Just average

Interest rates are on the way up but how high can they go? The Reserve Bank lifted the cash rate from 3.75 per cent to 4 per cent last week. CommSec's chief economist, Craig James, says although the Reserve Bank has given no guidance on future rate decisions, it has highlighted the fact that borrowing rates should "be closer to average". He suggests they have 35 basis points to 70 basis points to go.

Thanks for nothing

Industry Super Fund Network (ISFN), the umbrella organisation for non-profit-making industry funds, says more than 4 million workers — members of retail super funds owned by banks and insurers — are each paying hundreds of dollars a year in commissions for financial advice they are not receiving. ISFN, whose member funds do not pay commissions to planners, says that since 1996 more than $40 billion has been lost in commissions.

Right all along

Property forecaster Residex said in 2008 that the property market would not crash in Australia like it did in the US and Britain. Last year, Residex predicted the first-home buyer boom. The company now says Melbourne's growth will move from the middle to the prestige end of the market in the next few years. In Sydney, growth will move into areas of little recent investor joy, such as the Central Coast, Illawarra and lower Blue Mountains.

Homing in on prices

Are house prices high? Apparently not. Rismark International says housing affordability is better than widely thought. Considering all property types, not just houses, and other adjustments, Rismark says the ratio of prices to household incomes is about 4.5 times, instead of the more commonly reported figures of six, seven or eight times. Rismark data shows that during the '90s the ratio was under three times.