Good Morning!
Things continue to surge in the property market and now NSW Treasury wants their moment in the sun. I read an article this week regarding NSW proposal to change Stamp Duty and create an annual property tax in lieu of Stamp Duty. NSW Treasury in the AFR claiming that this could increase property transactions by 50% or 100,000 transactions per year. There is a general agreeance that this would see house prices and property sales increase in the medium to short term, as well as agreeance across the board that Stamp Duty is a terrible tax. Consultation runs on the new proposal till March. I guess this will be a case of watch this space.
Banks have continued to be in the news for the wrong reasons, this time its not for how horrifically slow they are. Australia’s 6 largest banks have reportedly paid out $1.24 billion dollars as at Dec 31, in remediation for clients who suffered a loss because of fee’s for no service or non-complaint advice. That is a staggering amount of money.
Rates have continued to hold recently, though some banks have started to follow the leader with their fixed rate offering. From my panel of lenders Suncorp are still the cheapest with their under 80% LVR 2 year fixed rate at 1.89%, and AMP with their 2 and 3 year fixed at 1.97% for an under 90% LVR.
There are several on-line lenders with some very attractive fixed rates though on-line lenders tend to be the most cautious with regards to borrowers, their income status (only liking PAYG clients generally) as well as being hard to reach with many only dealing with clients via email. This makes them tricky lenders to navigate.
I have seen in the last week or so bank starting to tighten their lending criteria again. Just when you thought they couldn’t be any more difficult to deal with.
It certainly pays to have a broker on your side.
Have a smashing week out there, reach out if you need anything.
JC
Scenarios and rates quoted are indications only and don't take into account your personal situation.
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