Morning Briefing: Banks warned not to pass new costs onto customers

Australia's big banks have accepted they will have a tougher watchdog... Vacancy rate figures may point to oversupply fears being overblown...

Banks warned not to pass new costs onto customers
Australia's big banks have accepted they will have a tougher watchdog, after the Treasurer announced extra funding for ASIC yesterday.  

Treasurer Scott Morrison and Assistant Treasurer Kelly O'Dwyer said the Australian Securities and Investments Commission would receive new powers, resources and consumer protections to help in cleaning up the financial culture, the Australian Financial Review reported. 

ASIC will receive an extra $127 million, Morrison told reporters. Under a new user pays system, the banks and other providers will made to pay this extra money and fund  ASIC's entire existing budget of about $312 million a year. 

Morrison warned the banks not to try and pass this impost onto customers, saying the costs were "easily digestible" and he would be "furious" if they tried.

Vacancy rate figures may point to oversupply fears being overblown
Australia’s residential vacancy rate remained steady over March according to figures released this week.

Rental market analysis from SQM Research has revealed the national vacancy rate was 2.3% during March, the same result as was recorded in February.

While there was no month-on-month movement, the national rate is higher year-on-year, with it being recorded at 2.1% during March 2015.

During March, Perth recorded the highest vacancy rate of any market in the country at 4.1%, up 0.2% compared to February.

Darwin’s vacancy rate was the next highest at 3.6%, though no movement was recorded during March, while 0.1% increase pushed Brisbane’s vacancy rate to 2.6%.

On the other end of the spectrum, Hobart had the lowest rate during the month at0.9%, while 0.2% decrease bought Canberra down to 1.1% and Sydney remained at 1.6%.

 

Broker Tip of the Day

“Canberra can be quite a transient town,” Tiffen says. “Clients will be here for one to three years and then might sell and move to Perth. They’ll still talk to us via Skype, and we’ll do their application.”

Gerard Tiffen, Tiffen & Co, Top 10 Independent Brokerages 2015

 


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