Monthly Archives: December 2018

APRA Announces Removal of Interest Rate Restrictions

By Shane | News

In March 2017, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) introduced measures to reduce the amount of interest-only loans in the residential lending market. One of these measures was a benchmark for lenders to keep new interest-only lending below 30% of their total new lending.

On the 19th December 2018, APRA announced that they would be removing this benchmark as they have noted that there has been a noticeable reduction in the amount of new interest-only lending, with the proportion now significantly below the 30% benchmark. Continue reading

Home Loan Employment Confirmation Letter

By Shane | Uncategorized

Since the Royal Commission kicked off in April banks & lenders have really cracked down on documentation requirements for all home loan applications. This means that you may be asked to provide a Letter Of Employment for a mortgage application.

In this blog, I will walk you through all you need to know about home loan employment confirmation letters and I’ll even give you a template.Continue reading

December 2018 Interest Rate Decision

By Shane | Uncategorized

On Tuesday 4th December 2018 the RBA decided to leave the official interest rate at 1.5%. This means that the official interest rate will be stable for at least two months since the RBA does not meet in January. Their next meeting will be in February 2019.

Even though the RBA has kept rates on hold, it sometimes does not stop lenders from increasing their rates out-of-cycle. It will be interesting to see how the first few months of 2019 play out.

The RBA state that they see economic conditions improving and that the next interest rate movement is likely to be up.

You can read more about the decision here.

Home Loan Requirements For Self Employed

By Shane | Uncategorized

When it comes time to apply for a home loan there is going to be a requirement to provide the lender supporting documentation along with the application. If you’re self-employed, then the requirements may be slightly different. To make sure that you are prepared, let’s take a look at the home loan requirements for self-employed people.

Continue reading