which is a 6% increase on

Do you know how the people in your world are really doing right now? Chances are you know someone who’s doing it tough, but silently pressing on. As always, we’re here to support you, and for R U OK? Day we’re sharing ways you can help others. Life’s ups and downs happen to all of us. So chances are you know someone who is struggling right now. They might not have seen their family for months, their business could be operating under the strains of COVID-19, or they might be h

Remember that classic TV ad: ‘nine out of 10 dentists recommend using [toothpaste brand]?’ Well, it turns out we’ve earned a similar level of trust when it comes to helping first home buyers sink their teeth into the property market. That’s because nine out of 10 first home buyers (FHBs) recently said they trust a mortgage broker to help them buy their first property. And, unlike dentists, we’re actually allowed to show our faces! So why do so many first home buyers trust mor