10 Questions to ask a home lender

BUYING a home is stressful enough, without having to assess every single lender and product in the market. Here are 10 questions you should ask potential lenders: 1. What loan will suit me best? Review all the loan features such as whether you can redraw or make extra payments. 2. What is the interest rate? It will be fixed or variable and will determine how much you'll pay over the life of the loan. 3. How much can I borrow? Depending on the lender, you can borrow up to 80-95 per cent of the value of the property. However, you should always consider how much you can ...

Property bubble a myth, Andrew Winter says

THE slowdown in property sales is not a sign that the Australian housing market is about to crash, writes real estate expert Andrew Winter. Property pundits often make the statement that the housing market is about to crash. This occurs a few times every decade but it seems to suffering overuse since the global financial crisis in 2008. Then it was all doom and gloom, but here in Australia we picked ourselves up and and just got on with it. The GFC had the following impact on the Australian housing market: depending on where you live, prices remained largely static or lost a little, but ...

Get the best deal on your dream home

NEVER take the listed price as an indication of the true value of a property, and thoroughly research the market before putting down an offer. Those are just two of the tips suggested by Property Searchers director and buyers agent Scott McGeever. He has been advising buyers on how to get the best deal when negotiating on price. The latest RP Data statistics show Brisbane is recording the highest vendor discounting in Australia, averaging -7.7 per cent on houses and -7.9 per cent for units. Vendor discounting is the average difference between ...

Brisbane clocks in near bottom of market

It’s been a bad year for Queensland. Floods, a cyclone and a weak tourism market have taken their toll, and now the April RP Data?Rismark Hedonic Home Value Index ranked Brisbane as Australia’s weakest capital city housing market. House price depreciated by 4.8% during the first four months of the year and by 7.2% over the past 12 months. These statistics make for gloomy reading for anyone who currently owns property in Queensland’s capital. However, for investors looking for medium-term growth potential, Brisbane could well present the most attractive opportunities. It ...

Tips on how to have your mortgage application approved

BANKS have become much tougher about who they will lend money to since the global financial crisis and the situation shows no signs of easing in 2011. It is estimated that almost one in four mortgage applications is rejected and usually for the same reason – lack of preparation by the potential borrower. Probatus Finance spokesman Stephen Helion says while the banking sector has become more competitive, in the current climate lenders are turning the screws on who qualifies for a home loan. They remain cautious of high-risk prospective borrowers and are more likely to rate certain types of properties “unsuitable”, he says. “Lenders both large and small are likely to be tightening their critieria in expectation of rate rises ...

Now is a good time to buy

by Michael Matusik THE residential property market has been sailing like a rudderless ship of late. And the fact we have been somewhat out of step with housing markets across the world seems to be making some a bit nervous. But indications are, in theory at least, that in Queensland and especially in Brisbane, now appears to be a good time to buy. To illustrate the economic theory behind market supply and demand, I like to use the property clock. We have used the clock for illustrative purposes in the past,when the residential market was in somewhat uncharted waters, as it is right now. Let's consider the traditional property clock, where 9 on the clock indicates the start of an upswing; ...

Bring on house price fall, says ANZ chief executive Mike Smith

ANZ chief Mike Smith has welcomed the malaise infecting Australia's property market, saying the fall in house prices is "not a bad thing". And the bank has declared its intention to fight back in the home loan market in spite of falling property prices after losing steam as major rivals aggressively fight for market share. ANZ did not plan to tighten lending criteria in response to weakness in the housing market, which was "generally in good shape", Mr Smith said. "I think that some of the reduction in prices is probably not ...

RBA keeps cash rate on hold at 4.75 per cent

THE Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has decided to keep the cash rate steady at 4.75 per cent at its regular monthly board meeting today. The decision was expected, with all but one of the 13 economists surveyed last week by AAP predicting the RBA would keep rates on hold. RBA governor Glenn Stevens today said recent economic data showed the effects of production losses due to the floods and Cyclone Yasi. "Looking through these short-term movements, however, the recent information suggests that the marked decline in underlying inflation from the peak ...

Banks to extend loan relief for Queensland flood victims

THE major banks have caved in to political pressure, pledging to extend 90-day freezes on loan repayments for the worst-affected survivors of Queensland's natural disasters. With the flood and cyclone-ravaged state preparing to mark 100 days tomorrow since Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley were inundated, Premier Anna Bligh urged the banks to understand the plight of the thousands of displaced Queenslanders unable to return to their damaged homes, The Australian reports. "They are renting or staying with families and still paying a mortgage on a home that they can't live in. I ask the banks to continue to show compassion. "People are hurting; people are still waiting on answers from their insurance companies," Ms Bligh said at the weekend. ...

Thousands freed from high fixed-interest rate loans

MORE than 100,000 homeowners will be sighing with relief that their three-year fixed-rate mortgage has run its course. This group would have taken on their loan at a rate of more than 8 per cent and missed out on the sharp cut in interest rates by the Reserve Bank during the heat of the global financial crisis. Mortgage broker Loan Market chief operating officer Dean Rushton said many of these borrowers are now coming off their fixed rate terms and looking to obtain a lower interest rate. "Thousands of people who fixed their rates during 2007 and early 2008 when the cash rate reached 7.25 per cent have had to sit back and watch interest rates drop dramatically to combat the ...