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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.
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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.
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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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Non-bank lenders surge 65% as mainstream credit tightens

Non-bank mortgage volume jumped $4.14bn year-on-year while major bank growth stalled at 2.6%. The gap reveals who's being shut out of traditional credit.
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Unemployment rate rise complicates RBA’s next move as mortgage stress deepens

July jobless rate climbs to 4.5%, labour market cools, yet inflation still sits above target, so what changes for the 891,000 borrowers already scraping by?
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Climate risk home loans face income shock before flood damage

Nine mutual lenders modelled climate scenarios and found the threat isn't just weather, it's borrowers losing jobs and insurance.
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Mortgage fraud rings exposed: hundreds of millions in fake loans

AUSTRAC's multi-bank data sweep uncovered coordinated fraud across brokers, lawyers and accountants, but the scale suggests lender verification failed long before criminals walked in the door.
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Home equity withdrawal for holidays and cars: the leverage trap

1.4 million Australians tapped their home equity in twelve months, cars and holidays topped the list, but borrowing against a falling asset carries compounding risk.
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Variable rate cuts hit 5.99% as lenders diverge on pricing strategy

Fifty lenders now price below 6%, but four rates went up this week while five came down, why the split, and what it means for your next move.
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Private lending demand jumps 68% as bank credit tightens

Non-conforming loans are surging through broker networks, but at what cost to borrowers, and who wins when the market shifts?
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Mortgage rates Australia: 5.69pc floor vanishes as lenders retreat

The handful of lenders still offering sub-5.70pc variable rates pulled back this week. Timing couldn't be worse.
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Small business lending margins hit five-year low as banks shift focus

Banks are slashing margins on SME loans while housing credit slows, but the real question is whether this signals a structural shift in risk appetite.
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Mortgage stress watchlist grows at NAB as applications fall 15%

NAB's internal early-warning list is expanding even as official arrears stay flat, a signal that today's performing loans may be tomorrow's problem.
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Broker diversification: Asset finance push or mortgage drought reflex?

A major aggregator just handed 1,350 brokers an asset finance panel. The question isn't whether it works, it's whether it lasts.
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RBA interest rates ‘finely balanced’ as housing downturn bites

The Reserve Bank says its current cash rate is restrictive enough to slow the economy, but housing weakness beyond what rate rises alone explain complicates the path ahead.
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Mortgage default risk up 18% as households hit financial limits

One in five more Australian households now at risk of default, according to new data tracking years of rate pressure and depleted savings buffers.
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RBA communication policy now drives property decisions more than rate moves

The Reserve Bank's shift to messaging over action leaves investors guessing whether the next signal is a warning or a bluff.

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