Home owners rush to cash in on record interest rate lows

Tuesday 21st July, 2009

Aussie records big increases in customers refinancing their home loans while number of first home buyer loans drops

Aussie Home Loans has seen a massive jump in customers looking to re-finance their homes with almost 40 per cent of new loans written in June being for that purpose.

The number has jumped from 30.2 per cent of total loans in March to 38.5 per cent in June and is at the expense of first home buyer’s loans, which have dropped from 32 per cent of total loans written in March to 21.3 per cent in June.

Aussie founder and Executive Chairman Mr John Symond said the increase in the number of home owners refinancing their loans reflected the fact that interest rates, market uncertainty and mortgages are on the minds of the average Australian.

“There is great deal of media exposure surrounding interest rates, the property market and uncertainty over the economy,” Mr Symond said. “This coverage has put the issue firmly on the radar for the Australian homeowner.”

Mr Symond said: “There have been plenty of home owners who have been complacent about their mortgages, but our figures show that more and more of them are taking advantage of record interest rate lows and are actively seeking out the best deal and saving themselves thousands of dollars in repayments and slashing years off their loans.”

On the flipside, the number of first home buyers settling loans has dropped over the last quarter which Mr Symond believes is due to a number of factors including a scarcity of good properties.

“The steam has abated in the first home buyer market as many of them realise that the properties available are probably already at full price,” he said.

“They are re-assessing the market, doing their homework and are now not clamouring to race in and potentially pay over fair market value just so they can get the $14,000 grant.”

“This is a positive step for the property market and one which will minimise the chances of a property price bubble.”

The figures coincide with the launch of Aussie’s new internet loan search tool, the One-Minute Mortgage Calculator. Customers looking to find a better deal on their home loan can now go to Aussie’s website and potentially save thousands and years in interest repayments in just one minute.

Some of the technology behind Aussie’s Mortgage Explorer™ software, which is used by our team of almost 800 trained and accredited advisors, is now available to everyone through the website tool One Minute Mortgage Calculator

Visitors to the site are asked a few simple questions which are then used to match their needs and preferences with the wide range of loans available through Aussie.

The tool then objectively ranks the loans by initial minimum monthly repayment for that customer, and shows them how much they could potentially save if they are looking to re-finance - without revealing the lender or the product.

This information is revealed when a customer makes an appointment with an Aussie broker who will offer guidance, assess eligibility, lodge the application and then support the borrower through the home loan process.

As one of the country’s largest non-bank providers of financial services, Aussie has a loan book of over $30 billion. With the acquisition of Wizard, there are now over 140 retail storefronts and 800 brokers across the country ready to help customers get a better deal on their finances.

Aussie brokers are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in all capital cities and regional centres at the request of customers who call Aussie on 13 13 33.

For further information, please call:
Tim Allerton
City Public Relations
(02) 9267 4511

John Symond
Aussie Home Loans
(02) 8297 0702

Brooke Stoddart
Aussie Home Loans
0438 677 588

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