The Weekly Roundup

Happy Monday!

5 weeks till Christmas, good lord. Banks have certainly been active in the last week letting us all know that time is running out for anything to settle on or before Christmas.

If you need anything done and want it to happen before Christmas now is the time.

There were a couple of articles this week that sparked my interest, with commentary by Sean Hughes the commissioner from ASIC, around processing times not being their fault.

He squarely put the blame on lenders for their tardiness in processing loan applications stating very clearly in The Adviser that ASIC were not to blame for processing times and an increase in rejections.

Attributing it to the lenders reviewing their approach to responsible lending. Stating that “[These] reviews, prompted by the royal commission and not by ASIC’s guidance – which, remember, has been unchanged since November 2014 – have resulted in them seeking more detailed information from borrowers and necessitated some systems upgrades and staff training.” Also claiming that the extended processing times were at the ‘margins’ of lending.

One wonders if his take on this is unrealistic or his data set incomplete…

Peter White from the FBAA has called for lenders to loosen their credit policy and to stop pushing buyers and borrowers out of the market.

You’d really hope that the pendulum will start to swing back to centre from the far reaches of the borrowing blockade.

In the last week Pepper and Bluestone have been hot on the trail of prime borrowers. They can be a good solution for someone who needs things done quickly. Their rates on prime loans are not the sharpest though they are pretty generous on servicing. Pepper have an offer where up to 90% LVR or less a client can consolidate up to 4 loans for a rate of 3.12%. I have seen Pepper turn a loan from lodged to formal within a week in the past.

Bluestone are a new player in the prime field, in reality they have always been there just not competitive. Now with a rate of 3.89% they are playing in this space and as mentioned before as their servicing is a little more generous it could be a solution for a client who doesn’t have the capacity with a mainstream lender or who needs a quick turnaround.

Have a great week

Justin

This is a link to the article from The Adviser quoted above https://www.theadviser.com.au/breaking-news/39763-we-re-not-to-blame-for-slower-processing-times-asic

Scenarios quoted above are suggestions and constitute general advice only.