Entries by Simon Wood

Interest Rate Update – October 2015

Cash Rate – No Change The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has just announced it will maintain the official cash rate at 2.00%. The RBA remains comfortable to provide a period of stability, to allow business and consumers some certainty over the coming months particularly following the recent change of political leadership. The financial markets […]

Should First Home Buyers have access to superannuation for a home deposit?

“Should First Home Buyers have access to superannuation for a home deposit?” Source: Digital Finance Analytics 30/09/2015 DFA recently published 5 reasons why first home buyers should not be able to use superannuation towards a house purchase, summarised as follows: First, measures to boost demand for housing, without addressing the well-documented restrictions on supply, do […]

Changes to investment loans

In the past couple of months we have seen significant changes in the Australian investment loan market. As you may have seen recently in the media, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) – the prudential regulator of the Australian financial services industry – is concerned about the recent strong growth of lending to property investors, […]

Interest Rate Update – September 2015

Cash Rate – No Change The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has announced it will maintain the official cash rate at 2.00%. Notwithstanding the extreme market volatility last week the RBA remains comfortable to remain on the sidelines until there is significant financial data which influences the next change. The reduced Australian dollar, improvement in […]

Interest Rate Update – August 2015

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has announced it will maintain the official cash rate at 2.00%. The decision has been influenced by a low Australian dollar (currently under 73 U.S. cents), a low inflation rate which still falls short of the RBA’s target range of 2 to 3 per cent and a relatively stable […]

Interest Rate Update – May 2015

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has announced it will reduce the official cash rate by 0.25% to 2.00%, the lowest in recorded history. Following last month’s RBA decision to leave the cash rate on hold with a very “dovish” tone in their issued minutes the RBA has now decided to reduce the cash rate […]

Interest Rate Update – April 2015

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has announced it will maintain the official cash rate at 2.25%. Following last month’s RBA decision to leave the cash rate as is “for the time being” it has again decided to await more financial data before it decides on further action to try to boost the domestic economy. […]

Cash Rate Update – December 2014

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has announced it will maintain the official cash rate at 2.50%, marking the first full calendar year on record without adjustment. Australia’s economic outlook has not changed significantly over the past month and despite the slump in the dollar in November the TD Securities/Melbourne Institute monthly inflation gauge rose […]

Cash Rate Update – October 2014

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has announced it will maintain the official cash rate at 2.50%. Since the RBA’s last meeting the domestic economy has seen a decline in the Australian dollar due to a continued reduction in commodity prices and strength in the US dollar. If the lower Australian dollar is sustained it […]