Home Loan Customers Caught in ‘Mortgage Minefield’

Out-of-cycle interest rates combined with the broad spectrum of home loan products available and the ever changing bank policies has led to the most chaotic marketplace in Australian history.

The lending landscape has never been more unclear for borrowers, despite the Reserve Bank of Australia’s official interest rate remaining unchanged at 2.0 per cent for almost a year.

Home owners have to tip toe through a mortgage minefield at the moment and it’s only expected to get even more confusing.

Interest rates are being raised independently of the RBA’s deliberations while we also have a range of home loan products with some of the biggest price differentiators in memory. These product pricing differentials are across-owner occupied, investor and interest-only products.

On top of that, lenders have different policies and loan to valuation ratios (LVRs) for the different products.

And with further pressure from the ASIC and the bank regulator – APRA – who are forcing more changes and pressure on the banks it is unlikely to get better in the short term.

Lenders have cited cost of funding issues and regulatory changes as the reason for out-of-cycle increases, including surges on investor loans by 0.12 to 0.47%. There has also been the out-of-cycle raises on home loan rates in response to rising funding costs and the additional costs coming in for the extra compliance and regulatory increase on reserves that the banks will have to have in place by the end of June this year Confused mortgage holders must be struggling to keep on top of all the changes.

But as a borrower you can’t afford to adopt a set and forget mentality with their home loan as it could cost you thousands of dollars.

This will play in favour of borrower – broker relationships as the brokers are the best placed to offer credit advice in this ever complex marketplace.