Close to 7 million Aussie adults see their income affected by the pandemic

How are you coping financially in these challenging Coronavirus times?

New research from Canstar shows 35% of Australian adults (6.9 million people) have experienced impacts to their income and/or employment status due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This increases to close to one in two (46%) mortgage holders. 

Canstar urges anyone with a home or investment property loan, or a savings goal who has experienced a financial impact in recent months, to start future proofing now.

Canstar home loan expert, Steve Mickenbecker says make a change now that will remove some of the uncertainty when it comes to your money.

“With uncertain times ahead, now is the time for borrowers to be in budget repair mode."

“You don’t have to be alarmist to see now as the time to look for massive loan repayment savings, while you can."

“Anyone with a mortgage who has been fortunate enough to avoid any impact to their income during the pandemic could be right for refinancing to save more on their monthly repayments."

“The door to refinance could still be open for borrowers who have seen their income reduced as long as they are making their regular loan repayments."

“Borrowers are starting to catch on, with ABS data last month showing record levels of loan refinancing. But there is still a silent majority of borrowers who are not taking advantage of the all-time low interest rates and massive monthly savings to the family budget.”

Tips from Canstar to manage your personal finances:

1. Home loan repayment strain: Switch to a lower rate if you can right now and pour any savings into your offset account to help reduce the interest burden.
2. Savings goal: Switch to a higher earning savings account and play the rate game of chasing a better promotional offer every three or four months.
3. Credit card debt: Look at a balance transfer offer and get the debt down during the interest-free period, but don’t add more debt along the way.

Home loans:

• In July, according to Canstar’s database there were 64 cuts to variable home loan rates and 201 cuts to fixed rates

• Variable rates were cut by an average of -0.19% while fixed rates were cut by an average of -0.24%

Savings rates:

• Savings rates continued to slide in July, with 29 providers on Canstar’s database cutting rates on 44 savings accounts

• The average ongoing savings rate is 0.44%, while the average rate for bonus savings accounts is 0.93%

• The top savings rates in market at the moment are on promotional rates:

  • 2.25% available for 4 months from Rabobank

  • 2.20% available for 4 months from Heritage Bank

  • 2.10% available for 4 months from HSBC

Credit card rates: 

• There were no credit card interest rate movements in July

• Average personal credit card rate is 16.91% while rates range for different types of cards:

  • Rewards cards range from 12.80% up to 22.74%

  • Non-rewards cards from 7.49% up to 24.99%

Now is the time to take action and set yourself for the opportunities that will present themselves as the market moves on

If you're wondering what will happen to property in 2020–2021 you are not alone.

You can trust the team at Metropole to provide you with direction, guidance and results.

In challenging times like we are currently experiencing you need an advisor who takes a holistic approach to your wealth creation and that's what you exactly what you get from the multi award winning team at Metropole.

If you're looking at buying your next home or investment property here's 4 ways we can help you:

1. Strategic property advice. - Allow us to build a Strategic Property Plan for you and your family.  Planning is bringing the future into the present so you can do something about it now!  This will give you direction, results and more certainty. Click here to learn more
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4. Property Management - Our stress free property management services help you maximise your property returns. Click here to find out why our clients enjoy a vacancy rate considerably below the market average, our tenants stay an average of 3 years and our properties lease 10 days faster than the market average.

About Brett Warren Brett Warren is National Director of Metropole Properties and uses his two decades of property investment experience to advise clients how to grow, protect and pass on their wealth through strategic property advice.