Digital Finance Analytics (DFA) Blog
"Intelligent Insight"
Ratings Agencies are a funny breed, and I am not going to enter the debate as to whether they are ahead of the curve – some will say their track record around the time of the GFC was appalling – and whether they are truly independent; but they are taken seriously by the markets, which … Continue reading “What The Ratings Agencies Are Saying”
Welcome to the Property Imperative weekly to 9th June 2018, our digest of the latest finance and property news with a distinctively Australian flavour. Watch the video, listen to the podcast, or read the transcript. scrollings=”no” Today, a story. In the great city of Ghor, all the inhabitants were blind. A king and … Continue reading “That’s Not A Fall; THIS Is A Fall – The Property Imperative Weekly – 9th June 2018”
The US 10-year bond rate is moving higher again, with the expectation of more FED rate rises ahead. US mortgage rates have resumed an upward trend that began last week after political turmoil in Italy began to die down. More simply put, rates had been rising in mid May. Locally, I continue to track the … Continue reading “So, How Much Pressure On Bank Margins Now?”
The enhanced focus on mortgage lending serviceability means that a consideration of the loan to income ratio or LTI is ever more important. In the UK, where LTI calculations are the norm, the Bank of England first introduced limits on high LTI mortgages in 2014. These measures meant that no more than 15 per cent … Continue reading “A Deeper Dive Into Current Loan To Income Ratios”
The Australian Financial Security Authority has released the quarterly statistics for insolvencies to March 2018, down to a location (SA3) level. By state, NSW leads the way with 2,073 personal insolvencies and 322 business insolvencies. Queensland has 1,908 personal insolvencies and 410 business insolvencies and has the highest proportion of the population across the states … Continue reading “Insolvencies By Locations – Spot The Pain!”
From The Conversation. Even though house prices have risen substantially over recent decades, housing costs as a share of income have barely shifted in over 20 years. Costs relative to disposable income for housing are largely unchanged, at 17% since 1993, although there has been some increase since 2000. There is no agreed measure for … Continue reading “Housing costs are actually the same as in 1993, but renters still struggle”
Yesterday the RBA said that the trajectory of income growth was uncertain (they were less bullish than previously), and today the latest ABS data on wages growth showed a further fall compared with last time. In fact you can mount an argument the federal budget is already shot as a result. The seasonally adjusted Wage … Continue reading “Wages Growth Anemic In March Quarter”
Back in January I published a video entitled “To Buy, Or Not To Buy, That IS indeed the Question” which addressed the question of should I buy property now. It’s still available, and as current as ever it was. But as we have seen prices slide further, which we showed in yesterday’s edition of the … Continue reading “Should I Sell Now?”
Welcome to The Property Imperative Weekly to 12 May 2018. In this week’s review of the latest finance and property news we look at the impact of the impending credit crunch. Watch the video or read the transcript. The evidence is mounting that we are entering a credit crunch, driven by tighter lending restrictions, and … Continue reading “The Great Credit Crunch – The Property Imperative Weekly 12 May 2018”
The latest edition of our Household Finance Confidence Index, to the end of April 2018, released today, shows that households remain concerned about their financial situation. This is consistent with rising levels of mortgage stress, as we reported recently. The index fell to 91.7, down from 92.3 in March. This remains below the neutral 100 setting, … Continue reading “Household Finance Confidence Slides Further In April”