Public sale Outcomes, JobKeeper Ends, Solar Batteries: This Week's Finest Banking Information – Mozo.com.au

• Before Easter, the real estate auction results reached 84%
• What's Next For Small Businesses When JobKeeper Ends?
• More Aussies are installing solar batteries in their homes
• Amex starts the Shop Small campaign for 2021
• Two providers are increasing time deposit rates while others continue to decrease
• Refinancing A Car Loan: Is It Worth It?

All in this week's best bank news recap: Editors' Choice.

Australian residential property auction markets are seeing their busiest week in three years

Last week, 3,791 properties were auctioned in Australia's capitals, with 84% showing a successful result.

This emerges from the point of view of the real estate research company CoreLogic, which revealed the renewed confidence in the market. At the same time last year, the auction clearance rate for smaller quantities was only 37%. This was due to the fact that more than half of all auctions were withdrawn due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Sydney topped the package with a tentative clearance rate of 89% across 1,392 auctions, compared to the previous week which had a final clearance rate of 85% for 1,025 properties.

It is followed by Melbourne, which achieved a clearance rate of 84% from 1,899 auctions. Those numbers also increased by 79% in 1,322 homes.

Read the full article: Real estate auction results hit 84% before Easter for an in-depth look at the numbers in the capital's Australian real estate markets.

No more JobKeeper: what does this mean for small businesses?

The government's JobKeeper support has officially ended. But where are Australian small businesses?

Now, if more than half (65%) of small businesses plan to recover and grow for the remainder of this year, they are planning to restructure their business. This is evident from the latest figures from Scotpac's semi-annual SME growth index.

The figures showed that the restructuring also involved finding new funding opportunities. The survey found that 20% of small businesses need to cut costs to make up for the loss of government support. Almost 20% are considering making arrangements with the Australian Tax Office and 16% are considering a business loan.

On the other hand, a quarter of respondents (25%) say they have no strategy to gain a foothold. Also, 34% said they had to close or sell if the market didn't improve. This is an increase of 31% compared to 2020.

Read the full article: JobKeeper Ends: What's Next in Small Business Funding?

More Aussies are going green with solar

According to SunWiz, a solar analysis group, 31,000 solar batteries were installed in Australian households in 2020.

This is an increase of 20% compared to 2019 and on top of that, the installations of solar modules under 100W have also increased by 39%.

"In 2020, Australians continued to show a desire to reduce their electricity bills by making the most of the country's abundant, cheap solar power and by being powered by a battery," said Warwick Johnston, SunWiz general manager. "It's been a surprisingly good year."

The South Australians were leaders in installing solar batteries. More than a quarter of the plants for 2020 come from this state alone. These numbers are likely related to the South Australian government's funding program.

And for the year 2021, SunWiz predicts that solar batteries will become even more widespread. The number of installations will increase to 33,000 this year.

Read the full article: Solar battery systems are on the rise despite the lack of government aid to take a closer look at renewable energies.

Judo, Firstmac, and Goldfields Money raise time deposit rates when other providers lower prices

Most time deposit rates continue to spiral downwards.

In fact, a total of 32 time deposit rate cuts were made in the Mozo database last month. In addition, the average interest rate on a $ 25,000 deposit with a term of one year decreased from 0.56% p.a. to 0.53% p.a.

However, some lenders went against the grain and instead increased their interest rates. Judo Bank and Firstmac both hiked rates in March, with Firstmac hitting up to 55 basis points.

Similarly, Goldfields Money has increased some of its interest rates by up to 40 basis points. However, it also lowered other rates by up to 20 basis points.

Read the full article: April Term Deposits: Judo & Firstmac Raise Interest Rates As Cutbacks To learn more about the products these lenders have on offer.

Amex is bringing back Shop Small 2021 for the whole year!

Yesterday, credit card giant American Express announced that its Shop Small campaign for 2021 was back and lasted year-round.

The campaign is about encouraging Amex credit card holders to shop with and support small businesses. And for many Australian companies, 2021 is the year they need to recover.

"The resilience of Australian small business owners during the Covid crisis has been exceptional," said Lisa Belcher, vice president of small and medium-sized businesses for American Express Australia.

"And it's encouraging to see consumers, big business and government banding together to support the sector, but now is not the time to be complacent." This is why Shop Small returns year round to remind customers that they must take action and spend money with them on a regular basis if they want to see these companies survive. "

In order to be able to participate in the Shop Small campaign, Amex customers must save the Shop Small offer on their authorized American Express card. In addition, they must shop at participating online and in-store small businesses, where they will earn an additional three points per dollar by March 31, 2022 (maximum 40,000 points).

Read the full article: Amex Shop Small campaign is back in 2021 – with a twist for more on this initiative and the sentiment for small business.

Should You Consider Refinancing Your Car Loan?

Interest rates are low, which means that many mortgage customers are trying to get their current home loan out and refinance at a more competitive rate.

But what about your car loan? Is it a good idea to do the same?

Well, in the past five years, the RBA has made eight cuts to its official cash rate, leaving it at an all-time low of 0.10% (up from 2.00% at the beginning of 2016).

For car loans, the average variable interest rate for new and used vehicles in the Mozo database fell from 7.82% to 6.68% (-1.14%) over the same period.

For home loans, the decrease in the average floating rate was 4.72% to 3.30% (-1.42%). While this seems like a small margin for both car and home loans, mortgages are more likely to see a significant difference, as these loans run for 25 to 30 years compared to 1 to 10 years.

Essentially, you may not save as much on a car loan by getting a lower interest rate than you would on a mortgage, which can save you thousands over the life of the loan.

However, if you are a borrower who has improved your credit score, you can benefit from switching to a loan that offers tiered interest rates for the benefit of borrowers with good credit.

Read the full article: Is It Worth Refinancing a Car Loan? Some examples of the savings you can get by switching.

Do you want to compare car loan options? Check out these providers below!