Tue, 9th Apr 2024

In this week's finance news, the Australian housing market showed resilience as new home loan commitments rose by 1.5 percent to $26.4 billion in February, spurred by post-pandemic migration and a lull in new home construction. However, the market faces challenges with a construction shortfall due to increasing building costs and labour and material shortages. In retirement planning, a Challenger Limited study indicated that without expert financial advice, Australians feel burdened by living expenses, with nearly half of citizens over 60 seeking fiscal counsel. Finally, Insurance Australia Group has set things right by paying $37 million to its staff for payroll errors, including a $650,000 contrition payment, promising future transparency with an automated system to be operational by September.