The majority of borrowers continue to opt for variable rate home loans… ANZ mulls Australian asset sales after scaling back in Asia...
Variable rates still preferred over fixed
The demand for fixed rate loans continues to slide, according to the latest national home loan approval data from Mortgage Choice.
17.40% of all loans written in October were fixed rate home loans, slightly higher than the 16.72% recorded the month prior, but significantly lower than the 12 month average of 20.83%.
Mortgage Choice chief executive officer John Flavell said the data indicates that fixed rates have fallen out of favour with borrowers choosing a home loan.
“With the Reserve Bank of Australia clearly indicating that rate hikes are a long way off, I’m not surprised to see more people opting for variable rate mortgages,” he said.
“Borrowers are savvy, they understand that interest rates are more likely to fall than rise over the short to medium term. As such, they feel comfortable opting for a variable over a fixed rate mortgage.
ANZ mulls Australian asset sales after scaling back in Asia
(Bloomberg) -- After scaling back Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd.’s Asian businesses, chief executive Shayne Elliott is now turning his attention closer to home.
ANZ is exploring “a range” of possible options for its Australian wealth business, it said Thursday as it announced its its lowest full-year earnings since 2011. That may include the sale of its life insurance, pension and investments businesses in the country, the Melbourne-based lender said in an exchange filing.
“We will not shy away from taking tough decisions,” Elliott said on a call with investors. “We have to act with more urgency than others because of our historical business mix.”
Since taking over in January, Elliott has sought to wind back ANZ’s lower-returning businesses in Asia, a legacy of his predecessor Mike Smith’s expansion into the region. The restructure is taking place at a time when higher funding costs, narrower margins and rising bad-debt charges in Australia are putting pressure on earnings at the bank and its rivals.
The demand for fixed rate loans continues to slide, according to the latest national home loan approval data from Mortgage Choice.
17.40% of all loans written in October were fixed rate home loans, slightly higher than the 16.72% recorded the month prior, but significantly lower than the 12 month average of 20.83%.
Mortgage Choice chief executive officer John Flavell said the data indicates that fixed rates have fallen out of favour with borrowers choosing a home loan.
“With the Reserve Bank of Australia clearly indicating that rate hikes are a long way off, I’m not surprised to see more people opting for variable rate mortgages,” he said.
“Borrowers are savvy, they understand that interest rates are more likely to fall than rise over the short to medium term. As such, they feel comfortable opting for a variable over a fixed rate mortgage.
ANZ mulls Australian asset sales after scaling back in Asia
(Bloomberg) -- After scaling back Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd.’s Asian businesses, chief executive Shayne Elliott is now turning his attention closer to home.
ANZ is exploring “a range” of possible options for its Australian wealth business, it said Thursday as it announced its its lowest full-year earnings since 2011. That may include the sale of its life insurance, pension and investments businesses in the country, the Melbourne-based lender said in an exchange filing.
“We will not shy away from taking tough decisions,” Elliott said on a call with investors. “We have to act with more urgency than others because of our historical business mix.”
Since taking over in January, Elliott has sought to wind back ANZ’s lower-returning businesses in Asia, a legacy of his predecessor Mike Smith’s expansion into the region. The restructure is taking place at a time when higher funding costs, narrower margins and rising bad-debt charges in Australia are putting pressure on earnings at the bank and its rivals.
