Khader Hasan 
The Australian Banking Association (ABA) has launched a campaign encouraging borrowers struggling with loan repayments to seek help, in a valuable reminder there are options available if you’re finding it hard to keep up with your mortgage. Your bank may be able to: Reduce your home loan repayments. Pause your repayments temporarily. Switch your repayments … Read more
A record 882 cranes were operational across Australia during the September quarter, according to Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB). Of those 882 cranes, 554 were residential, which was a new record, and 328 non-residential, which was close to record levels. That included 77 cranes for mixed-use developments, 64 for commercial projects and 56 for civil projects. … Read more
Commercial property buyers made $11.8 billion of purchases in the first nine months of 2023, according to JLL, well short of the activity recorded in 2022, when $29.2 billion of transactions occurred throughout the entire year. Activity has fluctuated during 2023, with $4.3 billion of transactions in the first quarter, $3.5 billion in the second … Read more
Property owners who sold their homes during the 2023-24 financial year generally made a gross profit, due to a strong market and the fact that most homes rise in value over time. Domain found that 96.0% of people across Australia who sold a house in the 2023-24 financial year did so for more than they’d … Read more
The hardest part of buying your first home isn’t necessarily paying the mortgage – although that can be challenging. Rather, it’s often saving a large enough deposit to qualify for a loan. What makes the deposit hurdle tricky is that it’s been getting higher. Between March 2020 (when the pandemic started) and August 2024, the … Read more
As a basic rule, mortgage interest is calculated each day, based on the amount of money (or principal) still owing on your loan. As the principal declines, so does the borrower’s interest bill. For example, if someone took out a $500,000 principal-and-interest loan, interest would be charged initially on $500,000; but if, say, a year … Read more
When someone takes out a car loan, they may be given the option of repaying the loan through two different structures – one with a balloon payment and one without. For borrowers who take out a car loan without a balloon structure, they repay the loan through a series of regular monthly payments. Once they’ve … Read more
The vast majority of Australians who sell their home use a real estate agent to represent their interests. However, only a fraction of buyers have their own representative. A buyer’s agent, also known as a buyer’s advocate, is a real estate professional who is hired by the buyer and who has a responsibility to represent … Read more
Property investors continue to enjoy increases in their rental income, but the rate of growth appears to be slowing, judging by the latest Domain data. The median house rent in the combined capital cities rose 11.1% in the year to June 2024, compared to 11.5% in the year to June 2023. Capital city unit rents … Read more
When it comes to buying a car, it’s vital to analyse the total cost of ownership, rather than focusing on the sticker price alone. That way, you’ll be able to make an informed decision about the best way to proceed. 1. New vs used An important decision is whether to buy new or used. A … Read more
