During May and June, The Investment Stylist invited its community to take part in a survey on Property and Mortgage issues.

A total of 53 people responded to the survey. The results of the survey revealed marked attitudes on the importance of investing in property, choosing a home loan lender and concerns over interest rates.

The long-held belief in investing in “brick and mortar” is changing. Almost half of all respondents indicated that they wanted to supplement their property investment with other assets such as shares.

The brand of a home loan is not a decisive factor in choosing a lending provider. An overwhelming 52% of respondents replied that the reputation of their home loan brand was only “somewhat important.”

Although the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and the National Bank of Australia were the top ranked home loan lenders, followed by the ANZ, the survey showed smaller banks such as Bendigo Bank, ING and Teacher’s Mutual Fund were also listed.

Interest rates are a critical issue. Approximately half of the respondents earmarked interest rates as the most important consideration when choosing a lender and a further 67.4 % expressed concern over the Banks’ decision to set interest rates, regardless of RBA policy.

Despite interest rate worries, 41.9% said they were happy with their current lender with 69% saying their lender has provided “some flexibility” to meet their needs.

Mortgage owners seek a wider range of home loan services and advice. More than half the respondents replied that they wanted other features such as the ability to stop payments for a period and extend the life of the loan, and free additional financial services to be offered by their lending provider. The survey also revealed an urgent need for lenders to give ongoing financial advice.

Only 9.4% of mortgage holders had been contacted by their lender to conduct an annual review of their mortgage. This perhaps indicates why more than half of respondents looked to family, friends and their partner for advice on home loans. A negligible 7.5% sought help from financial advisers.

Repayment time is not an important consideration. The survey showed 47.5% of people would not immediately switch loans even if it meant owning their home sooner. The importance of service, fee concerns and overall confusion regarding changing bank arrangements were listed as factors in this decision.

During June and July, The Investment Stylist will be asking their supporters to share their experience and opinions on the topic of Salary and Careers.