THE devolution of Macquarie's domestic mortgage business has switched into overdrive with the bank this week boosting rates on most of its home loan products to well above 10 per cent.

Macquarie has scaled down its lending operations in recent months as funding costs have blown out in wholesale money markets.

As a result, Macquarie has gone from offering the cheapest low documentation home loan in Australia to the most expensive.

While the bank is no longer chasing new business, existing customers are bearing the brunt of its aggressive re-pricing of non-standard mortgages.

The rate on the flagship low-doc product, Macquarie Saver Express, has increased by 1.6 per cent so far in 2008 to 10.28 per cent. The latest increase, a 0.4 per cent rise, took effect on Monday.

The repricing of no-documentation loans has been even more aggressive with some borrowers now required to pay more than 11 per cent on their mortgages.

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Top jewelers turn to their heritage to sell on the global stage

PARIS: Agiant in a scarlet uniform directs customers to the museum of historic jewelry in the basement of Chaumet. But this is not a flunky in the discreet Place Vendôme salons in Paris. It is a larger-than-life Napoleon Bonaparte, painted in full, flamboyant military glory in the vast, 410-square-meter jewelry store opened in September 2006 in Hong Kong.

"In a way, Napoleon is our No. 1 salesman in new territories," said Thierry Fritsch, chief executive of Chaumet, the Paris-based house that first achieved fame as jeweler to the emperor, and whose current collection includes bracelets with love messages inspired by his gifts to Josephine.

"History is always better than just stories and this is especially true in countries like Russia or China, where legitimacy and 'pedigree' make the difference," Fritsch said. The Hong Kong space, which spans 4,400 square feet, may be "the most expensive museum in the world, given the price of land," he said. "But it's worth it!"

"Heritage" has become the buzzword, as the traditional jewelers take on a changing competitive landscape in which branded fashion houses like Dior, Gucci or Versace are producing fine jewelry while they themselves are expanding around the globe.

A core group of famous names - especially those clustered round the Place Vendôme, the epicenter of Parisian jewelry - is dusting down history and incorporating it into the new world.
As India embraces luxury, Cartier has revisited its long and romantic association with the subcontinent and turned it into a collection, "Inde Mystérieuse."

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The Petrol Commissioner has warned consumers to be aware that Coles Express outlets are charging the highest prices for petrol in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide.

Commissioner Pat Walker says a snapshot of prices at 9.00am today shows Coles Express is the most expensive in those four cities.

He says this is consistent with a recent trend and he urges people to shop around.

And he says that even with discount vouchers, people might be paying more than they need to.

Benjamin Franklin once said that the only things certain in life are death and taxes. Had he been born a couple centuries later, he definitely would have included car repairs in that statement.

At some point during the first five years of ownership, even the best-made vehicles with the highest quality ratings will likely have something go awry that requires repair. Unfortunately for some car owners, those repairs may not come cheap. So if you're planning to buy a car on a tight or specific budget, you might want to factor in--along with fuel and insurance the cost of repairing a vehicle when the warranty expires.

At the top of our list of the most expensive luxury vehicles to repair are the Audi A8 and Mercedes-Benz G Class, both with five-year estimated repair costs of $1,640. Rounding out the luxury vehicles in the top five are the Jaguar XK,at $1,629; Land Rover Range Rover, at $1,600; and Mercedes-Benz CL Class, at $1,540.

To determine the average amount consumers might pay to keep their new cars in operating condition, we used 2008 repair estimates calculated over a five-year period by Vincentric, an auto-industry data-analysis company. Vincentric looks at the cost of zero-deductible, bumper-to-bumper extended-warranty claims to calculate the average cost owners can expect to pay for repairs. This estimate does not include maintenance, which Vincentric measures separately.

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HUDDERSFIELD’S most expensive house has been snapped up.

Estate agents Charnock Bates are in the process of tying up a deal for Banney Royd on Halifax Road in Edgerton.

The building was designed by eminent architect Edgar Wood and built in 1902 in seven acres of grounds.

The Grade I listed property was on the market for £3.5m.

Stewart Bates, the owner of Charnock Bates, would not reveal what it had been sold for, but added: “The outcome will not be one we are disappointed with.”

But if you missed out and have a spare £2.65m to spend the town’s second priciest property is still up for grabs.

A seven-bedroom detached house at Fenay Court, on Fenay Lane, Fenay Bridge, is available, with an asking price of £2.65m.

The house is described as an “imposing detached residence” which has been extended and could be adapted for various uses, subject to planning permission.

It has a grand entrance hall, kitchen, eight reception rooms, utility room, boiler room, three cloakrooms, a cellar and two house bathrooms.

There is also an indoor heated swimming pool with jacuzzi, a steam room, sauna and changing rooms.

There are extensive lawned and patio gardens and a five-car garage block.

The chances of achieving such a high price might seem unlikely at a time when the housing market is feeling the effects of the credit crunch.

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Kamal Haasan starrer Dasavatharam has overshot its Rs.1.3 billion budget and becomes the costliest Indian film to be ever made, said sources.

"Friday's much hyped trip of Jackie Chan to Chennai on a chartered flight had cost Rs.100 million to the producer and has added to the total cost that has now gone beyond Rs.1.4 billion, said sources close to producer "Oscar" Ravichandran.

The producer, however, is not said to be complaining.

"Since top stars from Bollywood, Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini and Mallika Sherawat were present, the worldwide publicity generated has contributed more to the movie's Hindi release than what we actually ended up spending," the source added.

Unfortunately, there was chaos at the film's audio launch function last week in Chennai. Dozens of people, including journalists, were injured when police cane-charged frenzied crowds at the star-studded event.

"Any news is good news. Despite spending all this money, there were no pictures of our shy producer Ravichandran. And there is no mention of his apologising to anyone anywhere," said a publicist associated with the film, referring to the mismanagement of the audio release function.

Qatar’s ruling Al-Thani family bought Damien Hirst’s Lullaby Spring for £9.7m at Sotheby’s London in June 2007, the highest price ever paid for a work by a living European artist at auction. The 2002 sculpture, which consists of painted and cast pills displayed in a steel and glass cabinet, is now installed in Doha amid a growing collection of modern and contemporary art. While the Al-Thani family has been a major collector of Islamic art, it has not previously been known to buy European and American work at this level.

The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, and his wife, Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al-Missned, are also believed to be the buyers of the so-called Rockefeller Rothko which sold at Sotheby’s New York last May for $72.8m setting a new auction record for a post-war work of art.

A highly placed source in Qatar says the Hirst sculpture is in Doha and forms part of a growing collection of Western works characterised by bright, abstract pieces. The Hirst purchase has been independently confirmed by The Art Newspaper. The same source says the Rockefeller Rothko is also in the Al-Thani collection. This was not independently confirmed.

The entry of the Al-Thanis into the modern and contemporary market is part of a global movement of high-end works of art from West to East as American and European collectors encouraged by the resilience of the top end of the market in the face of uncertainty in the financial sectors consign works to auction which are increasingly going to new collectors in the Gulf region, the ex-Soviet republics and China.

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Russian billionaire and Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich is putting up a $296 million residence in the United Kingdom, which will be most expensive in that country.

The house, to be located in the Knightsbridge area, will have eight floors and will feature a cinema, a swimming-pool, and a steam room, among others.

The value of the property represents a substantial profit for Abramovich who has been on a buying spree in Lowndes Square since the late 1990s, according to the Telegraph.

The most expensive private residence in Britain is $159 million, a detached 10-bedroom Victorian villa in west London.

The Australian millionaire Daniel Tzvetkoff, who is of Bulgarian origin, has paid AUD 28 M for a mansion in the state of Queensland, the Australian reported Tuesday.

The mansion is one of the most expensive pieces of property in Australia. It will cost AUD 50-70 M when completed, and will be the largest on the Australian Gold Coast.

The 25-year old buyer was born in Ipswitch, Queensland, to Bulgarian parents and grew up in the state capital and third largest city in the country Brisbane.

At the age of 18 he started the online payment business Instabill. Tzvetkoff is the father of one, and will be getting married in the coming months. In his words, he had purchased the mansion to make it his family home.

The eight-bedroom "palatial" conversion in Knightsbridge, London is expected to be worth around £150 million when complete.

It will boast a cinema room, indoor swimming pool, steam room and entertainment room, all set across eight stories - three of them underground.

With a £11,700 million fortune amassed in the oil and steel industries, Mr Abramovich is the third richest man in Britain, according to the Sunday Times Rich List.

His planned development in Lowndes Square is currently two adjoining townhouses, which were split into nine separate apartments in 1998.

Mr Abramovich bought one of the flats in the late 1990s to use as his London home, and has since bought up the other apartments as they came on the market.

He bought the freehold for the properties for £1.8 million last September, and has now submitted plans for the ambitious development to Kensington and Chelsea council.

The Russian émigré intends to maintain the properties' beautiful stucco exteriors, but reportedly plans to redevelop the interior after his own opulent style.

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