Thursday 8 November 2007

It's rates, rates and more rates in the media & it's rates, rates and more rates at the kitchen table

With a continuing upward trend for interest rates being confirmed and the typical home mortgage repayments likely to pass $2,000 a month for the first time, interest rates are THE topic of conversation at many a table in the last twenty-four hours.
 
With housing affordability moving further and further from the reach of average Australian families, are we finally seeing the death of home ownership as a feature of our way of life?
 
Low income earners living on the North Coast are likely to face further rent rises as investors seek to pass on additional costs.
 
"Yesterday's quarter of a percentage point rise in the Reserve cash rate, to 6.75 per cent, could be passed on to borrowers within days, taking the banks' standard variable mortgage rate to 8.57 per cent,-----Experts said higher rates could also worsen the housing shortage, pushing up rents."
Full article in The Age today:
 
With the major banks expected to raise their own interest rates above the Reserve Bank increase, it is no wonder that John Howard trails Kevin Rudd in the 'trustworthy', 'cares for people', 'likeable', "in touch with the voters' and 'understands the major issues' categories according to the latest Newspoll.
 
The Age on home loan defaults:
 

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