After 4 months of growth, sales of new homes have fallen, according to the Housing Industry Association (HIA). The group’s Chief Economist says the surprise down-turn is part of the way the First Home Buyers Grant is being taken up. Interestingly the slump in new home sales is in contrast to the way apartment sales have over the same period gone from a negative to a healthy growth of over 6 percent.

Have you ever thought about refinancing your car loan? It might be a good idea to consider this now that interest rates are at an all time low. You may have taken your car loan out a couple of years ago when interest rates were higher and by refinancing now you could save hundreds maybe thousands of dollars over the term of the loan.

However, it is wise to do your homework prior to refinancing your car loan. You will need to ascertain whether exit or early termination fees apply in breaking your existing car finance contract. Even if there are some penalty fees applicable, you still may be better off in the long run to refinance. Speak to a car finance specialist today about refinancing your car loan. It is a quicker and easier to refinance a car loan than it is a home loan.

Continued interest rate cuts over recent months are being heralded as the main reason behind a cut in the number of missed mortgage repayments. Ratings agency Standard and Poor’s say the average rate of arrears on Australian mortgages improved from 1.66 to 1.62 percent in the passed couple of months, continuing the trend from 1.84 percent in January. The agency’s Credit Analyst says this improvement, although small, is in the right direction and all part of the national economic recovery.

Just in case you hadn’t noticed, the various barometers monitoring house prices have not only been trending up for the past year but are now beginning to climb steeply. Needless to say the various spokespeople in the real estate industry are insisting that ‘now is the time to buy and now is the time to sell.’ (Only the previously over-inflated Perth market continues to languish.)

Australia’s service industries sector are at last showing growth after over a year of troubles. The latest survey at the turn of the financial year by the Australian Industries Group (AIG) revealed a distinct jump in activity the first such gain in 14 months. AIG Chief Economist says the biggest single reason is the recent cash handouts from the Federal Government. More importantly the research sees the service sectors confidence well into next year.