Investment Lending Blows Its Stack

The ABS today released their home lending data to July 2014, which held a number of surprises.  The trend estimate for the total value of dwelling finance commitments excluding alterations and additions rose 0.6%. In seasonally adjusted terms, the total value of dwelling finance commitments excluding alterations and additions rose 2.7%. In trend terms, the … Continue reading “Investment Lending Blows Its Stack”

The Current State Of Play In The Property Market

An extract from the latest edition of the DFA report, the Property Imperative, released last week. The Australian Residential Property market is valued at over $5.2 trillion and includes houses, semi-detached dwellings, townhouses, terrace houses, flats, units and apartments. In the past 10 years the total value has more than doubled. It is one of … Continue reading “The Current State Of Play In The Property Market”

Australian non-conforming loans are higher quality than pre-2008 US and UK equivalents – Moody’s

Interesting release from Moody’s today on securitisation of non-conforming loans in Australia. Non-conforming loans are defined those who fall outside normal credit approval criteria, for example because of a negative credit history, or because borrowers provided limited verification of their financial situation, or required an abnormally large loan, and as a result they do not … Continue reading “Australian non-conforming loans are higher quality than pre-2008 US and UK equivalents – Moody’s”

Where Capital Growth In Property Lives

In the Opening Statement to House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics today, Glenn Stevens made the following points: not only are funding costs low, but banks want to lend and are competing to do so more actively than they have for some years; net worth per household has risen by about $120,000 over the … Continue reading “Where Capital Growth In Property Lives”

Reflections On The FSI Interim Report – Part 1

Having summarised the main observations from the 460 page Financial System Inquiry (FSI) interim report yesterday, today we start to delve more deeply into some of most important issues raised. In a number of areas, we believe the work to date could be sharpened. Lender’s Mortgage Insurance. The report rightly highlights that for banks with … Continue reading “Reflections On The FSI Interim Report – Part 1”

Why FOFA Matters So Much

Last week, the Future of Financial Advice regulations were tabled in Parliament, following the recently published Senate review.  As currently incarnated they have the potential to drive a coach and horses through the original intentions of the FOFA reforms. Today we explore why this is so, and highlight some of the consequences for both the managed … Continue reading “Why FOFA Matters So Much”

BIS Banking Benchmarks – Where Australian Banks Stand

The BIS published their 84th annual report 2013-14 recently. As well as discussing the merits of central banks relying on low interest rates to try and drive recovery from 2007, and the risks in this strategy with regards to laying the foundations for GFC mark II thanks to expanding credit; there is some interesting data … Continue reading “BIS Banking Benchmarks – Where Australian Banks Stand”

Super Fees Are Way Too High In Australia

In an interesting speech yesterday Dr David Gruen Executive Director Macroeconomic Group presented some startling data to the assembled company at the CEDA State of the Nation 2014 event. Citing the Gratton Institute report he said “in 2013, Australian superannuation fees ranged from approximately 0.7 per cent to 2.4 per cent of mean fund size, … Continue reading “Super Fees Are Way Too High In Australia”

IMF Warns On Housing, Launches New Index

The IMF has launched its Global Housing Watch, a selected set of data highlighting potential pressures in the housing market across countries. “Housing is an essential sector of every country’s economy, but it has also been a source of instability for financial institutions and countries. Understanding the drivers of house price cycles, and how to … Continue reading “IMF Warns On Housing, Launches New Index”