The Housing Industry Association believes that the decision by the major banks to increase variable interest rates on home loans outside of rate increases by the RBA, will ultimately hurt the Australian housing industry as First Home Buyers will loses confidence. According to the latest statistics on Home Loans for December 2011, the November [...] [...more]
Construction activity has fallen away during the month of January, mostly due to tightening of lending policies with respect to construction loans. This is despite the fact that interest rates were reduced twice late last year. The AIG Australian Performance of Construction Index declined to a seasonally adjusted 1.2 points to 39.8 in January, marking [...] [...more]
Buyers who have sold their property last year or have simply come into some money should find 2012 a great year to make a property purchase. It does not matter if one is looking for a new home or an investment property, buyers should be able to find deals waiting for them in most capital [...] [...more]
THE number of home loans approved by banks and other lenders during the month of November has gone beyond market expectations, making economists believe that 2012 will be a good year for property. We have already seen 2 rate cuts in late 2011 and further cuts are expected in early 2012. This will undoubtedly boost [...] [...more]
Although there has been a modest improvement in building approvals during the month of November, the overall state of Australia’s construction industry is still troubled. Australian residential building approvals had increased during November by 8.4 per cent to 11,424 units. This compared with an upwardly revised 10,539 units in October, seasonally adjusted. Economists expectations of this figure were [...] [...more]
Many property owners continued to increase their home loans on the assumption that property values will continue to increase. Today, some buyers are finding that their homes are worth less than the amount they owe to their lender on their home loans. While today only 2% of home owners are faced with the reality of [...] [...more]
Recent figures suggest that housing has become more affordable in recent years across all states of Australia. The Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) – Deposit Power Housing Affordability Report showed the proportion of income required to meet the repayment of home loans has declined by one percentage point to 33.6 per cent during the [...] [...more]
October 2011 has brought with it a minor recover in the number of new home sales in Australia. This was at least a small improvement from the lowest result in more than a decade. The latest HIA – JELD-WEN New Home Sales Report found the number of new homes sold in the month of October [...] [...more]
It seems that Australian property buyers are taking a break – there is certainly no rush to make a property purchase despite lower interest rates and lower property prices. According to a survey of potential property buyers by the Commonwealth Bank/MFAA Home Finance Index for September, only 16.9% of respondents are considering purchasing a property [...] [...more]
With auction clearance rates down, and the number of property sales across the board also in significant decline, it may take as long as eight months to clear housing stock on the market today. RP Data’s Property Pulse has reported that housing stock is piling up, with 7.4 months of effective supply on the market. Research analyst [...] [...more]
