Thursday, May 30, 2013

$1000 Refinance Guarantee from UBank if 4.87% Isn't Good Enough

We refinanced our home loan with Ubank about two years ago and I always wondered why everyone wasn't doing the same. With most standard variable rates sitting around 6.20%, refinancing with Ubank's 4.87% would save people about $2,660 in the first year if their loan is $200,000. With that size of saving, it's not surprising that UBank is offering a guarantee that they will save you $1000 if you refinance with them - or they will give you $1000. But will you get it? Let's look at the fine print.

The loan needs to be $300,000 or more and there are only 300 gift cards available. That mean's you will get a $1000 gift card if your current home loan rate is 5.20% or less. That means if you are currently on 5.20% or more, you will save more than $1000 by switching to UBank. Here's the other details of the offer,  if you don't want to click here. To read more about UBank, click here to search all our articles on UBank.

$1000 Guarantee Terms and Conditions
1. Offer open to customers who apply to refinance a variable rate home loan with a UBank variable rate UHomeLoan between 29 May 2013 and 30 June 2013 (inclusive) (“Offer Period”), provided that their refinance application is approved and settled in accordance with the loan contract. Applications made prior to the Offer Period (even if resubmitted during the Offer Period) are not eligible.

2. Minimum home loan refinance amount is $300,000 (excludes any fees associated with the payout of  your current home loan, as well as any amount not required to payout your current home loan, such as cash out amounts or the consolidation of other debts). Loans with a home loan refinance component of less than $300,000 will not be eligible.

3. Evidence, satisfactory to UBank, of the home loan refinance amount and the interest rate applicable to the home loan being refinanced must be provided to UBank prior to settlement to enable the savings calculation to be made (eg, a bank statement). You will not be eligible for this offer if you do not do this.

4. UBank will calculate the estimated interest savings based on (1) the evidence provided in relation to the home loan being refinanced (as contemplated above), and (2) UBank’s prevailing UHomeLoan variable interest rate (including any available discounts). UBank will not take into account the any regular or adhoc repayments, redraw or offset arrangements in the interest savings calculation. We will then discount the savings figure by a fixed percentage to reflect the effect that making the same regular principal and interest repayments on both loans would have: we will make this adjustment even if your current loan and/or your UHomeLoan is “interest only”. This discounting may mean that an applicant more easily meets the condition set out in 5: it does not affect the amount of interest you actually pay or save.

5. If, based on the above calculation, UBank does not believe that you will save at least $1,000 in interest in the first 12 months, you will (subject to condition 6 below) be eligible are receive, within 30 days of settlement, an EFTPOS Gift Card to the value of $1,000. Where your UHomeLoan is in joint names, a single $1,000 gift card will be sent jointly to both borrowers.

6. There is a maximum of 300 gift cards available. If more than 300 customers are eligible to receive a gift card, gift cards will be awarded to the first 300 eligible customers based on date of application.

7. This offer is based on estimated projected savings. UBank will not calculate the actual savings at the end of the 12 month period, and will not consider any claims made in relation to this offer should the actual savings be less than $1,000.

Friday, May 10, 2013

ANZ cuts rates by MORE than RBA

The ANZ bank today announced that they will cut their interest rates by 0.27% which is more than the cut that the RBA on Tuesday. The surprise cut came after all other big four banks followed the RBA's 0.25% cut on Tuesday, while the ANZ waited until today to announce their move. This is the first time that any big four bank has cut their rates by more than a RBA move.

The ANZ standard variable rate will now equal the NAB standard variable rate at 6.13%. NAB has been leading all other big four banks, having the more competitive rate than its competitors for the last four years.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Australian Banks' Reaction to RBA Cash Rate Announcement

The NAB is the first of the big four banks in Australia to follow the decision of the RBA, dropping their interest rates by the full 0.25% within half an hour of the announcement by the RBA. Their interest rate will be 6.13% from Monday, 13th May.

UBank's
UHomeLoan will also reduce the standard variable interest rate by 0.25% down to a market-leading 5.12% which will take effect on the Friday 17th May. Factoring in the lifetime loyalty rates, customers will have an interest rate as low as 4.92% and 4.87%. UBank is a subsidiary of NAB.

The Bank of Queensland has also announced a full interest rate cut of 0.25%. Their standard variable interest rate is now 6.26%.

The Commonwealth Bank this afternoon also announced they will follow suit, bringing their standard variable rate down to 6.15% on 13th May.

3pm By the end of the day, Westpac finally announces that they too will drop their rates by the full 0.25% to 6.26%.

Nothing from the ANZ yet, who are expected to announce their decision on Friday.

RBA Brings Cash Rate Down to Lowest Ever 2.75%


The Reserve Bank of Australia has brought interest rates to the lowest level ever. The 0.25% cash rate reduction was against expectations of 21 out of 28 "experts" who predicted that the RBA would leave the cash rate unchanged in today's meeting. Here is the statement from the RBA.
"At its meeting today, the Board decided to lower the cash rate by 25 basis points to 2.75 per cent, effective 8 May 2013.
The global economy is likely to record growth a little below trend this year, before picking up next year. Among the major regions, the United States continues on a path of moderate expansion and China's growth is running at a more sustainable, but still robust, pace. Japan has announced significant new policy initiatives aimed at strengthening demand and ending deflation. The euro area remains in recession. Commodity prices have moderated a little in recent months though they remain high by historical standards.
Financial conditions internationally continue to be very accommodative, with risk spreads reduced, funding conditions for most financial institutions improved and borrowing costs for well-rated corporates and sovereigns exceptionally low.
Growth in Australia was close to trend in 2012 overall, but was a bit below trend in the second half of the year, and this appears to have continued into 2013. Employment has continued to grow but more slowly than the labour force, so that the rate of unemployment has increased a little, though it remains relatively low.
With the peak in the level of resources sector investment likely to occur this year, there is scope for other areas of demand to grow more strongly over the next couple of years. There has been a strengthening in consumption and a modest firming in dwelling investment, and prospects are for some increase in business investment outside the resources sector over the next year. Exports of raw materials are increasing as increased capacity comes on stream. These developments, some of which have been assisted by the reductions in interest rates that began 18 months ago, will all be helpful in sustaining growth.
Recent data on prices confirm that inflation is consistent with the target and, if anything, a little lower than expected. The CPI rose by 2½ per cent over the past year, and measures of underlying inflation gave a broadly similar outcome. These results have been pushed up a little by the impact of the carbon price. Growth of labour costs has moderated slightly over recent quarters while productivity growth appears to be improving. This should help to lessen increases in prices for non-tradables. The Bank's forecast remains that inflation over the next one to two years will be consistent with the target.
Over recent meetings, the Board has noted that interest rates have already been reduced substantially, with borrowing rates approaching previous lows, and that the effects of this on the economy are continuing to emerge. Savers have been changing their portfolios towards assets with higher expected returns, asset values have risen and some interest-sensitive areas of spending have increased.
The exchange rate, on the other hand, has been little changed at a historically high level over the past 18 months, which is unusual given the decline in export prices and interest rates during that time. Moreover, the demand for credit remains, at this point, relatively subdued.
The Board has previously noted that the inflation outlook would afford scope to ease further, should that be necessary to support demand. At today's meeting the Board decided to use some of that scope. It judged that a further decline in the cash rate was appropriate to encourage sustainable growth in the economy, consistent with achieving the inflation target."

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

The Top 100 Richest Post Codes in Perth

The Australian Tax Office today released the average incomes for each post code in Australia. Using their supplied information, we put together the list of Perth post codes ranking them from richest to poorest based on average income. To help you with your geography, we've included the region in case you've never heard of the Perth suburbs Lexia or Stake Hill before.

If you are looking to move into a new post code, find out what your neighbours were earning in the 2010-11 financial year and see where your post code ranks in Perth's richest post codes list. Please also note, not every suburb in Perth is listed here, so please look it up by post code instead.



PC Local Government Region Average Income
1 6011 Cottesloe (T)  North Metro $128,252
2 6012 Mosman Park (T)  North Metro $117,397
3 6009 Nedlands (C)  North Metro $116,819
4 6015 Cambridge (T)  North Metro $114,873
5 6010 Claremont (T)  North Metro $98,694
6 6008 Subiaco (C)  North Metro $85,994
7 6153 Melville (C)  South West Metro $85,974
8 6159 Fremantle (C) - Remainder  South West Metro $83,342
9 6005 Perth (C) - Remainder  East Metro $82,785
10 6151 South Perth (C)  South East Metro $81,066
11 6050 Stirling (C) - South-Eastern  East Metro $78,070
12 6029 Stirling (C) - Coastal  North Metro $77,883
13 6014 Cambridge (T)  North Metro $77,734
14 6158 East Fremantle (T)  South West Metro $75,607
15 6007 Cambridge (T)  North Metro $74,256
16 6156 Melville (C)  South West Metro $73,029
17 6038 Wanneroo (C) - North-West  North Metro $69,798
18 6090 Swan (C)  East Metro $69,332
19 6020 Stirling (C) - Coastal  North Metro $68,450
20 6154 Melville (C)  South West Metro $66,813
21 6004 Perth (C) - Remainder  East Metro $65,441
22 6006 Vincent (T)  East Metro $65,330
23 6019 Stirling (C) - Coastal  North Metro $63,739
24 6160 Fremantle (C) - Remainder  South West Metro $63,732
25 6018 Stirling (C) - Coastal  North Metro $63,654
26 6157 Melville (C)  South West Metro $63,016
27 6000 Vincent (T)  East Metro $62,609
28 6106 Canning (C)  South East Metro $62,576
29 6173 Rockingham (C)  South West Metro $62,522
30 6148 Canning (C)  South East Metro $61,598
31 6152 South Perth (C)  South East Metro $61,311
32 6023 Joondalup (C) - South  North Metro $61,205
33 6025 Joondalup (C) - South  North Metro $60,599
34 6070 Mundaring (S)  East Metro $60,242
35 6016 Vincent (T)  North Metro $60,208
36 6083 Swan (C)  East Metro $59,575
37 6166 Cockburn (C)  South West Metro $59,119
38 6165 Kwinana (T)  South West Metro $58,919
39 6175 Rockingham (C)  South West Metro $58,750
40 6071 Mundaring (S)  East Metro $58,558
41 6076 Kalamunda (S)  East Metro $58,446
42 6171 Rockingham (C)  South West Metro $58,317
43 6052 Stirling (C) - South-Eastern  East Metro $58,134
44 6028 Joondalup (C) - North  North Metro $57,849
45 6162 Fremantle (C) - Remainder  South West Metro $57,775
46 6021 Stirling (C) - Central  North Metro $57,720
47 6067 Swan (C)  East Metro $56,563
48 6055 Swan (C)  East Metro $56,550
49 6051 Bayswater (C)  East Metro $56,339
50 6149 Melville (C)  South West Metro $56,328
51 6100 Victoria Park (T)  South East Metro $56,306
52 6121 Serpentine-Jarrahdale (S)  South East Metro $56,182
53 6069 Swan (C)  East Metro $55,879
54 6073 Mundaring (S)  East Metro $55,707
55 6026 Joondalup (C) - South  North Metro $55,693
56 6164 Cockburn (C)  South West Metro $55,512
57 6068 Swan (C)  East Metro $55,473
58 6084 Swan (C)  East Metro $55,467
59 6053 Bayswater (C)  East Metro $55,146
60 6081 Mundaring (S)  East Metro $55,097
61 6122 Serpentine-Jarrahdale (S)  South East Metro $54,845
62 6123 Serpentine-Jarrahdale (S)  South East Metro $54,795
63 6150 Melville (C)  South West Metro $54,551
64 6033 Wanneroo (C) - North-East  North Metro $54,531
65 6032 Wanneroo (C) - North-East  North Metro $54,511
66 6101 Victoria Park (T)  South East Metro $54,489
67 6059 Stirling (C) - Central  North Metro $54,486
68 6180 Lakelands South West Metro $54,315
69 6124 Serpentine-Jarrahdale (S)  South East Metro $54,281
70 6176 Rockingham (C)  South West Metro $54,233
71 6104 Belmont (C)  South East Metro $54,097
72 6155 Canning (C)  South East Metro $53,724
73 6172 Rockingham (C)  South West Metro $53,704
74 6057 Kalamunda (S)  East Metro $53,450
75 6213 Murray (S)  South West Metro $53,422
76 6209 Furnissdale South West Metro $53,317
77 6074 Mundaring (S)  East Metro $53,202
78 6174 Rockingham (C)  South West Metro $52,989
79 6027 Joondalup (C) - North  North Metro $52,928
80 6065 Wanneroo (C) - North-East  North Metro $52,778
81 6060 Stirling (C) - Central  North Metro $52,685
82 6082 Mundaring (S)  East Metro $52,658
83 6125 Serpentine-Jarrahdale (S)  South East Metro $52,489
84 6210 Mandurah (C)  South West Metro $52,482
85 6207 Murray (S)  South West Metro $52,137
86 6078 Mariginiup East Metro $52,098
87 6031 Wanneroo (C) - North-East  North Metro $52,053
88 6211 Dawesville South West Metro $52,022
89 6036 Wanneroo (C) - North-West  North Metro $51,866
90 6103 Belmont (C)  South East Metro $51,840
91 6215 Waroona (S)  South West Metro $51,486
92 6558 Mundaring (S)  East Metro $51,441
93 6163 Cockburn (C)  South West Metro $51,432
94 6169 Rockingham (C)  South West Metro $51,342
95 6170 Kwinana (T)  South West Metro $51,341
96 6072 Mundaring (S)  East Metro $51,247
97 6208 Murray (S)  South West Metro $51,174
98 6030 Wanneroo (C) - North-West  North Metro $51,012
99 6556 Mundaring (S)  East Metro $50,616
100 6056 Swan (C)  East Metro $50,290

101

6037

Wanneroo (C) - North-West 
North Metro $50,133
102 6111 Armadale (C)  South East Metro $50,024
103 6058 Kalamunda (S)  East Metro $49,975
104 6112 Armadale (C)  South East Metro $49,973
105 6035 Wanneroo (C) - North-West  North Metro $49,909
106 6022 Stirling (C) - Central  North Metro $49,888
107 6168 Rockingham (C)  South West Metro $49,632
108 6024 Joondalup (C) - South  North Metro $49,619
109 6181 Stake Hill South West Metro $49,572
110 6054 Bassendean (T)  East Metro $49,477
111 6167 Kwinana (T)  South West Metro $49,339
112 6003 Vincent (T)  East Metro $48,838
113 6105 Belmont (C)  South East Metro $48,765
114 6182 Keralup South West Metro $48,576
115 6017 Stirling (C) - Central  North Metro $48,356
116 6110 Gosnells (C)  South East Metro $47,929
117 6062 Bayswater (C)  East Metro $47,919
118 6161 Cockburn (C)  South West Metro $47,792
119 6214 Murray (S)  South West Metro $46,991
120 6108 Gosnells (C)  South East Metro $46,804
121 6107 Canning (C)  South East Metro $46,361
122 6066 Swan (C)  East Metro $46,166
123 6077 Gnangara East Metro $45,820
124 6109 Gosnells (C)  South East Metro $45,618
125 6147 Canning (C)  South East Metro $44,991
126 6063 Swan (C)  East Metro $44,884
127 6034 Wanneroo (C) - North-West  North Metro $43,071
128 6102 Canning (C)  South East Metro $42,857
129 6064 Wanneroo (C) - South  North Metro $42,531
130 6061 Stirling (C) - Central  North Metro $42,049
131 6126 Serpentine-Jarrahdale (S)  South East Metro $39,024
132 6079 Lexia East Metro $34,012

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