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Australian Housing

Rent growth worst on record

Rents are falling in every state except Melbourne, according to CoreLogic RP Data rental data for the month to June 30. As more investors pile into the market, rents have risen just 1.1 percent this year, the worst result since records started in December 1995. In real terms, rents have

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Australian Housing

Banks continue to curb investor lending

As widely expected, Australia’s central bank decided today to leave the official cash rate unchanged at 2.0 per cent. In the statement following the policy decision, the Reserve Bank, as it has done over the past couple of months, reiterated “The Bank is working with other regulators to assess and

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Australian Housing

June 2015: The month Australia learned it had a housing bubble

According to Google Trends, searches for “housing bubble australia”, “australian housing”, “australian housing bubble”, “sydney housing bubble” and “housing market bubble” surged last month to levels never seen before. Highlights of June 2015 included: Treasurer Joe Hockey denying there was a housing bubble and telling first home buyers they should

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Australian Housing

Sydney value agnostic investor bubble shows no sign of abatement

‘Crazy’ value agnostic investors continue to leverage up in an environment of poor rental growth, according to investor mortgage finance commitments released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Friday. In the year to April, NSW property investors have borrowed $64.2 billion to spurge on the residential property market, another

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Sydney Housing Bubble

#adviceforjoe: Dear Joe…

An open letter from Mel Wilson, Human Resources professional and mother of two from Wodonga, Victoria to Treasurer Joe Hockey. Please share Mel Wilson’s facebook post here. Dear Joe, I just wanted to touch base with you regarding your comment that young people are able to enter the property market

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Australian Economy

Adelaide property market “denied” jump start

According to Channel 10 Adelaide, The Reserve Bank of Australia has “denied” the Adelaide property market a much needed boost by leaving rates unchanged. You could be mistaken for thinking it was 1989 and the official cash rate was 17 per cent. But, no, the report aired yesterday after the

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Foreign Investment Review Board

Passive foreign investment watchdog relieved of enforcement duties

Foreign investors who purchase existing residential dwellings illegally, and third parties who knowingly assist, will face increased penalties under a new bill to be introduced into Parliament this Spring. Coinciding a day after the Foreign Investment Review Board’s (FIRB) annual report showed a 95 per cent increase in applications by

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Australian Housing

Foreign investment propels Sydney, Melbourne property bubbles

Applications by foreigners to purchase Australian real estate has surged in 2013/14. Data contained in the Foreign Investment Review Board’s annual report, released yesterday, show there were 23,430 applications to buy Australian real estate last financial year. This is up 95 per cent from the 12,025 applications received the year

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Australian Economy

Too big to fail banks are too big for regulation

Concerns are mounting that Australia’s big banks are disregarding risk and may not be capitalised enough to withstand a conceivable property correction. Today, the Australian Financial Review reported Sydney home prices are growing five-times faster than wages. Such rapid increases in property prices over one’s ability to service the mortgage