Property investor confidence remains resilient despite pressures: PIPA national survey

Australian property investors remain bullish about the long-term benefits of residential real estate, shrugging off concerns about stricter lending conditions property price bubbles and oversupply, the third annual Property Investment Professionals of Australia (PIPA) Property Investor Sentiment Survey has found.

The national survey, which gathered insights from 742 property investors, shows that more than 70% of respondents think now is a good time to invest in property, with 61% looking to purchase a property in the next six to 12 months (up from 58% last year).

However, concerns over changes to investor lending policies are looming large, with 43% of respondents reporting an adverse impact in their ability to secure finance, compared to 32% in 2016.

Rising rates on interest only loans were also a key concern, though the majority of investors (55%) with interest only loans said they would not struggle to meet new principal and interest repayments.

Compliance workshops: what you missed

This month's compliance workshop saw a lot of great discussion and engagement. Don't be put off by the name - these events are all about how you can protect yourself, your business and your brand. At the same time, you'll be looking after your clients.

Some of the topics we covered sparked a lot of discussion. Here are some of the hot topics:

  • ASIC's focus: A lot of brokers feel it's unfair that ASIC has thrown such a bright spotlight on our profession, when the majority do the right thing. There's also a sense that loans denied in third-party channels later get approved in the first-party channel - and that these lenders do so with impunity.

    While there may be some truth to this, the lenders are also being looked at by ASIC, and one major bank is currently being investigated for potential responsible lending breaches. At the end of the day, you can't change the situation - but you can follow the right processes to protect your own business.
  • HEM and Expenses data - Many participants were surprised at the granularity of the data we receive about servicing calculations. Lenders, regulators and regulators can see trends, like multiple applications using HEM as the expenses estimation. If you don't do a proper expenses calculation, but rely on a (very low) benchmark, this will show up eventually. Data is everywhere and a lot of parties have access to it.
  • Making sense of Veda checks - a Veda report can't always be taken at face value. There are many signs that show red flags about a credit file, if you know how to read them. Taking time to understand these variables is an important way to cover yourself.

If you missed this round of compliance workshops, never fear: there are some in November and December:

  • NSW - 8th and 22nd Nov
  • WA - 29th Nov
  • Vic - 13th Dec

Group Lending Let us help you with your tricky scenarios!

  • Low doc solutions with just an accountant letter? Yes, we can, with rates starting under 5%.
  • Prime lending with no valuation or legal fees? Yes, we can.
  • Specialist lending solutions with no risk fees? We have that too.
  • Investment lending at 95%? Yep, got that covered as well.

We are aware that our strength (four funders) can cause confusion, but we have the solutions and team in place to help grow your business. Not sure where to start? Contacting Craig will get things moving in the right direction for you!

Craig.herden@grouplending.com.au 0478 537 841

Barbra.bautista@grouplending.com.au 0468 755 419

Spotlight on Vow Leasing - Helping you make the most of Vehicle & Equipment Finance opportunities

One of the best ways to broaden your revenue streams is to look at a client's needs outside of home loans. Asset and vehicle finance provides a lot of scope here, and Vow has experts who can do the hard work for you. Here, we hear from the team about what they do.

Who are we? - We provide a service to the broker network so they are able to offer vehicle and equipment finance to their clients without the need to obtain their own direct accreditation. We have a good understanding of each lender's policies and guidelines so we know where a loan will fit to get the best outcome for the broker and client.

For example, we recently had a situation where a company was looking to do a purchase, but one of the company directors was on a bridging visa and as such didn't qualify to provide his guarantee. We knew that Capital Finance was the one lender who would accept the guarantee of the one director, unlike the other lenders. Our knowledge of lenders' policies enabled us to place this deal.

How do we add value to the network? Our service helps brokers to:

  • Insulate your clients from competitors
  • Maximise the income potential from your existing client base
  • Become a total finance solution for your clients
  • Provide self-employed clients another reason to deal with you
  • Engage in the high unit volume vehicle finance market
  • Unlike mortgage commissions, ours are paid fortnightly (mid-month and end of month) giving you additional income/cashflow.

Who are we? The team takes pride in being able to provide our brokers great service and solution to their clients' finance needs. Here's a snapshot:

  • Robyn Maierhofer with over 30 years' finance experience including retail and 15 years asset finance. Robyn started in asset finance in the role of a settlement officer for Suncorp, then moved to broker for one of Newcastle's most respected asset finance brokers. Here, she built her industry knowledge and experience before moving to Vow.
  • Brenda Anderson has over 30 years' banking and customer service experience, including 10 years in asset finance. Brenda's customer service experience is visible on a daily basis, in the way she interacts with brokers and helps them understand asset finance and how it works.
  • Anne Blinnikka has over 40 years' experience, with 15 of those in asset finance. Anne's commitment to her brokers and customers are unquestionable and she is highly valued among the brokers she deals with daily.

How we work: We consider ourselves the back-office for the processing of asset finance deals for the brokers. The broker remains the face of the deal with the client, therefore the broker is then considered as a total finance solution to their clients.

Our contact details: Vow Newcastle office phone: 1300 889 928 or email leasing@vow.com.au