Australian Property

Freelance journalist Tarric Brooker has authored an interesting article estimating how forecast interest rate rate rises would compare with Australia’s historical experience.

The latest forecast from futures markets is now tipping that Australia’s official cash rate (OCR) will hit 2.8% by December before peaking at 3.5% by July 2023: That would represent the equivalent of around ten 0.25% hikes in the cash rate over the next seven months, followed by another three hikes over 2023.

I noted earlier this week how Privium, Condev, ABG Group and Probuild are among the major Australian construction firms that have gone into liquidation over recent months, alongside many smaller builders.

CoreLogic’s daily dwelling values index, which measures price changes across the five main capital city markets, declined by 0.11% in the week ended 12 May: The decline was driven by Sydney (-0.26%) and Melbourne (-0.22%), which both recorded heavy price falls.

In the first half of the pandemic, first home buyer demand boomed following the cratering of mortgage rates to record lows.

New data from the CBA shows that home buying intentions dived 21.5% in April to be 13.1% lower year-on-year, with accelerating declines expected now that interest rates are rising: The home buying spending intentions index fell 21.5% in April… April is normally a seasonally weak month, but this month was weaker than average.

Probuild, Condev, Privium and ABG Group are among the major Australian construction firms that have gone into liquidation in recent months, along with many smaller builders.

Last year, former NSW Planning Minister, Rob Stokes, used COVID as an excuse to turbo-charge development: NSW planning processes and development applications will be fast-tracked in a bid to support the construction sector and maintain jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last week, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released dwelling approval data for March, which registered a sharp 18.5% one month fall in approvals to be down 36% year-on-year: According to the ABS, apartment approvals were tracking 60% below their November 2017 peak.

New data shows that the number of homes listed for sale nationwide has risen sharply in 2022, which has in turn resulted in homes taking longer to sell.

The ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence survey has been pulled into the gutter by expectations of rising interest rates.

The Australian housing market continues to deflate following the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) decision last week to hike interest rates by 0.25%.

For year’s the Grattan Institute has vigorously supported the ‘Big Australia’ mass immigration policy, claiming it delivers huge benefits for the economy and society.

CoreLogic has released its preliminary auction results for the weekend, which recorded the lowest national clearance rate for 2022. Of the 1,611 results collected so far (out of 2,039 auctions), 64.7% were successful.

The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) has presented research on negative gearing and the capital gains tax (CGT) discount, which would have been useful in 2018-19.

The steam had well and truly come out of Australia’s housing market before the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) commenced its monetary tightening on Tuesday.

CoreLogic’s final auction report for last weekend has been released, with clearance rates falling to 62.9% nationally – the fourth consecutive week where the final clearance rate has held below 65.0%: Sydney’s final clearance rate plunged to 58.2%, pulling the national result down.

New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows that dwelling approvals fell by 18.5% in March and were down 35.6% year-on-year.

A report released this week by think tank Per Capita shows the rate of Australian home ownership is declining rapidly, especially among those aged under 40.