From the AFR:
Lenders are increasingly nervous about lucrative incentives being offered by developers to off-the-plan buyers struggling to pay their deposits, according to lenders and property specialists.
Rebates, special conditions, furniture, televisions and cars are among the inducements offered by some developers to ensure that buyers, who typically made a deposit when the project was on the drawing board, complete the purchase, they claim.
…ING Direct, a division of Dutch banking giant ING, has written to mortgage brokers, who negotiate best mortgage rates for property buyers, warning about an increase in the off-the-plan deals involving special financing rates.
Lenders fear undisclosed incentives, such as rebates, mean the property’s value has been pumped up in a way that cannot be transferred to successive buyers.
Oh dear.
