Banks hitting up investors
Star Wright reflects on rise to top
LOOK out world, newly crowned women’s surfing champion Tyler Wright reckons she is yet to hit her peak.
“I do feel like I’m just getting started and … it will take time to get to my best,” the 22-year-old said yesterday as she was named the face of Manly’s 2017 Australian Open Of Surfing.
It’s been a bittersweet year for the former Gold Coaster, who has surfed professionally since she was 16, racking up earnings of close to $1 million.
Her first World Surf League women’s world champion crown last week came after the death of her uncle Mark Morrison, a key inspiration early in her career, and a serious brain injury to brother and fellow professional surfer Owen Wright, who was concussed at Hawaii’s Pipeline last December.
But earlier this year, at Owen’s suggestion, Wright also took on coach Glen Hall.
“It’s been quite a 10 months and the amount I’ve learned has been remarkable,” she said. THE nation’s biggest lenders have raked in $2.51 billion extra by charging investors more than owner-occupiers for loans.
The gap between interest rates on the two types of loans remain noticeably different and banks continue to hit both types of customers with higher rates if they fail to hunt for more competitive deals.
Analysis by financial comparison website RateCity shows since the start of 2015 investors have been hit hard by two out-of-cycle rate hikes, while owner-occupiers have only been hit by one.
Consequently, banks are charging investors more for their loans and this has resulted in lenders earning more than if they had moved rates in line with the Reserve Bank’s falls.
RateCity estimates since the start of last year Westpac earned an additional $750 million by charging investors more, Commonwealth Bank earned $740 million, NAB earned $570 million and ANZ $440 million.
The site’s spokesman, Peter Arnold, said borrowers needed to be savvy.
“You will likely be paying a lot more on investment loans but there are some lenders who aren’t charging as much for investors,’’ he said.
“If you have 20 per cent equity on both types of loans you should be paying a rate under 4 per cent.”
Australian Finance Group’s Mark Hewitt said the investor loan market’s interest rates tended not to be as “price sensitive” because investment costs can be tax deductible.
RateCity figures show that on a $300,000, 30-year home loan owner-occupiers are being charged an average 5.27 per cent compared with investors at 5.51 per cent.