http://www.firstcharteredcapital.com.au/first-net/first-news The latest finance news from First Chartered Capital Wed, 09 Jun 2010 00:45:35 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Reserve Bank of Australia has decided to leave the cash rate unchanged at 4.5 per cent. Since the Board last met, concerns about sovereign creditworthiness in several European countries have been a focus of financial markets. Investors have generally displayed a good deal more caution. As a result, equity prices have ... http://www.firstcharteredcapital.com.au/first-net/first-news/2010/06/08/rba-takes-pause-holds-cash-rate-at-4/ Australian mortgage holders are a third time unlucky this year, after the Reserve Bank board today lifted interest rates by 0.25 per cent. It is the third rate rise in as many months. Mortgage holders will be disappointed with the increase. After being told by the Reserve Bank Governor, Glenn Stevens, ... http://www.firstcharteredcapital.com.au/first-net/first-news/2010/05/04/interest-rates-continue-to-rise/ Australian mortgage holders will have to dig deeper for their repayments after the Reserve Bank board decided today to lift interest rates by 0.25 per cent. The increase will be of little surprise to mortgage holders, who have been bracing themselves for a higher interest bill after repeated warnings by the ... http://www.firstcharteredcapital.com.au/first-net/first-news/2010/04/06/rba-lifts-interest-rate-to-425/ At its monthly Board meeting today, the Reserve Bank of Australia shocked most analysts with a decision to leave the cash rate unchanged at 3.75 per cent. While the move came as a surprise to many, there was enough indifferent data in the past fortnight to provide reasons for a pause ... http://www.firstcharteredcapital.com.au/first-net/first-news/2010/02/02/rba-takes-pause-holds-cash-rate-at-375/ After recording a stellar performance over most of 2009 the Australian residential property market ended 2009 on a softer note with national home values dipping slightly during the month of December. Australian home values recorded a 0.3 per cent fall in the month of December as the seasonal effect of the ... http://www.firstcharteredcapital.com.au/first-net/first-news/2010/01/29/property-market-takes-a-breather-in-december/ The REIV December quarter Property Update has revealed a new record high median house price of $540,500 in Meblourne, an increase of 15 per cent from $470,000 in the September quarter. Major regional centres are also participating in the property market revival, with Ballarat performing the best of the larger ... http://www.firstcharteredcapital.com.au/first-net/first-news/2010/01/28/victorian-house-prices-soar-to-new-heights/ A lack of growth is sales volumes in the Gold Coast and Brisbane has failed to stop prices surging back toward pre-crisis highs, according to the latest research. Analyst Bill Morris told the AFR that his findings - which come from an analysis of figures from the Queensland Department of Natural ... http://www.firstcharteredcapital.com.au/first-net/first-news/2010/01/21/queensland-property-price-recovery-strong-but-volumes-remain-weak/ A leading consumer confidence reading surged 5.6% in January from 113.8 in December to 120.1 in January as consumers became more bullish on the state of the job market and largely overlooked the threat of rising interest rates. The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment had fallen from highs in November ... http://www.firstcharteredcapital.com.au/first-net/first-news/2010/01/20/consumer-sentiment-boost-likely-to-put-pressure-on-rates/ The Housing Industry Association, Australia's largest building industry organisation, believes final figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics confirm that new residential building activity began to recover in the September 2009 quarter. The industry body remained cautious about the sustainability of the up-cycle, however, despite being confident that 2009/10 ... http://www.firstcharteredcapital.com.au/first-net/first-news/2010/01/20/hia-not-yet-convinced-about-housing-recovery/ Queensland Treasurer Andrew Fraser has announced a price cap on the state's first home owner grant, with the $7,000 in aid to only apply to houses worth less than $750,000 by mid-2010. As of 1 January 2010, legislation will kick-in that will restrict the grant to homes worth up to $1 ... http://www.firstcharteredcapital.com.au/first-net/first-news/2010/01/14/queensland-government-puts-price-cap-on-first-home-owner-grant/