Search results

Hi Larry - if your servicing is tight and relies on your other mortgage debts to be treated favourably (so if you have large mortgage exposure) - then yes, its prudent to do it now and take away the risk of policy changes stopping you in future. Cheers, Redom

No it doesn't look like their assessment rate has changed - just the way they treat debt with other banks is now the same as the way they treat debts held with them. AMP did this change not too long ago.

Other Financial Institution. It means that any mortgage debt you have will be assessed at 7% P&I over 30 year terms. They used to take actual repayments on your debts held with other banks. This fact meant that you could switch to Macquarie down the track after borrowing as much as...

Macquarie changes confirmed from Monday. Using a buffered OFI mortgage debt approach - which makes their serviceability calculator from one of the most generous to something similar to where everyone else is for investors with large debt holdings. All applications with them will need to be...

ANZ's serviceability was always quite conservative, i haven't heard about them making changes to it. Your equity release procedure should be OK as the changes i was talking about with that post was in reference to the more generous lender calculators being brought back in line towards something...

I'm not sure there'll be an immediate slowdown, at least in most markets. Sydney is the main target for these changes and its likely to have the most effect on their market given the growth has been driven largely by investor activity.

There is now a real sense of urgency in much of this discussion. The penny has dropped and i'd say that there's less than 1 month (less than 2 weeks perhaps) before we may start seeing Macquarie and NAB have a real wind back of their servicing assessment calculators. Once this is applied...

Latest APRA data out folks, can say with reasonable certainty that APRA won't like whats going on in the lending market. A 12.2% increase in investor lending. As a guide, APRA came out in December with a strong warning to the lenders that if certain benchmarks aren't being met by the end...

Agree with Corey, most first home owners I have prefer P&I even after explaining the flexibility benefits of I/O. Mindset tends to be pay down the own home first - whereas the young investor mindset is more 'how can I get in and continue purchasing'. Also it is still possible, just may...

In NZ's case, its hard to untangle - RBNZ had four rate rises last year with LTV caps. The market has cooled significantly since then, but its hard to pinpoint with any real accuracy what effect its ha.d Also NZ had very different stability problems to Australia. They had a significant...

Interesting, thanks for the post Marty. Housing finance data is worth keeping an eye on this year I think. Cheers, Redom

The authorities are pretty worried about overstepping, keen for market to sort itself out. If its peaked, then there wont be much done. If those growth figures push on, then i dont think theyll sit around watching idly. Cheers, Redom

I think all the points mentioned are marginal and around the edges. Tightening on PPOR I/O and slowing high LVR cashouts? It all depends what happens to lending standards and credit growth. If investor credit growth rises to 15%+ this year, the points ive made will be the least of it...

IMO definitely do it now. Do it before it bites. Ask your broker, but i think having some foresight of potential changes and being decisive can save you. Personally, i dont like the 'wait and react' to changes approach. Pretty sure this was directly stated in APRAs public letter. Also...

What LVR are you at?

I think this may be overall loan book, including commercial, business lending etc. NAB, the 'business bank' are definitely looking to grow as non mining business investment starts picking up again.

Great points and part of the consideration. Geographic based lending policy is part of the behind the scenes discussions. Although it's very 'hands on'. In terms of overall policy - its a financial stability argument. Regulators fear that the market may be overextending themselves and...

Definitely - the competitive landscape of the lending environment is vastly different today than post GFC conditions. Furthermore, with future shifts in the financial system, there'll likely be a deeper pool of lenders rather competing with the stronghold the big 4 have on the market. The...

Definitely Dan. I think the serviceability tightening may be a while away - its a bit 'hands on' and may be a 'tightening' measure used further down the track. A lot of Asian countries have utilised that exact policy mix - lending tightening with interest rate cuts. The idea is to promote...

The lending environment is tightening in 2015 following APRA's latest actions in late 2014 (a cautionary word to the banks). In the year ahead, I expect a 'gradual tightening' in lending policy to occur. Credit growth is set to continue in 2015 and potentially accelerate past the 10%...