Our commentary on issues important to home owners, investors and borrowers
45% of the new full-time jobs on the Sunshine Coast over the last five years have been in construction. Across all employment types, the Sunshine Coast saw full-time jobs losses last year of 210 and a 1,155 fall in construction positions. The Sunshine Coast is creating jobs but not necessarily full-time ones. This will have an impact on what type of housing is needed and where it is located.
Read MoreIn this month’s edition, the real estate slowdown across the country continues, with Domain Group data showing national property prices slumping 1.2% in the 3 months to March. Over the year however, prices were up 6.3% on CoreLogic data, with Tasmania taking out top spot for six of the 10 most sought-after suburbs in the country.
Read MoreIn this month’s news, the Reserve Bank of Australia has broken a record for the longest stretch without an interest rate change, with rates on hold at 1.5 per cent for the 18th consecutive meeting. And a new study from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute has found capital gains tax discounts and negative gearing benefits are “heavily skewed” towards affluent Australians. It pushes for a move towards a progressive rental deduction where sophisticated investors are not given as significant tax concessions.
Read MoreWhile the arrangement of finance is central to the process of mortgage broking it is so much more than filling in forms and choosing the lowest initial interest rate. A good broker helps their client with the overall process of buying a property. They act as advocate, project manager, assist with the assessment of financial risk, and liaise with solicitors, real estate agents and the bank's back office to make settlements happen on time.
Read MoreAs the year starts to take hold, the national property market is likely to continue to “peter out” over the year, according to researchers at Deloitte, who say tighter lending and expected higher interest rates will start to bite.
Read MoreOver half of Australian house hunters spend the same amount of time inspecting a property as they do watching an episode via Netflix, according to new research by ME Bank.
Read MoreLoanscape is your information resource about lending and property.
Combined dwelling values have re-accelerated across the nation in February, with all mainland capitals soaring in value. It probably comes as no surprise that Perth claimed the top spot by gaining a whopping 1.8% for the month
Loanscape has today released its Borrowing Capacity Index for Q1/2024. It shows that the borrowing capacities of Australian individuals and families continue to decline. The more modest decline in the size of average loans being taken confirms that lower income borrowers are being disproportionately impacted by interest rate hikes: the family income required to qualify for the average loan in Australia is now 32% higher than 18 months ago.
The end of the year is fast approaching, with most capitals experiencing a strong recovery on dwelling values from the downturn that culminated at the start of 2023.
The recovery is mainly due to an influx of immigration and constricted supply, which the Government is trying to remedy with its ambitious goal of building 1.2 million homes by 2029 through HAFF.
In this months report, the $10bn Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) has finally passed the Senate after the Labor Government struck a deal with the Greens to add another $1bn for public and community housing. The HAFF plans to build 30,000 social and affordable homes in the next five years; though, national spokesperson for Everybody’s Home, Maiy Azize says it won’t solve the existing “shortfall of 640,000 homes”.
In this months news, CoreLogic’s Mapping the Market tool shows rent values rose in over 90% of Australian markets over the last 12 months, with Adelaide and Perth’s suburbs topping the list.
In response, the National Cabinet has introduced new measures to counter the rising housing crisis, including a New Home Bonus, a Housing Support Program and a National Planning Reform Blueprint.
It has also agreed to A Better Deal for Renters, which will streamline renters’ rights across the nation with consistent policies for eviction grounds, rental standards and limits on rent increases.
Loanscape has today released its Borrowing Capacity Index for Q2/2024. It shows that the borrowing capacities of Australian individuals and families have stabilised after the sharp decline over the past 2 years. Lower income borrowers continue to be disproportionately impacted by interest rate increases: the family income required to qualify for the average size loan in Australia is 35% higher than 2 years ago.