Reverse Mortgage Watch

Tony D’Aloisio chairman of ASICand Paul Clitheroe chairman of the Australian Government Financial Literacy Board, last week launched Thinking of using the equity in your home? A new independent guide to reverse mortgages and other equity release products.ASIC’s new guide is designed to assist people who are considering whether an equity release product is right for [...]

In order to support competition in the Australian mortgage market, late last year the federal government introduced $8 billion of funding for non-bank lenders and small banks under a scheme known as “RMBS”. This  scheme is designed to assist lenders who predominantly source their funds from the wholesale credit markets that have largely dried up as [...]

A new study by Royal Bank of Scotland has found that a third of all reverse mortgage funds are used for home renovations.
“Forget over-the-top purchases, these are asset-rich/cash-poor people simply trying to make ends meet,” says RBS Reverse Mortgages, head of reverse mortgages, Martin Lynch. More than 32% used the payments for renovations, while 18% [...]

The Federal Government also announced in the budget that the retirement age will be gradually increased to 67 years
Under changes to the pension age, the age at which people qualify will increase at a rate six months every two years, beginning in 2017 and reaching 67 years in 2023. The Government said the changes to [...]