Mortgage sales defy sceptics for now
Reports of the property market’s death have been greatly exaggerated, according to a new survey showing a 14.7 per cent rise in mortgage sales across Australia during March compared with February.
The survey is based on the book of Australian Finance Group (AFG), which claims to be Australia’s largest mortgage broker with 7.5 per cent of the national mortgage market (equating to a mortgage book over $20 billion).
While March is always a busy month for new mortgages, AFG points out that the rise in March 2004 was 14.6 per cent over February, roughly equivalent to the latest figure.
Malcolm Watkins, executive director of AFG, said: “Some of the headlines we saw last month would have us believe that the 0.25 per cent rate rise was the end of the world. The more sober reality is that, in historical terms, interest rates are still at the low end, and underlying confidence in property remains strong. Of course it could take more time for the rate rise to feed through, but the initial impact has been only limited.”
The doomsayers have had some effect on borrowers, however. The AFG survey found that 16.9 per cent of new mortgages in March were on a fixed rate basis, compared to just 8.3 per cent seeking such assurance against rate hikes in September 2004.
Recommended for you
With an advice M&A deal taking around six months to enact, two experts have shared their tips on how buyers and sellers can avoid “deal fatigue” and prevent potential deals from collapsing.
Several financial advisers have been shortlisted in the ninth annual Women in Finance Awards 2025, to be held on 14 November.
Digital advice tools are on the rise, but licensees will need to ensure they still meet adviser obligations or potentially risk a class action if clients lose money from a rogue algorithm.
Shaw and Partners has merged with Sydney wealth manager Kennedy Partners Wealth, while Ord Minnett has hired a private wealth adviser from Morgan Stanley.
