Laze Spasevski, Author at Australian Loans Group

Interest Rates Have Evolved

Posted on 03/11/202324/10/2023 by Laze Spasevski

Interest rates have evolved over the past 18 months according to the latest Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) data. It certainly has shown the impact the RBA's cash rate rises have had on the mortgage market. The key is to compare average interest rates for all outstanding loans in April 2022 – the month before the first rate rise – and August 2023 – the most recent month for which we have da...
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Refinancing Topped $20bn

Posted on 31/10/202324/10/2023 by Laze Spasevski

Refinancing activity has topped $20bn in August as revealed by the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). It is 3.9% lower than the month before but 12.4% higher than the year before. One major contributing factor to the rise of refinancing activity is due to lots of people coming off fixed rates right now. With this in mind, it’s no surprise that an enormous amount of refinancing i...
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Rental Shortage Set To Linger

Posted on 29/09/202326/09/2023 by Laze Spasevski

The rental shortage is set to linger as the national vacancy rate in July dropped to 1.3%. It is forecasted by SQM Research that this is unlikely to change anytime soon. The rental shortage is likely due to 2 major factors: A rapid increase in population. Fewer new homes are completed in 2023 compared to 2022. SQM managing director Louis Christopher said. “Australia currently has...
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Rates are Lower Than Expected

Posted on 26/09/202326/09/2023 by Laze Spasevski

Despite the interest rate rises that have occurred since last year, rates are lower than expected. The number one contributing factor to this is the “strong competition between lenders”, according to the Reserve Bank. Between May 2022 and June 2023, the cash rate increased by 4.00 percentage points. But during that same period, the average interest rate for outstanding variable-rate loans in...
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Refinancing Remained at Record Highs

Posted on 22/09/202320/09/2023 by Laze Spasevski

“Refinancing activity has remained at record highs in recent months, as borrowers continued to switch lenders amid interest rate rises,” according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Owner-occupiers and investors refinanced a combined $20.2 billion of loans with external lenders in June, the ABS reported. While that was 3.1% lower than the month before, it was 12.6% higher than...
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Property Listings Rise

Posted on 06/08/2023 by Laze Spasevski

In good news for buyers, there's been an increase in the number of properties listed for sale, as well as an increase in the total number of properties on the market. SQM Research has reported that the number of new listings (i.e. those less than 30 days' old) in June was 1.6% higher than the month before. At the same time, the number of for-sale properties – which includes both new list...
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ATO Resolution in Resolving Disputes

Posted on 06/07/202305/07/2023 by Laze Spasevski

A senior official from the ATO has told businesses that there are multiple resolution procedures in resolving tax-related disputes. She further said that formal disputes and litigation are not the only ways they can resolve arguments with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). ATO second commissioner Kirsten Fish delivered a speech earlier this month. She said that there were multiple review...
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Unemployment stayed at 3.5%

Posted on 26/05/202325/05/2023 by Laze Spasevski

Australia’s unemployment rate has stayed at 3.5% in March. It now had a ‘3’ in front of it for 13 consecutive months. Since February 2022, unemployment has ranged between 3.4% and 3.9%. In March 2023, it held steady at 3.5% for the second consecutive month, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. In line with the increase in employment, female participation rates surged to a re...
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Banks Launched Anti-Scam Campaign

Posted on 16/05/202315/05/2023 by Laze Spasevski

The Australian Banking Association which represents twenty-two banks (ABA) has launched a new anti-scam campaign to raise awareness about scams. This is a very topical issue, with Scamwatch receiving 14,603 reports about bank impersonation scams in 2022, resulting in more than $20 million in losses, according to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission. The ABA ads include th...
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ATO Issues Notice to Property Investors

Posted on 12/05/202325/05/2023 by Laze Spasevski

The Australian Taxation Office or ATO, issues notice to property investors. It will scrutinize their tax returns in an effort to claw back an estimated $1.3 billion in missing taxes. In a 2020-21 sample audit conducted by ATO, an estimated $9bn of tax revenue was lost due to errors and tax avoidance. According to the ATO, the most common tax errors that property investors make are: inco...
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