Morning Briefing: Big banks compete for broker attention

The major banks are cutting rates for their home and investment loans... Record year for housing approvals...

Big banks compete for broker attention
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia and National Australia Bank are have announced new offers to their broker networks, according to the Australian Financial Review.

CBA has told brokers it will beat any advertised one to five year fixed rate home or investment loan interest rate from Westpac, ANZ or St George.

Whereas NAB is offering a discretionary pricing offer, a variable rate of 4.32 per cent for new Homeplus principal and interest variable rate loans.

"Competition is alive and well in residential lending. They are fighting for market share. These new offers look competitive but borrowers need to check fine print on rates and fees," said managing director of Capital Home Loans, Christopher Foster-Ramsay.

Westpac and ANZ are expected to launch counter-offers.

In depth: Have the banks delivered on their promises?

Record year for housing approvals
Figures released yesterday have revealed just how strong Australia’s recent residential construction boom has been.

The figures, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, show that 2015 saw a record number of new homes approved for construction, with total housing approvals increasing by more than 13% compared to 2014.

The surge in approvals was not spread equally among housing types, with the apartment sector easily outstripping detached houses in terms of growth.

“During 2015, a total of 232,078 new homes received approval for construction. This is 13.7 per cent higher than 2014’s remarkable result and is head and shoulders above every calendar year on record,” HIA senior economist Shane Garrett said.

“However, the expansion during 2015 was not balanced across the market segments. While multi-unit approvals saw growth of 30.2%, detached house approvals inched up by just 1% the year,” Garrett said.

In depth: Selling your trail book in a hurry