After months of sliding downwards, mortgage rates are finally beginning to climb again.
The average interest rate on 30-year fixed mortgages climbed to 4.35 percent for the week ending September 9, up from the previous week, when it was 4.32 percent, according to the latest figures released by Freddie Mac. For the same week last year, that figure was at 5.07 percent. Similarly, five-year adjustable home loans climbed to 3.56 from 3.54 percent last week, but are still considerably down from the same week last year, when they were at 4.51 percent.
The mortgage giant found that interest rates for 15-year mortgages held steady from last week’s total of 3.83 percent, a record low. Read full article…
Credit card experts have predicted that interest rates will continue to rise, with providers balancing the risks they are taking.
The Bank of England recently reported that write-off rates on credit card lending have now reached record highs, leading to spreads on unsecured lending sharply rising recently.
A spokesperson for Moneyfacts.co.uk detailed some of the changes to expect in the credit card market over the coming years and identified who would be affected.
She said: “Providers have been putting rates up and obviously there’s high unemployment and the risk of people defaulting and not repaying their debts is still quite high, so they’re very strict on who they give their cards to.
“The customers that pay off just the minimum every month are going to be the ones who are hit hardest. Read full article…
Debt stress is on the rise in Australia and is now back to September 2008 levels, a new report has found.
According to Veda Advantage’s bi-annual Australian Debt Study, 82 per cent of Australians are worried about their ability to repay debt over the next 12 months – up from 76 per cent in September 2009.
In addition, the study, which was carried out by Galaxy research, revealed that one in seven Australians have missed a minimum bill repayment in the past three months. Of
