A non-major bank has made changes to its fixed and variable home loan rates... Last week was the second busiest auction week of the year...
ME announces rate changes
ME has made changes to its fixed and variable home loan rates and increased existing borrower rates for the first time.
The Bank will drop its 1-year fixed owner occupier and investor loans by 10bps to 3.89% p.a. and 3.99% p.a. respectively, while increasing its 2-year owner occupier loans by 10bps to 3.94% p.a. and its 3-year fixed owner occupier and investor loans by 15bps to 3.99% p.a. and 4.09% p.a. respectively.
All changes are effective 15 December 2016. It will also hike its variable home loan reference rate by 10bps effective 4 January 2017, affecting new and existing investor and owner occupier loans.
ME CEO, Jamie McPhee, said the changes were in response to rising funding costs and the need to remain within APRA’s limit on investor lending growth. “The rate banks pay to hedge the cost of three-year fixed mortgages has increased 40 basis points since August, while variable home loan funding costs have been increasing as banks work toward the regulatory need to hold longer-term stable sources of funding.
“ME is moving to a new regulatory regime on 1 January 2017 (the Liquidity Coverage Ratio), requiring it to compete for more deposit funding.
Auction activity close to record highs for 2016
With 3,432 auctions held last week, it was the second busiest auction week of the year, according to CoreLogic's latest Property Pulse report.
The busiest week of 2016 was in the week ending March 20. Although the number of auctions are close to record highs, the clearance rate held above 70% across the combined capital cities.
Melbourne held its position as the largest auction market, with 1,534 auctions last week and a clearance rate of 78.4%. Sydney also maintained a high success rate, with 73.7% of auctions selling over the week.
The report said auction activity will see a sharp fall in the next few weeks until warming up again in early February.
ME has made changes to its fixed and variable home loan rates and increased existing borrower rates for the first time.
The Bank will drop its 1-year fixed owner occupier and investor loans by 10bps to 3.89% p.a. and 3.99% p.a. respectively, while increasing its 2-year owner occupier loans by 10bps to 3.94% p.a. and its 3-year fixed owner occupier and investor loans by 15bps to 3.99% p.a. and 4.09% p.a. respectively.
All changes are effective 15 December 2016. It will also hike its variable home loan reference rate by 10bps effective 4 January 2017, affecting new and existing investor and owner occupier loans.
ME CEO, Jamie McPhee, said the changes were in response to rising funding costs and the need to remain within APRA’s limit on investor lending growth. “The rate banks pay to hedge the cost of three-year fixed mortgages has increased 40 basis points since August, while variable home loan funding costs have been increasing as banks work toward the regulatory need to hold longer-term stable sources of funding.
“ME is moving to a new regulatory regime on 1 January 2017 (the Liquidity Coverage Ratio), requiring it to compete for more deposit funding.
Auction activity close to record highs for 2016
With 3,432 auctions held last week, it was the second busiest auction week of the year, according to CoreLogic's latest Property Pulse report.
The busiest week of 2016 was in the week ending March 20. Although the number of auctions are close to record highs, the clearance rate held above 70% across the combined capital cities.
Melbourne held its position as the largest auction market, with 1,534 auctions last week and a clearance rate of 78.4%. Sydney also maintained a high success rate, with 73.7% of auctions selling over the week.
The report said auction activity will see a sharp fall in the next few weeks until warming up again in early February.
