We all thought that 2020 was the year to end all years, but then in rocked 2021 and boy has it been huge.
Let’s look at what 2021 has brought us – first off the mark
Interest Rates:
They are rising. But we first have to acknowledge how good the rates have been. I know that it means nothing to those who have only known low-interest rates. But those who have been in the game a long time will remember the highs of 15%. n\Now while we are not seeing massive hikes like this, they are slowly creeping and that is due to many factors. The labour market is tight and there is inflation out there. We can potentially expect to see rates starting with 5 or higher throughout next year – which again to those who have been around awhile this is still low. But to others who started their journey with rates starting with a 1 or 2, this is double.
Industry Change:
2021 has seen some massive changes to the finance industry as a whole. We have seen the introduction of the refurbished CCCFA – see our blog post here on how that has affected you and us. We have also seen the regulations change which changes the way in which we give advice. It has been interesting to watch the way that the banks have responded to the Responsible Lending Act, this little Act is in place to help keep borrows from taking on too much debt. This has resulted in Banks wanting to know more about your personal situation. For us this has been an interesting area to navigate, we pride ourselves on taking a more casual and friendly approach to the information gathering stage of an application – this has resulted sometimes in longer meetings and more extensive chats, along with many emails to make sure we have all your information correct. This is a process we are still refining and as in any business we endeavour to be flexible to meet our client’s needs.
Impact of COVID:
There have been the obvious impacts of COVID on the financial arena, such as having to work from home, no face to face meetings and dealing with delays in settlements etc. But this has been something that we believe we have navigated with confidence, becoming more familiar with the Zoom meeting and having more chats on the phone. We will have to wait and see how the current climate affects what we do, how Banks operate and the effect on the housing market. There are many people out there willing to speculate what will happen, we are not in the business of speculating and have adopted a wait and see approach.
Last but not least we want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported our business over 2021, we have had a huge year and it has been wonderful to be able to help so many of you into your new homes. It is such a privilege to be able to work with so many amazing individuals and see such fantastic results.
While we’re home loan experts, our blog posts are for general information purposes only and are not intended as financial advice. If at any stage you need personalised advice, get in touch on 06 8788 4444 or Ben or Mark.
