Morning Briefing: Second big bank raises investor mortgage rates

Another bank has followed ANZ's lead on investor mortgages … Non-bank lender announces key changes to prime alt doc loans

Commonwealth Bank joins others on investor mortgages
Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd., the country’s largest home lender, said Friday it would boost its standard variable rate on investor home loans by 0.27 percentage point, mirroring Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd’s move a day earlier, according to an article in the Wall St. Journal.
Both banks’ changes to variable investor rates, which will apply to new and existing customers, are set to come into effect Aug. 10, and several analysts expect Westpac Banking Corp. and National Australia Bank Ltd. to follow soon. Spokespeople for Westpac and NAB said the banks constantly review their positions in the market.
Investor demand for home loans has hit record highs, with recent data showing that it accounted for more than half of all new home-loan approvals. The trend has alarmed the central bank, which has pointed to imbalances in the property market as a possible danger to the wider economy.

Non-bank lender announces key changes to prime alt doc loans
After unveiling a simplified range of specialist alt doc products earlier this year, non-bank lender Resmiac has announced key policy changes to its prime alt doc product, aimed at giving self-employed borrowers even more choice.
Among the key policy changes announced is an increase in maximum loan amount to $1,500,000 for those borrowers seeking to borrow up to 75 per cent of the security value, the ability to access cash out for any worthwhile purpose and the removal of automated credit decisions.
Additionally, the non-bank says borrowers will now have more flexibility when it comes to verifying their income with the option of either an accountant’s letter, six months Business Activity Statements or three months business bank statements to support their declared income.
“We believe the self-employed sector has been largely underserviced since the introduction of the National Credit Code back in 2010,” Allan Savins, Resimac’s chief commercial officer said.