House prices in Melbourne rose by another 8 per cent during 2006, further increasing the affordability barrier preventing first-home buyers from entering the market. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reports that its index of established house prices in the city jumped another 1.5 per cent in the December quarter, adding another $5,000 to the cost of the average home. 'The worst affordability in at least a quarter of a century, coupled with low vacancy rates and soaring rents, has the potential to create social upheaval not seen since the Great Depression,' said Chris Lamont, the Housing Industry Association's executive director for industry policy and services. 'If people cannot afford to buy a home and there is nowhere for them to rent, what is left? It is a desperate situation.'
Building approvals for houses and units in Australia fell 1.9 per cent in December 2006. In the year to December 2006 building approvals fell 1.5 per cent.............Details
RAMS Home Loans has reported a 39.6 per cent surge in net profit to $29.9 million for the year to June 30 2006. RAMS is believed to be in the final stages of its ownership review.............Details
An online fraud survey has found that phishing scams are undermining customers confidence in electronic messages allegedly from financial institutions, which means that banks are losing the option of communicating with customers via email.............Details
Automatic teller machine (ATM) owner, Customers, will undertake a $155.5 million dollars capital raising to finance its purchase of 3,300 machines from ATM Solutions, a subsidiary of Macquarie bank. ............Details
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has left interest rates on hold this morning after its first meeting of the year, offering some relief to homebuyers.............Details
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has found that home buyers in parts of Sydney and Melbourne are struggling with increases in loan repayments after three interest rate rises last year and falls in the values of their properties.............Details
More and more banks are now providing online banking customers with an electronic two-factor authentication token to reduce the impact of phishing and online banking fraud.............Details
By yesterday\'s deadline, David Jones received offers from almost a dozen banks and financial service companies for a role in its general purpose credit card.............Details
Craig Williams, Citigroup analyst, says that St George Bank could miss its mortgage lending targets in first half of the 2007 financial year because of a weak New South Wales economy. ............Details
Australian lenders are fighting to retain or boost their market share, despite evidence of mortgage stress. The major banks are predicting a rebound in mortgage lending this year as fears of further interest rate rises fade.............Details
Yesterday the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) announced that the official cash rate would remain at 6.25 per cent for February, amid signs that inflationary pressures had peaked and the economy is beginning to slow.............Details
Non-bank lenders are seeking to expand their businesses. Bluestone Group has entered the commercial property market, offering loans to small business owners and professional traders.............Details
Unemployment is at its lowest point in three years, led by the resource economies of Western Australia and Queensland. With joblessness at a 31 year low there are concerns that the tight labour market could put pressure on wages and inflation.............Details
The official job numbers released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that the unemployment level was at a 31 year low of 4.5 per cent in January, down from 4.6 per cent in December 2006.............Details
Despite leaving official interest rates unchanged at the February Reserve Bank board meeting, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) inflation police will be on a heightened state of alert ............Details
ANZ is stepping up its rollout of ATMs, finding that it is a useful way to get new customers. Currently the bank has 2,000 ATMs in Australia and plans to open a new one every day this year.............Details
Member's Equity Bank plans to increase its customer base over the next decade, after a surge in home lending and deposits helped push it into profit last year............Details
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released its quarterly statement on monetary policy yesterday, showing that it has lowered its forecast for underlying inflation from 3 per cent to 2.75 per cent by mid 2007.............Details
The latest D&B National Business Expectations survey has found that for the first time in four quarters improved sales were forecast, with 25 per cent of businesses expecting bigger profits.............Details
The D&B National Business Expectations survey has reported that 33 per cent of manufacturing, wholesale and retail companies say the drought is affecting them.............Details
The Australian Finance Group's (AFG) mortgage index showed that overall mortgage sales in January rose 20 per cent, well above the season's average.............Details
Home loans in Western Australia could soon be the nation's most expensive. Australian Financial Group (AFG) has reported that the gap between the value of the average mortgage in WA and NSW was $14,000 in January, the smallest gap recorded yet.............Details
Australian property investors have been discouraged by a fall in rental yields, according to the latest monetary policy statement from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).............Details
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is concerned about inflation and is closely monitoring the Australian economy for any signs that inflation in increasing.............Details
The latest Citibank Retirement Index survey has found that nearly 70 per cent of retired and semi-retired Australians aged 55 or over are optimistic about their super savings, an increase of 15 per cent compared with November 2006.............Details
New superannuation rules are negatively affecting the Australian rental market, as property investors flee the housing market to invest in super.............Details
Online share broking has become more popular with the booming share market, and last year E*Trade's customer accounts increased by 29 per cent.............Details
The New South Wales Department of Fair Trading will investigate a controversial property scheme that capitalises on the property downturn.............Details
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) reported a $2.27 billion profit for the first half of the 2006/07 financial year, an increase of 19 per cent.............Details
Increasing numbers of mortgage delinquencies have prompted Genworth Financial to contact clients directly and implement workout strategies.............Details
Colonial First State, Commonwealth Bank of Australia's (CBA) wealth management division, strongly contributed to the results announced yesterday.............Details
AIMS Home Loans has renewed its two-year sponsorship of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia's (FINSIA) top mortgage student.............Details
The latest figures from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) show that at the end of last year total household debt was $962 billion.............Details
AMP will offer 35,000 financial planning clients a full review after an investigation found five times more clients than originally thought may have received unacceptable advice to switch superannuation funds.............Details
Borrowers can have more confidence that they will avoid further interest rate rises during 2007 following the Reserve Bank's quarterly monetary policy statement this week, but further hikes can't yet be ruled out.............Details
A report by BIS Shrapnel has found that Sydney's inner city apartment dwellers will be the hardest hit by the worsening rental crisis.............Details
Australian banks have found that it takes more than customer satisfaction to increase sales, they also need products and services that are tangibly different.............Details
House prices have fallen in almost half of Perth's suburbs, with some dropping more than 8 per cent, according the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia's (REIWA) figures for the December quarter.............Details
Over the past year Australian banks have aggressively increased advertising in an attempt to win over new customers and reinforce brand image.............Details
The ANZ is ramping up its wealth management business to take advantage of the booming share market and moved yesterday to take full control of online stockbroker E*Trade.............Details
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will be carefully watching the tight labour market but economists say an expected 1 per cent increase in wages growth will not be significant enough to force the RBA to raise interest rates.............Details
Westpac, in a move to further increase market share with the consumer retail banking market, has changed current reporting functions to split business and consumer banking arms.............Details
Prime Minister John Howard is considering rent relief to deal with the tightening rental market, but there are calls for the federal government to leave the $2.2 billion rental assistance scheme alone ............Details
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has announced that it won't hesitate to tighten monetary policy ahead of a federal election, and the next move in interest rates is more likely to be up rather than down.............Details
A surge in the sale of investment properties has been reported by real estate agents, as investors rush to meet the June 30 deadline to make up to $1 million in post-tax contributions to superannuation.............Details
Pay increases in the public sector are helping drive wages growth amid the Reserve Bank of Australia's concerns that higher salaries could create an inflationary risk.............Details
Under government reforms to the disclosure of financial advice, real estate agents, mortgage brokers and accountants could move into selling financial products.............Details
To promote confidence in the integrity of the financial system, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre have signed a memorandum of understanding ............Details
Yesterday Bananacoast Community Credit Union and New England Credit Union announced merger plans to create Australia's largest regional credit union.............Details
The Reserve Bank (RBA) retains a leaning towards higher interest rates in 2007 rather than lower, that much is clear. That's not to say we will get a rate rise, only that the possibility is certainly there. ............Details
Major ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S & P) has upgraded the credit rating of Australia's four major banks from AA- to AA, a move which is expected to lower the banks' annual funding costs.............Details
Six financial planning firms representing about $6 billion in funds have shown dissatisfaction with BT Financial Group's new program to lower investment management fees.............Details
Challenger Financial Services, directed by James Packer, has agreed to take a 40 per cent stake in Western Australian lending group Homeloans.............Details
The Insolvency and Trustee Service Australia has mapped out bankruptcies in Sydney for the first time, finding that southwest and western suburbs had the highest increase in personal bankruptcies across all ages.............Details
E*Trade has suspended paying dividends to shareholders as part of a deal struck with its biggest shareholder ANZ, which has a $268 million takeover offer on the table.............Details
A survey by the Residential Development Council shows that only 7 per cent of industry experts think that young people will ever own their own home.............Details
Home unit sales in New South Wales have more than halved over the past four years, with only 30,184 units sold last year compared to 63,610 in 2002.............Details
The Western Australian state government's $300 million shared equity scheme has been swamped with registrations from first home buyers desperate to break into the housing market.............Details
St George has launched a Basic Home Loan with a variable interest rate of 7.44 per cent, an establishment fee of $500 and no monthly fees.............Details
The Housing Industry Association (HIA) has warned that as many as half a million Australian families are suffering financial stress due to the rising cost of rent and high mortgages.............Details
Wall Street shares experienced a dramatic downturn today following steep declines in global markets, with the Dow Jones index closing 416.02 points or 3.29 per cent lower.............Details
Basic home loans used to be popular with first home buyers and low income earners but due to improved features they are enjoying a wider popularity.............Details
Increased competition has led to better reverse mortgage rates for consumers. The Senior Australian Equity Release Association of Lenders has released new figures on the cost of reverse mortgages.............Details
The biggest fall on the Chinese stock market in a decade caused Australian investors to suffer their worst trading day of the year yesterday.............Details
A review of trading activity has found that some company directors are still not disclosing trades in their company shares and are continuing to trade in the weeks before major announcements, raising questions about insider trading.............Details
In February ASX Ltd reported record trading levels. Each day an average 218,000 equity trades were made, 21 per cent higher than the previous best month in January.............Details
The recent turbulence in the share market has prompted investors to reconsider risky investments and consider the odds of a deeper downturn.............Details
Treasurer Peter Costello has ruled out federal help, such as rental assistance, for tenants struggling to cope with rising rents and a lack of properties.............Details
The government has reported that almost 800,000 superannuation co-contribution payments worth more than $631 million were made to Australian workers between October 1 and December 31 last year.............Details
There won't be any rise coming out of the March RBA meeting on Tuesday but later this year creates interesting scenario, given the looming federal election. ............Details
