Our commentary on issues important to home owners, investors and borrowers
In what has been described as “an opportunistic attempt to to reduce competition in the Australian mortgage market”, CBA CEO Matt Comyn has disingenuously led the Royal Commission Into Financial Services Industry to form the view that Mortgage Brokers are paid trailing commissions, but not required to do any work to receive them.
Read MoreAs property prices in Sydney have soared so have the revenues flowing to the State government as it rakes in record levels of tax revenue through the stamp duty on property transfers. This stamp duty, approximately 4% of each property transfer, is a significant impost which increases the savings threshold for first home buyers and acts as a brake on mobility in the property market.
Read MoreIn news this month, all eyes have been on the release of the Royal Commission’s interim report. We can expect conservative lending behaviour to continue, which is posing a challenge for investors.
Weakened vendor confidence sees fewer new listings being added to the market, now at the lowest seasonal level since 2012 according to CoreLogic’s Tim Lawless.
Read MoreIn news this month, issues at the heart of the next Federal election, like potential changes to policies around negative gearing and capital gains tax are proving to be a growing concern for Australians. Changing credit policies focused on reducing the debt-to-income ratio are affecting the market, but Tim Lawless of CoreLogic indicates it likely that lenders will remain competitive for high-quality borrowers.
Read MoreDespite the market cooling, first-home buyers have been playing an important role in sustaining Sydney and Melbourne markets. And Adelaide is proving to be a standout, remaining buoyant and capturing the attention of buyers from eastern states.
Read MoreAccess to property finance for investors has reduced dramatically. Multiple property investors have been hit the hardest. Compared with the situation in January 2015, for every $1M in debt held by a property investor, they now require $30,000 additional annual net income to qualify for the same loan.
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.