Our commentary on issues important to home owners, investors and borrowers
Some 24.6 million people live in Australia. Our population is growing by 400,000 people per year. But where are they going? Michael Matusik summarises ABS Census data to show which cities are seeing the most growth. This has implications for the property market in those areas.
Read MoreTim Lawless from Core Logic RP Data has written an excellent article showing how the long awaited property development boom may lead to a potential oversupply of certain types of dwelling in some markets. For example he notes that 41% of the building approvals in the inner Sydney region are concentrated in the Waterloo-Beaconsfield area. Most of these will be multi-unit developments.
You can read Tim's full article here:
The ABC's economic commentator, Michael Janda also notes that, in spite of the prevailing myth, property prices do not always rise.
The above house in Port Hedland, WA was purchased for $1.3M in 2011. (Photo: Jan Ford Real Estate)
During the weekend it passed in at auction with a highest bid of $360,000. One can only hope that the original investor has not been stranded with finance at 80% of their purchase price of $1.3M. Be very careful about investing in one industry or boom towns. The cycle can turn severely in both directions.
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Loanscape has today released its Borrowing Capacity Index for Q3/2024. It shows that the borrowing capacities of Australian individuals and families have started to recover 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 37% higher than 2 years ago.
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.
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.
Loanscape has today released its Borrowing Capacity Index for Q4/2024. It confirms the forecast trend that borrowing capacities of Australian individuals and families are recovering from their low levels which coincided with the last of the recent increases to borrowing rates initiated by the Reserve Bank of Australia.