As read in The Adviser online – Finsure boss John Kolenda has urged mortgage holders to negotiate a better deal with their bank as out-of-cycle rate rises continue to plague the market.

Mr Kolenda said that mortgage holders should maintain pressure on their lender to offer the most competitive interest rate available despite the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) keeping its cash rate on hold this week.

He added that it was no surprise to see the RBA maintain official rates at a record low of 1.5 per cent due to subdued economic activity and concerns about rising inflation.

“Recent out-of-cycle interest rate rises by banks and tightening by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) on investor and interest-only property lending have helped negate the need for action from the RBA for the past nine months,” he said.

Despite the stability with official interest rates, Mr Kolenda said mortgage holders still faced a highly confusing home loan lending landscape.

“I’ve never seen anything like the current market conditions where we have banks moving out of cycle and raising rates across different products,’’ he said.

“We urge consumers to keep evaluating their loan to make sure they have a competitive interest rate. Complacency when it comes to their home loan could be costing mortgage holders thousands of dollars a year.

“A mortgage broker can assist home loan customers with obtaining the most competitive interest rates as they access hundreds of loans and more than 20 lenders.”

John can be contacted on 0749722081 or 0410433919. Or email him at jwhitten@ihl.net.au or net www.ihl.net.au. John Whitten is a credit resentative (CRN 399796) of BLASSA Pty Ltd (Australian Credit Licence No 391237).