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Interest Rate Outlook
 
As mortgage interest rates remain low they continue to provide fuel to the property
market. January house sales volumes lifted for the third successive month, with strong sale prices offset by an on-going lack of available houses on the market. This shortage is continuing to drive prices up.

Tempering the growth is the unstable employment market and continuing desire of households to pay down debt. These factors together with the uncertainty created by overseas economies will help damper a major boom in the property market, however overall it is predicted house price will continue to increase albeit at a slower steady rate. The possible exception to this is Christchurch where house and rent prices are rapidly increasing.

While the Reserve Bank do acknowledge that the property market is showing healthy signs of recovery they still have their focus centred on the European debt crisis, and all the noise coming from the Reserve Bank indicates that any interest rate movements to our OCR will not occur until the back half of this year. There are however some extremely low fixed interest rates available now that cannot be ignored. I believe for some people now is a great time to look at options – please read on for more information.

Mortgage rates eased further last month especially in the longer term 3 – 5 year fixed rates. Although this has made it cheaper to fix for 3, 4 and 5 year terms, these rates are still relatively slightly higher than the current shorter term rates. Similar to last month there is very little difference between floating rates and 1 – 2 year fixed rates - as such we still believe that the best options currently in the market are to either float, look to fix for 2 years or take a combination of both, splitting your debt.

Please contact me for a free assessment of weather these low interest rates are something that would help lower your mortgage costs in the short and long term – there are some real savings to be made at the moment.
 
What’s Hot

Free Money – get it now! The banks are currently running some crazy incentives with some giving away as much as $1,000.00 as an enticement for clients to take their mortgage with them. You will be surprised by the attractiveness of what we can get for you - Refer your clients now!
 

Deal of the Month

Last month’s client was a NZ citizen working as a “Miner” in Australia. He was trying to buy a home to live in and was using some equity in an existing block of land. After being frustrated through other sources he found his way to us and we got him sorted - call us we deliver!

        

    Welcome to February's edition of AMS's Property Gazette.

I would like to start by announcing the Advanced Mortgage Solutions has moved! We have now opened an office at 6 Burdale Street, Riccarton Christchurch.

Please click here to see our new address on Google Maps.

The process of finding an office has been a while in the making as the recent earthquakes in Christchurch made it harder to find suitable office space. Please feel free to drop by if you are in the area - I would love to show you around.

  What's happening in February?

Interest Rate Outlook

It would appear that 2012 has kicked off with some continued momentum from late last year as have noticed a broadening trend of being a lot busier over the last 4-5 months.

December continued on the strong trend of November in house sales, with consecutive strong months seeing increases in sales of circa 5% each month. It would appear the extended period of historic low interest rates is finally starting to push some confidence across to property purchases. This, together with the nation waking from its rugby world cup hangover, is driving the strongest level of activity we have seen for a couple of years now.

The Real Estate market is still being held back though by a genuine lack of quality stock across the country (with a particular emphasis in Christchurch) and this is seeing the average days to sell a house drop (now down to 39 days). We believe this will continue to ease further over coming months, giving the market some momentum.

Approximately 60% of Kiwis are currently sitting on a variable rate mortgage, which gives the Reserve Bank great confidence that they can actually influence consumer behaviour with interest rate movements if and when they have to. That said, they have signalled that they do not expect to have to push interest rates up until the 2nd half of this year.

As the 1 & 2 year rates fell in the latter part of 2011, we now see this flattening from the variable rate through to the 2 year fixed rate. As such there is little to no difference between the current variable and 2 year fixed rates. Given that we anticipate small increase in variable money later this year, the current 2 year fixed rate holds appeal for us as a sound borrowing strategy - or for the slightly more adventurous splitting the funding into 2 accounts of part 2 year fixed and part variable will ensure not missing out on any variable rate discounts if they were to come on offer. All in all, quite an attractive time to borrow money!          

What's Hot

2012 has kicked off right where 2011 finished. Competition is hot among the banks for business and right now the rate they are all sharpening is the 2 year fixed. We are seeing cases of 2 year rates being offered as low as 5.49% - that is cheap money! Refer your clients now!

Deal of the Month

Last month we helped a more unusual client request, coming from a 70 year old gent buying a modern retirement unit. He was short of the full purchase price and we were able to fund him on an equity release loan for the shortfall, not requiring any monthly payments - call us we deliver!

 

How did you get started?

How did working in the industry come about?

 

I was a property investor freshly back from spending 12 years in the UK. I didn’t really want to go back to the type of employment I was doing when I left New Zealand so I started looking around at my options. I spent about a year looking around before settling on joining a relatively new mortgage broking company called Investor Finance. They were new to New Zealand after establishing themselves in Australia and promoted the idea of getting into the company at the grass root level. Well let’s say things turned out a little different to how I imagined things would go.

How long have you been a broker? What were you before?

 

I have been a broker since November 2006. Other employment include - Hospitality Management, Sales Representative, Head of Logistical services.

Has it always been a passion?

 

I have always had an understanding of figures and a passion for property, so when the opportunity to become a mortgage broker became available I jumped at the chance.

 

Why mortgage broking?

What is it about broking you love/are passionate about?

 

Finding the solutions to people’s needs and requirements, it’s fair to say that no two applications are ever the same. First home buyers are always a challenge, however at the same time are often the most rewarding. In one regard first home buyers require the most ‘hand holding’ through the buying process, but the smile on their faces once the finance has been approved and they have confirmed and then purchased their first home is priceless. Seasoned investors are great to deal with as well because the loans they require generally have a degree of depth and difficulty that is not as evident with first home buyers, however you rarely get the same excitement factor from experienced property investors as often it is simply part and parcel of what they do for a living.

 

How did you learn the business and educate yourself?

Do you have a mentor?

I follow a number of big names in the mortgage broking industry, both in New Zealand and overseas, however I don’t have a personal mentor as such.

Was it self-teaching, did you study?

I was lucky in the fact when I first started to learn my craft I was part of a team of experience mortgage brokers. I was able to ask for their assistance and benefit from their experience. This not only helped me get my early applications across the line but allowed me to pick up valuable experience in a very short period of time.  I passed the ‘Mortgage Essentials’ exams with 98.5% which was the highest grade achieved by anyone sitting the exam up to that time. The study and passing of the exams necessary to become a mortgage broker must have worked as in my first year at Investor Finance I was rewarded by winning three awards, namely - Mortgage strategist of the year, highest number of settlements for the year, and  highest lead generation of the year.

Best and worst times in the business?

 

Both Answers to this question revolve around the GFC. The best times were within the first couple of years of becoming a broker. Times back then were good, property investment was the ‘thing’ to do, and there was plenty of business and most of it came to you – great times. Then when things began to turn, nobody really expected the downturn to be so dramatic. At the same time the first company I worked at and cut my teeth at left New Zealand shores to concentrate on their Australian arm. This meant starting my own business from scratch – new logos, stationery, website, office’s and all the other requirements for starting and running your own business. Work was harder to find and I found myself speaking at all sorts of seminars and meetings. I would sometimes find myself talking to a group of investors at a seminar in Auckland one day and doing the same in Queenstown later the same week. Times have changed again and being at the coal face of property finance I can confidently say we are now through the worst. Bigger deals are coming through on a regular basis, lenders policies have relaxed, and interest rates have remained low for an extended period of time.

 

 

Best and worst business moves you’ve made?

 

The best business move I made was going out on my own and starting Advanced Mortgage Solutions at a time when the mortgage broking market was being battered by the GFC. I learned a lot about myself, not the least of which was that I had the skills to survive during a time of turmoil. It was important to me that I could prove I did not need the assistance from an established company to operate in hard times.

 

The worst moves?

I haven’t really made any yet.

Best and worst advice you’ve received?

Best advice

Keep an up-to-date CRM and regularly contact your clients.

Worst advice  

When learning I was told to follow a script when talking to the clients in meetings and over the phone – this was the worst piece of advice I was given as the resulting conversation did not sound like me and it most certainly did not sound natural – Find your owe spiel and sound natural.

Biggest challenge now?

Regulation is bringing a lot of changes to the industry. Up skilling, particularly in the time frames allowed has been challenging. However there has been a positive side effect to regulation as it has been good in weeding out the part-time brokers, or people within related industries ‘having a go’ at completing a mortgage application as they now have to prove their competency within the new regulatory framework set out by the Commerce Commission.

 

Would you do it all again?

 

Absolutely, despite the hard times I still loving mortgage broking.

 

Best business book?

It’s not really a business book, but more relates to money and how money works. ‘ The richest man in Babylon’ by George Samuel Clason is entertaining and the principles are sound.

Is there a typical working day?

 

I spend most of my days completing tasks in the following order - Answering emails, submitting applications, and meeting existing and new clients wishing to apply for finance. I find the hours in a day can whip past if don’t have some structure.

Top tip?

 

Keep your CRM up to date and work the hell out of it. Join social networking groups like Linked In, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Who is the individual that has most inspired you in business?

Richard Branson – his life, books, and achievements are inspiring.

What is your biggest long-term business goal?

 

To grow AMS into a bigger brand that operates throughout of the main centers in New Zealand. I am pleased to say that this plan is already gathering momentum with a new mortgage broker about to start at the Christchurch office and I have had an expression of interest from a broker in Auckland who is looking at operating under the AMS business model.

How are you preparing for regulation of financial advisers this year and how will this affect your business?

As I mentioned above regulation has brought its own challenges. I have my final exams to sit in March which will bring me up to the standard required by the new regulations. I think that one of the biggest challenges moving forward will be finding and recruiting brokers who have met and attained the required regulatory standard. Of course people looking to becoming a mortgage broker will find it a lot tougher because of regulation than it was even a year ago.

 

       Another busy month has gone by and we are only a month and a half away from entering a new year. October saw interest rates remain unchanged by the Reserve Bank Official Cash rate announcement in the last week of the month. This was widely tipped to happen so no real surprises there. We did however get a bit of a surprise in the unemployment figures which dropped by .5%. This is a good result and has been accompanied by many of green arrow stories, with the one acceptation being the Kiwi fruit PSA canker disease.

New Zealand lenders have continued to relax their lending criteria’s around owner occupied purchases. This is great news for first home buyers or people looking to upgrade or down size their existing homes. What is a little disappointing is these improvements have not flowed through to their rental and property investment policies yet, with most lenders still wanting a 20% deposit for standalone rental property purchasers. This of course can be circumvented by using your own home as security bringing the required deposit down to 10%.

Interest Rate Outlook

I believe there is now a light at the end of the tunnel and I’m pretty sure it is not an oncoming train. While economic conditions currently remain subdued, there is a lot that points toward a strong recovery in 2011.

While we are in a period of reasonably flat growth at the moment, many of the important variables required to stimulate market activity are lining up. Firstly, interest rate have stabilised and is giving the market some confidence, for the first time in over two years we are now seeing banks loosen their lending criteria and return with an appetite to lend new money.

With money well priced and the banks keen to again lend I can see that 2011 will provide the right environment for further recovery as the property market looks to rebound from the depressed period of the past two years. Overall households have focussed on clearing debt during this period and many will see the above conditions as ideal to release some of their frustration and take advantage of their improved overall position to move back into property investment, particularly as lenders relax their lending criteria around investment property.

The Reserve Bank has given every indication that interest rates will be held at their current low levels for the immediate future and I do not expect to see any increases in the OCR until March or April 2011. Given current rates have stabilised, it makes choosing the best interest rate option a little more tricky, variable rates are stable and the difference between variable and mid -term fixed rates such as 2 years are around 0.45% with variable rates the cheaper. This makes it a 50/50 call on what decisions is best to take, with people often finding the answer by aligning their personal circumstances with the best interest rate structure available.

 

 September was quite a month.

Christchurch was hit by a magnitude 7.1earthquake, Southland had the worst snow storms for decades, Wellington witnessed a head-on train crash, and the scariest thing of all.... I had my 42nd birthday. But despite these life changing events there was not a single loss of life, and in fact, it appears something good will come out of all of these events. Along with an already busy month there have been significant changes to New Zealand's lending landscape.

After a long absence it looks as though the old 'bank wars' are back. Over the last month we have seen a number of 'spring' promotions which have resulted in seeing lenders relaxing their existing lending policies and we now have the real possibility of receiving huge contributions to legals when purchasing a property.

Owner Occupied Property

New Zealand lenders are now looking at property  being purchase for home ownership (owner occupied property) to need as little as a 10% deposit (up to 90% loan to value ratio), allowing first time buyers and people looking to upgrade their existing homes an opportunity to place as little as 10% of the purchase price as a deposit. Lenders policy at this level of LVR is still a little more stringent, but when you think that as little as 10 months ago there was only 2 lenders seriously looking at 90% deals (and on a case by case basis) you can see how much change their has been in lenders thinking.

Rental Property

There has also been some relaxing around purchasing rental property. With one lender in New Zealand they will now look at lending up to 90% on standalone rental purchases - Please contact Advanced Mortgage Solutions here to find out more. This is just one example of improved lending criteria. Almost all lenders have shown improvements in their appetite for rental purchases with many now looking at 80%+ LVR's on a case by case basis.

Contributions to legals

To add more good news to the story all the mainstream lenders are now offering contributions to legal costs for people looking to purchase property up to $1,000.00, and in Christchurch as a sign of good faith this is increased to $1,500.00, to help cover structural engineering costs. In all my time as a Mortgage Broker I have never seen so many incentives given in order to attract customers.

                                                   =====================================================================

As always I am here to workshop deals with you. If you are looking to purchase a house for yourself or looking to purchase a rental property I firmly believe now is a very good time to buy. House prices are low and it appears we are at the bottom of another property cycle, this coupled with low interest rates and a bank war provides the perfect time to purchase property. Please also let me know if you have a home loan coming up for renewal so I can contact the bank and organise a range of discounted rates for you to choose from.


Kind regards

Scott Miller

P.s Find a number of short video's to help with better understanding bank policies, what interest rates are doing and a brief look into some of the different strategies available when looking to invest. Please click on the link below to have a look.

 

   Dr Bollards announcement of the official cash rate (OCR) on 16th September came as no surprise. It had been well mooted coming up to the announcement that the OCR would remain unchanged at 3%. What did come as more of a surprise was the tone of his message around where he saw the OCR’s movements in the near future. Some could argue that he had made a complete U-turn on earlier comments he had made. It was only at the July (29^th) OCR announcement that it was indicated for the foreseeable future the OCR would rise .25% every 3 out of 4 announcements until the OCR reached a level of around 5.75% - 6.25% where it would stop for a period of time before slowly dropping away again. Now it appears the OCR will not rise again this year (with two announcements left this year: 28^th October & 9 December), and will only slowly rise throughout next year stopping at a high point of around 4.5% - 4.75% in the middle of 2012. The reasons given for this change in forecasting was mainly put down to two things 1) A slower than expected improvement in the world’s economy. 2) A slower underlying improvement of the New Zealand export lead recovery.

 

Business finance has been on the improve for almost a year now. By the end of 2009 we started to see the taps slowly turned on after 18 months of them being firmly shut off. The momentum started with increases in overdrafts and acceptances of top-ups, and then gained further ground with residential purchases off full financials, and has now come almost full circle with finance being found to purchase of existing businesses or to start capital up new ventures. Levels of ‘easy’ money are some way off the crazy days of 2007 and early 2008, but in the same breath are far removed from the dark days of late 2008 and 2009. Now if a deal stacks up it has a good chance of being approved whereas 18 months ago it could have been the deal of the century and declined before it was even looked at.

  In this month's edition of the AMS Gazette I would like to begin by saying thank you to all the support and well wishes I have received since the earthquake on 4th September. It was a shock to we woken up at 4.30 in the morning to what sounded like a Boeing 747 landing in my driveway while being shaken so hard I thought my fillings would fall out. Thankfully my wife Barbora who is employed by Air New Zealand was working out of Rotorua and missed the original earthquake. Maddison however, our four year old Fox Terrier has not stopped shaking and is ready pack her bags and move to another city.
As the earthquake has mainly affected the Canterbury region I am going to cover some of the things Cantabrians should consider doing in regards to their mortgages and home loans.

So what to do next if you live in Canterbury.

Many of you will have already done the right thing and contacted the EQC to lodge a claim. Don't worry if you have not already done this as the EQC have come out and said you have 3 months from the 4th September to contact them. Just remember that once you have made your claim you cannot add further damage at a later date. So make sure you have a good look around your properties, so when the assessor arrives to look around your properties you can show him/her all the earthquake damage.

Mortgage Holidays - If you feel you need a mortgage holiday contact me and I will help with organising it. I have heard directly from all the major lenders and am fully briefed on how to make an application.

NB - You do not have to have lost your job or have extensive damage to your family home to get a Mortgage Repayment Holiday, if you want one you can have one. Each lender has slight differences in the processes of applying for a repayment holiday. There are also slight differences in the available structures you can use depending on which lender you have your mortgage with. Some for example will allow your mortgages maturity date to be moved out so when you return to paying your mortgage there is no change to amount you pay, other lenders unfortunately do not have this option. Please contact Advanced Mortgage Solutions here to get assistance with your application. Alternatively feel free to call me on 980 4541.

Please be aware these facilities are only available for people who live or have property in Canterbury - outside of this region it is (as far as the banks concerned) business as usual.

News Outside of Canterbury

Interest Rates - This Thursday's Official Cash Rate announcement is expected to see interest rates remain unchanged. With recent world events, namely the speed, or the lack of speed in which the world is recovering from the recession, it is believed interest rates will not go up again this year. There is in fact a good chance of medium to long term interest rates to fall slightly - Watch this space.

House Prices - House prices around New Zealand appear to have come down a little over the last month or so. The number of houses for sale are lower than anticipated for this time of year, with commentators arguing that many people are now holding off to take advantage of the 2011 Rugby World Cup. This is a hard one to call - personally I think if we have a long warm summer we could see house prices recover and feed nicely into the World Cup frenzy. Like with interest rates above time will tell.

As I sign off I would like to wish all of those affected by last week’s earthquake the best of health and wellbeing - if I can be of any assistance please feel free to contact me.

Kind regards

Scott Miller

P.s Find a number of short video's to help with better understanding bank policies, what interest rates are doing and a brief look into some of the different strategies available when looking to invest. Please click on the link below to have a look.



* Please note that at this time this service is only available from landlines.

This publication has been provided for general information only. Although every effort has been made to ensure this publication is accurate the contents should not be relied upon or used as a basis for entering into any products described in this publication.

There is a good chance you will be thinking - How does the 2010 budget affect me?

In this newsletter I will cover off some of the affects Thursday's budget will have in relation to owning property, both for owner occupiers and for investment property portfolio owners.

The Budget and what does it mean for property owners?

Owner Occupiers:

Basically not a lot has changed if you own your own home. Because home owners are exempt from claiming things like depreciation on their homes, losses against personal income, and don't usually derive an income from their home, most of the changes will not influence your day to day expenses (excluding things like the increase in GST etc).

The IRD still have their task force looking into owners who have placed their ‘principle place of residence’ (their own home) in an LAQC and are claiming loses as an expenses. This is illegal and the IRD/Government is taking this form of tax evasion very seriously. If you find yourself in this position I recommend you seek advice from an accountant immediately - putting one's head in the sand will not make it go away.

Investment Property:

In contrast there have been a number of changes (as expected) for those of us who own an investment property portfolio. However these changes are less dramatic than most of the pre-budget hype, speculation, and downright irresponsible dribble that was being circulated. So let’s cover of the main facts.

1)Depreciation on buildings has been removed unless the building’s life expectancy from new is less than 50 years. A list of such buildings is being made available and an application process for people who believe they fall under this criteria is being established. Personally when talking about residential property I cannot think of a reason where I would want to construct a property that would only last for 50 years. Its resale value for one would not be particularly high. There may be areas where sleep outs or minor dwellings are popular allowing for this kind of building and subsequent depreciation may take place?

2) One of the more annoying ‘the world is coming to an end’ forecasts around the changes to take place in the 2010 budget included ring fencing of losses within an LAQC. This would have meant that any losses incurred through owning a negatively geared property portfolio held in a LAQC could no longer be offset against your personal income tax. Although there has been some suggested changes (this is not law yet and is subject to change) to LAQC’s for the majority of us it will have no effect. This is due to the lenders of New Zealand making it compulsory for the directors of an LAQC to give personal guarantees for the loan the LAQC is being structured over.

 

The following is from Matthew Gilligan of Gilligan Rowe and Associates - one of New Zealand’s leading property accounting firms.

 Paragraph 5.11 states a member's interest (in the proposed new LAQC regime) would extend to include in the definition of equity the share of any debt guaranteed by the shareholder.

This means that if you are a guarantor, you get to claim losses up to the extent of your equity invested PLUS your guarantee. As shareholders will guarantee (most of the time) all of the debt, the structure will get full flow through of losses up to

100% of the value of the amount of debt they have guaranteed, or cash injected - the higher of the two.

 Therefore effectively existing LAQC users will get the benefit of losses flowing through, provided they are guarantors to the debt.

 Remember this is all subject to submission and not law yet.

The other major change regarding LAQC’s is around the tax paid when an LAQC starts making a profit. At present if you make a profit in an LAQC the maximum tax rate you will incur is 30% (company tax rate). However proposed changes will see this rate change to match your personal tax rate. So if you (under the new tax rate affective in October) earn $70,000.00+ you will be taxed at 33% and so will your profits from your LAQC. This is seen as making the tax system more fare and will limit tax avoidance through LAQC structures.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or thoughts on what I have written above.

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome all those clients who have joined the AMS team from what was Paul Kerr Mortgages. Paul has decided to leave the mortgage industry and we wish him all the best of luck with his future business ventures.

The last two months have seen many interesting developments in regards to property and of course this years budget is just around the corner.

The Budget

 

 

 

 

The first quarter of 2010 has seen the growth of late 2009 slow quite markedly. The issue is understanding why and how long this slowdown will last.

House prices have flattened this year adding weight to the concept that the growth of late 2009 was driven predominantly by lack of stock on the market not an economic rebound. While this continues to be the case the 'fear' that John Key has generated in the residential investment market due to his proposed tax changes to residential investment property has had a ‘lead weight' effect on property investment.

Our belief is that until budget 2010 is released in May and it is clearly understood what changes are being made to the tax laws around residential investment property most investors are sitting on their hands (and their cash) which will continue to hold the momentum the market had in late 2009 back. As such the average days to sell a property has lengthened to its highest level since June 2009 and is quite indicative of the true state of the housing market.

One highlight was today's unemployment figures announcement. There was an unprecedented 1%+ drop in the unemployment levels in New Zealand for the month of April. This has increased the possibility of an interest rate rise in June 2010 instead of the more widely predicted July increase. However Dr Bollard has indicated that he believes interest rates will rise at a much slower rate in similar situations in the past. I personally don't see this so much as a negative influence as much as I see this as a necessary part of the property sectors recovery.

Kiwis continue to deleverage their asset position (repay debt while interest rates are low) and this puts us in a good position for growth in the not too distant future (as in 2011) as pent up desire to invest and grow will at some stage be unleashed stimulating the economy. We cannot help but believe that the 2011 Ruby World Cup will be a strong catalyst for our 'real' rebound.

Our recommended borrowing strategy has not changed greatly in the past 6 months and at the risk of repeating ourselves we cannot recommend anything else other than floating rates or six - twelve month fixed as a preferred option. Variable rates remain at record lows, while most fixed rates have fallen in the past month they remain very high in relation to floating rates and this is more a sign of the market ‘overpricing' long term rates in the back half of 2009 which was driven by the price war the banks created for term deposits and not improvement in market conditions. Stick with the shorter term funding but keep your payments above the minimum required to repay, perhaps assuming rates of 1% higher than today.

Please find this useful link below and make your vote - it is best your voice is heard.

Do you support tax changes to investment property?        

YES  /   NO

Interest Rates

So with the new unemployment figures and the direction in which they are heading together with the contents of the Budget (which is due to released on 20th May), will impact the Reserve Bank’s review of the Official Cash Rate early next month. The consensus is now that the Reserve Bank will start increasing rates as early as June. Increases are expected to be in small increments of around quarter of a percent.  How many we have will depend on how strong our economic recovery is. 

As mentioned above a drop in unemployment is a strong indication that the economy is improving. The other significant event that is severely affecting the international financial markets, is the debt crisis in Greece and Portugal and whether it will extend to other larger European countries such as Spain, UK and Italy. This crisis has been the cause of the rapid appreciation of our currency particularly against the Euro which is now up over 10% over the past month to 0.56.  This has had a major effect on world equity markets which are wobbling - some are down over 3% this week. Two years ago, as the global financial crisis was unfolding, individual governments were sorting out the banking system. Now the world bankers will have to focus their attention on sorting out some individual countries.

Tip of the month:

 

 

 

 

 

{tag_recipientfirstname} if your home loans are on floating I believe it is time to look at your fixing options. Interest rates are going to go up and although Dr Bollards intention is to increase them slowly you never know what might happen. Feel free to contact me or email me to go over the best interest rate solutions for your needs.