MORE evidence has emerged that Australians are battling financial stress.   :(

Arrears on the home loans that back prime residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) have climbed to their highest level since April 2009.   :(

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) said loans underlying Australian RMBS that were more than 30 days in arrears jumped to 1.59 per cent in January, up from 1.38 per cent in December.

Arrears for sub-prime loans backing RMBS jumped 126 basis points to 11.45 per cent, the agency said.

S&P attributed the delinquencies spike to the series of natural disasters that hit Australia over summer and said they disrupted borrowers' ability to pay their mortgages, especially those who are self-employed.

But the long-term economic outlook was favourable and would support a stable housing market in 2011, the agency said.


S&P's report came as more data emerged of Australians being financially stressed as they battled rising energy costs and food bills while continuing to pay down debt.   :(

Commonwealth Bank subsidiary BankWest said almost a third of all Australians were "financially unfit", up three per cent from a year earlier.

BankWest commissioned Brand Management to conduct an online survey of 792 individuals in February.

The survey findings revealed 31 per cent of Australians are unfit insofar as they have little or no savings, an over-reliance on debt, few assets, inadequate insurance and high housing costs relative to their income.   :(

Only 17 per cent were found to be financially fit, that is had regular savings, low housing costs, a range of insurance and high asset levels relative to debt and income, BankWest said.

That's five per cent lower than in 2012, with respondents citing increasing energy and food costs.

yes the economic envy of the world :) LOL

and this is another new headline ..

http://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/Rising-costs-push-some-people-abc-1940597006.html

We need more Moslems!
Especially those rich Shieks and Sultans who can buy all of Australia's most powerful industries with a flick of their platinum wrist watches.

This country has gone to rot.
Lets sell it, along with everything else already sold.
Stuff the UK, they are up the clacker anyway - the rest of Europe is leaving them behind.
Lets sell Australia to either the Chinese or the Moslems.

...we'll even throw in the filthy Ferals of Coober Pedy and the Tasmanian Forests, for free.
;)

It_is_the_Darkness wrote on Apr 6^th, 2011 at 1:16pm:

We need more Moslems! Especially those rich Shieks and Sultans who can buy all of Australia's most powerful industries with a flick of their platinum wrist watches. This country has gone to rot. Lets sell it, along with everything else already sold. Stuff the UK, they are up the clacker anyway - the rest of Europe is leaving them behind. Lets sell Australia to either the Chinese or the Moslems. ...we'll even throw in the filthy Ferals of Coober Pedy and the Tasmanian Forests, for free. ;)

Most of it has already gone :(