Economy

The Australian dream of home ownership carries a $1 million price tag for many, according to research by comparison website finder.com.au.

The mortgage broking industry’s peak body has taken issue with an opinion piece in a national newspaper it claims featured incorrect information about broker commissions.

Westpac is confident that home building approvals will remain at historically high levels despite predictions of a retracement in the coming months.

Third-party heavyweight Steven Heavey has been hired to fill the newly-created position of general manager of strategy at mortgage aggregator Connective.

Accountants and consumers have joined mortgage brokers in opposing the Financial System Inquiry’s attack on SMSF borrowing.

Centrepoint Alliance has announced the appointment of finance veteran John Cowan as its new chief financial officer.

Non-bank lending has fallen to its lowest levels in nine years and is now almost 19 per cent below its pre-GFC peak.

Commonwealth Bank has bucked the trend by forecasting that the Reserve Bank of Australia is unlikely to cut interest rates in 2015.

Markets now think it is a “dead certainty” that the Reserve Bank of Australia will cut interest rates by April.

One analyst has claimed that “a very high correlation” exists between house prices and consumer sentiment.