Welcome to my first newsletter of 2019! I’ve written 3 articles that you’ll hopefully enjoy!

1. Surprising January 2019 Property Data

2. What you need to know about credit reporting changes.

3. Historic Mortgage Broker Figures released.

If you need some expert help with an existing loan or a new one, I’m always available for a call!

Call me now on 0402 408944

Surprising Growth in Weekly Asking Rents

SQM is a data business that publishes capital city Weekly Asking Rents. Their reports reveal the median price to rent a house on a weekly basis.

The latest Weekly Asking Rents for January 21st reported 12-month growth in all capital cities except Sydney and Darwin and overall growth of 0.7% nationally. So, although property prices are softening throughout Australia, the fact that rents remain high demonstrates the very real continued demand for housing in this country.

Overall for property investors, this is good news. As rental yields and cash flow remain steady and there’s strong demand for tenancy in most areas.

For renters looking to get into the market, it’s certainly a challenge to see rents rise but remember that capital city prices are all lower than they were 12 months ago. So while you’re rent may have increased $30 a week, that dream property in Sydney that cost $800k a year ago may cost $64k less!

Here’s the latest Weekly Asking Prices to purchase houses from SQM.

The Changes to Credit Scoring That You Need to Know

In the past, Australians haven’t had to worry about credit reporting - data wasn’t easily available online and didn’t paint an accurate picture of an individual's money habits. Due to recent reforms made to the privacy act, this has now changed.

What’s changed?

Any credit report or credit file now holds much more information about your personal finances such as credit card repayment histories, how much debt you hold and even the open and closed dates of your accounts.

These types of reports are now required by banks and lenders when they assess if they’re going to lend you money. So any good or bad credit activity is easily seen and it carries significant weight towards getting a loan approved.

What should you do?

The obvious one is to make sure any credit or debts you have are being paid on time and regularly. There are multiple free websites in Australia that can show you your credit score online. These are easily found searching ‘credit scores’ on Google.

However, those reports do have limitations and if you’re interested in a more comprehensive report, give me a call and I can talk you through some options. All lenders have different ways of calculating your score it’s important you get expert help.

If there’s bad news on your credit score, there are some options we can take to mitigate the impact it has on a loan application.

If you want to know more about changes to credit reporting, give me a ring!

New Record-Breaking Broker Figures

I’m usually not one to gloat but this is a story I’m really proud to share.

Last week, it was announced that the number of Australians who use a mortgage broker hit an all-time high of nearly 60% in the September Quarter of 2018.

What this means is that 6 out of 10 Australians organise their finances through a mortgage broker instead of going directly to a bank. And it’s really no surprise to see this number growing. Mortgage brokers offer so much more to customers;

• The ability to compare hundreds of loan options instead of a few products

• Help to complete the mountains of paperwork and documents

• Assist with negotiations to get the most competitive deal

• Providing ongoing service that doesn’t stop after settlement

Thanks for reading. As always if you or anyone you know is thinking of finances, give me a ring. I’d love to show you why brokers are better than banks.