Happy New Year! We hope that you and your family enjoyed a very relaxing holiday break and managed to get into the great outdoors to enjoy this lovely summer weather.

Are you ready for another fantastic year in our property markets? 2015 was a fast and furious year that favoured property owners and sellers in almost every capital city. However, many analysts are predicting that our property markets will improve for buyers this year, with conditions starting to look much more favourable for first home buyers and owner occupiers.

This is largely due to a reduction in property investment activity in response to the tightening of controls on investment lending by the Australian Prudential and Regulatory Authority (APRA) in June last year. Activity from foreign property investors also slowed in the last quarter of 2015.

Both of these factors have contributed to reduced competition for properties. This has caused a slow-down in rapid rises in home values around the country, but particularly in Melbourne and Sydney where markets were running hot all year.

Sydney home values increased by 11.47% during 2015, but they were down by 2.37% for the final quarter. Melbourne values were up by almost 11% for the year, but fell by 1.70% for the final quarter.

Other capital cities saw more modest movements in home values for the year. Brisbane/Gold Coast saw a 4.57% rise in home values and Canberra saw home values increase by 4.09% for the year. In Perth, home values decreased in 2015 by 3.73% and Darwin also saw home values fall by 3.63%. Hobart also showed a marginal decrease in home values for the year of 0.72% and Adelaide showed an overall decrease of 0.13%.

During December, there was still a great deal of activity going on in most states. Auction numbers were surprisingly high for that time of year, however clearance rates were much lower and many more properties sold prior to auction than was usual for the year.

With many people only just returning from holidays, we can expect property market activity to be continue to be quiet for the remainder of January. However, with interest rates remaining at historical lows, and further rate cuts looking likely in 2016, we can expect general property market activity to be busy again this year, with large auction numbers already on the horizon for February and March.

Whether you’re a first home buyer, looking to refinance or are planning to invest in property this year, we’re here to help you formulate your plans and access the right financing for your needs. We look forward to assisting you to achieve your goals in 2016, so please don’t hesitate to give us a call to get started today.

We recommend that you seek independent financial and taxation advice before acting on any information in this newsletter. It contains general information only and has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. We recommend that you consider whether it is appropriate for your circumstances. Your full financial situation will need to be reviewed prior to acceptance of any offer or product. Interest rates are subject to change without notice. Lenders terms, conditions, fees & charges apply.

Sincerely , Element Finance

Happy New Year! We hope that you and your family enjoyed a very relaxing holiday break and managed to get into the great outdoors to enjoy this lovely summer weather.

Are you ready for another fantastic year in our property markets? 2015 was a fast and furious year that favoured property owners and sellers in almost every capital city. However, many analysts are predicting that our property markets will improve for buyers this year, with conditions starting to look much more favourable for first home buyers and owner occupiers.

This is largely due to a reduction in property investment activity in response to the tightening of controls on investment lending by the Australian Prudential and Regulatory Authority (APRA) in June last year. Activity from foreign property investors also slowed in the last quarter of 2015.

Both of these factors have contributed to reduced competition for properties. This has caused a slow-down in rapid rises in home values around the country, but particularly in Melbourne and Sydney where markets were running hot all year.

Sydney home values increased by 11.47% during 2015, but they were down by 2.37% for the final quarter. Melbourne values were up by almost 11% for the year, but fell by 1.70% for the final quarter.

Other capital cities saw more modest movements in home values for the year. Brisbane/Gold Coast saw a 4.57% rise in home values and Canberra saw home values increase by 4.09% for the year. In Perth, home values decreased in 2015 by 3.73% and Darwin also saw home values fall by 3.63%. Hobart also showed a marginal decrease in home values for the year of 0.72% and Adelaide showed an overall decrease of 0.13%.

During December, there was still a great deal of activity going on in most states. Auction numbers were surprisingly high for that time of year, however clearance rates were much lower and many more properties sold prior to auction than was usual for the year.

With many people only just returning from holidays, we can expect property market activity to be continue to be quiet for the remainder of January. However, with interest rates remaining at historical lows, and further rate cuts looking likely in 2016, we can expect general property market activity to be busy again this year, with large auction numbers already on the horizon for February and March.

Whether you’re a first home buyer, looking to refinance or are planning to invest in property this year, we’re here to help you formulate your plans and access the right financing for your needs. We look forward to assisting you to achieve your goals in 2016, so please don’t hesitate to give us a call to get started today.

It’s  that time of year when we spend up big – buying presents for our family and friends, eating out, decking the halls with Christmas decorations and even going away on holidays. This can be a very stressful time for those of us on a tight budget. And it can be particularly stressful if you already have debts that you’re struggling to pay down.

If you’ve been worrying about how you’ll manage your debt repayments next year, then help is at hand. Debt consolidation is one of the services we offer and we can look at ways to help you to re-arrange your finances to make things more manageable and eliminate the stress.

Are you stuck in a credit card trap?
Few of us on a responsible budget waste money on unnecessary spending, but credit balances have a horrible way of building up over time. The higher your balance, of course, the more interest you have to pay and that’s where things can start to get stressful.

It’s not difficult to get to a point where reasonable repayments are suddenly just enough to make the interest repayments and do nothing to pay down the balance. Credit card interest can be as high as 20% per annum or even more in some cases, and meeting these interest obligations can cut deeply into your monthly income – which in turn causes you to use your credit cards and run up more debt.

If you have personal loans, car loans or have used store credit as well as your credit cards, then things can really start to become difficult. We call this kind of debt ‘bad’ because it is expensive and does nothing to help you build wealth for your future – as opposed to a home loan which is a ‘good’ form of debt because it helps you build wealth and equity over time.

What can be done to break the vicious cycle?
Once you get into a situation where a large proportion of your income is going on paying your credit card interest, it can be difficult to break the cycle. The answer is to consolidate or collect all your debts into one, giving you a single repayment that carries a much lower interest rate than your existing credit cards and other forms of ‘bad’ debt.

By consolidating your debt and organising a new way to finance it, you can also spread out your repayments over time and that also helps to reduce the amount of money that goes out from your monthly pay packet. This will mean that you can use your income to pay off your debt and support your lifestyle instead of spending it on huge interest repayments. You may even find yourself in a position to save some money!

Two ways we can help you consolidate your debt
The idea of debt consolidation is to take out a new, low-interest loan and use it to pay off all of your old high interest debts – like credit cards, store credit and expensive car loans. There are basically two options for this kind of debt consolidation:

1. Refinance your home loan and use some of the equity to pay off your debts.
2. Take out a personal loan with a lower interest rate to pay off your debts.

Home loan interest rates are currently the lowest interest rates available in Australia. Refinancing your home loan to consolidate your debts means taking out some of your equity and this will increase your home loan repayments. But as they will be spread out over a long period of time, and home loan interest rates are much lower than credit card interest rates, this should work to lower your overall monthly repayments considerably and help you to get ahead.

The other alternative is to take out a personal loan to consolidate your debts. Personal loan interest rates are several percentage points higher than the average home loan, but they are generally less than what most of us are paying on our credit cards.

In addition to lowering the amount of interest you have to pay, a personal loan will allow you to choose your loan term to spread your repayments out and make them more manageable. This kind of debt consolidation gives you the added advantage of seeing your actual debt being eliminated – at the end of the loan term your debt will be completely paid off and you’ll be debt free!

Give us a call – we’ll be glad to help!
If you’d like to talk to us about consolidating your debts, please don’t hesitate to give us a call now. Our aim is to help you to find a way to make your monthly repayments more reasonable and free up more of your income so you can live comfortably and worry-free.

The temperature is UP here in Fremantle and Perth so its time to hit the water – in style! This month,Element Finance are giving you AND a friend the chance to get into the Indian Ocean in the most unique way we can find – on a Jet X-treme jet board! For your chance to dive like a dolphin into the deep blue, enter our competition with these 2 easy steps:

1. LIKE the Element Finance Facebook page
2. Visit the Element Finance page and comment on this image with the name of the person you want to fly across the water with.
But hurry, competition closes on 18 January. Winner announced 19 January. For full T&Cs, please email mike@elementfinance.com.au

We’ve just been through the busiest time of year in the property game. If you’re interested in purchasing property, then spring is when you’re usually flat out researching the market, viewing properties and attending auctions. But now that summer is here and the busy period is slowing, it’s a good time to review your financial position and the financial products you’re already using. Are they still the best options available for you?

A regular home loan health check is an important part of the ongoing service we provide to you and it’s particularly important if you’ve had your loan/s for a while. In this article we look at the reasons why you might want to review your home loan right now and how you could benefit from talking to us.

What is a home loan health check?
The term of your home loan may be as much as 30 years, but that doesn’t mean you have to keep it for that long. A home loan health check is a service that we like to perform for you on a regular basis. It entails a short discussion about how you use your loan and a basic review of your financial circumstances. It gives you the opportunity to ensure that your home loan is still the best product available for you – because let’s face it, things change.

These days its common practice to review your home loan regularly. New financial products come onto the market all the time and it’s a good idea to compare the loan you have with what’s available now. Perhaps you now need a different type of home loan, or you could save money on repayments. Maybe your lender has raised your interest rate and you’d like to see if you could do better. The idea behind a home loan health check is to make sure you have the right product for you and to give you peace of mind that you’re not paying too much or missing out on any benefits.

These are the questions we consider during your home loan health check:

• What are your financial goals and objectives for the year ahead?
• Have your financial circumstances changed?
• Are you paying a higher interest rate than you have to?
• Are your fees too high, is there a way to cut them down?
• Does your home loan give you the features you need?
• Are you paying for features you don’t use?
• Are you interested in accessing your equity?

Why should I get a home loan health check?
Even though the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has kept the official cash rate on hold for most of the year, interest rates have been on the rise due to changes in banking regulations. Things have changed for both home owners and property investors in terms of how much your home loan costs in interest rates and this alone gives you a very good reason to check that you’re still getting the best rate available for you considering your personal financial circumstances and goals.

The fact is, whilst most lenders have raised their interest rates over the last two months, some lenders have raised their rates more than others. If you’ve had your loan for a while and your interest rate went up recently, we can compare your current home loan with other products from a wide variety of lenders to see if you could benefit from refinancing your home loan with a different lender.

Refinancing to a home loan with a lower interest rate could potentially save you thousands of dollars over the life of your loan. And if you’re considering refinancing to a different loan, why not take a look at your other finances at the same time to see if refinancing could help you there as well? For example, if you have credit card debts, you could take out a little equity when you refinance to pay them off and save yourself a lot of money on expensive credit card interest.

What are your property purchasing plans for 2016?
If you have any plans to purchase property in 2016, getting a home loan health check now could help you determine your financial position and help you achieve your goals. This is true if you’re planning on moving to a larger home, or even if you’re just thinking of renovating your existing home.

If you are a property investor or are planning to invest for the first time in 2016, we highly recommend that you get in touch. Recent changes to banking regulations regarding investment lending/borrowing have really changed the game and you may benefit from discussing your options.

You may think that you are now unable to move forward with your property investment ambitions, or perhaps you are uncomfortable with your current financial structure. Don’t worry, we’re here to help! We’ll do our best to help you get past any impediments and help you look at ways to continue to strive for your property investment goals.

Why not call us now to get your home loan health check underway? It will be of great assistance to your property plans in 2016, cost you nothing and may even save you money! We’re here to help you make sure you’ve got the right financial products for your needs, personal financial circumstances and goals, so please give us a call today.