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Rates & Credit

Rate hikes and inflation push household strain to a post-pandemic high

A new Misery Index shows borrowing costs and prices now do the damage, not jobs. The question is who carries it.
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Non-bank lending gets a $1.7bn boost from Macquarie and Citi

A bridging fintech now has more than $1.7bn in debt funding from two big institutions. The harder question is what that means for borrowers and risk.
Rates & Credit

Best interest duty review: cheaper loans aren’t always best

ASIC is reviewing how brokers meet their best interest duty, and the industry says the lowest rate is not always the right loan. The trade-off matters more as rates bite.
Rates & Credit

Trans-Tasman stress test: banks pass, but the gaps matter

Regulators say lenders would keep lending through a deep recession. The test is only as good as what it leaves out.
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Fixed Rate Home Loan Repricing: What Lenders Are Pricing In

Lenders moved on fixed rates within days of the 4.6% cash rate, while variable pass-through lags. The gap tells you what funding markets expect next.
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40-Year Home Loan: Lower Repayments, Higher Lifetime Cost

A non-bank lender is pitching 40-year terms to stretch borrowing power. The extra years cost more than most borrowers expect.
Rates & Credit

Mortgage Stress Australia: Loan Size, Not Rates, Sets the Risk

Borrowers in the 1990s faced 17 per cent rates, yet today's debt loads may be heavier. The real question is how much strain the system can absorb.
Rates & Credit

Negative equity: the RBA’s 5% crash test and who sits at the edge

The RBA says under 1% of borrowers owe more than their home is worth. The risk sits in a narrow band of recent, highly geared buyers.
Rates & Credit

Mortgage broker oversight review signals stricter verification ahead

ASIC flags review of lender-broker relationships without naming targets or timeline, what does vague language actually mean for loan approvals?
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Mortgage stress hits 32.5% as resilience data maps who loses next

One in five Australians lacks the financial buffer to absorb another rate rise, but the concentration of vulnerability tells a different story than the national average.
Rates & Credit

Private credit redemption freeze: $9bn lockout signals funding crunch

Two wholesale funds halt investor withdrawals as audit disputes force asset write-downs, raising questions about how much development finance will remain available.
Rates & Credit

Variable home loan rates climb 25 basis points as lenders chase margin

Australia's fifth-largest lender passes through the full October cash rate rise within hours, lifting both borrowing costs and deposit returns, but the speed and symmetry raise questions about competitive pressure.
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Discretionary spending outpaces inflation as rate hikes miss the target

Mortgage-free owners are driving most household spending growth while leveraged buyers face another hike.
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Mortgage stress: when rate rises cross the line from cuts to crisis

A growing share of borrowers have run out of room to adjust. Here's what that threshold looks like, and what happens next.
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Mortgage stress Australia: one million households signal distress risk

Nine per cent would consider selling after one rate hike. Markets have never absorbed forced-sale supply at that scale.
Rates & Credit

Construction inflation pressure splits the sector, rate cuts stall

Non-residential building hits a six-decade peak while housing lags. Same labour pool, opposite policy goals.
Rates & Credit

Interest rate hikes affordability paradox: when cheaper prices cost more

Two more rate rises could drop prices 15% but push monthly repayments higher than today, the maths that breaks the policy assumption.
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Borrowing capacity cuts hit $58k: which states lose hardest

South Australia's 68% surge in loan sizes since 2021 now collides with the sharpest mainland wage gap, and the timing couldn't be worse.

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