The New Year is a chance at a fresh start for everyone and a time where most Australians declare the one thing they’d like to resolve over the course of the coming 12 months.
Resolutions vary from anything like taking an overseas trip to buying a new car but how does buying a property rate on the revolution scale? Continue reading Aussies make a New Year real estate resolution
Australians have installed more than 100,000 rooftop solar panels this year, more than in the entire previous decade, new data shows.
The clean energy sector says it shows Australians are keen to do their bit in the battle against climate change.
A report by Clean Energy Australia, released by the peak industry body today, provides a snapshot into just how Australia uses renewable energy. Continue reading Aussies do their bit as solar panel use surges
A loophole allowing landlords to list tenants on ”bad tenant databases” for any reason is to be closed in the coming shake-up of home rental reforms which landlords say will do little to improve their position.
But the Tenants’ Union said the new laws, which come into effect on January 31, included ”commonsense” reforms which were ”a long time coming”. Continue reading Landlords curbed in crackdown on tenant blacklists
The Department of Planning has removed the requirement for a development application for more types of building work, including new houses and additions on small lots and on rural properties.
It has also removed the blanket ban on quick approvals in some bushfire-prone, flood-prone and foreshore areas and will allow limited external works in heritage zones without a DA. Continue reading Time-saving housing code changes welcomed
Disgruntled bank customers will be able to switch home loans with impunity from the middle of next year under an overhaul of the banking sector designed to break the dominance of the big banks.
Treasurer Wayne Swan will announce today plans to ban mortgage exit fees – blamed for dampening competition by making it prohibitively expensive for customers to switch to cheaper loans – from July 1 next year. Continue reading Mortgage exit fees banned
Christmas cheer from borrowers as RBA says official interest rates will stay on hold after last month’s shock rise.
The Reserve Bank has left interest rates unchanged, providing relief for borrowers and retailers in the crucial shopping weeks before Christmas.
The central bank kept rates at 4.75 per cent – the level it raised them to last month – amid signs of weakness in parts of the economy not benefiting from the rekindled mining boom. Continue reading RBA: Interest rates on hold