Housing sentiment plumbs new depths

Via Westpac’s Red Book:

― Conditions in the housing market are starting to show some hints of stabilising. The ‘time to buy a dwelling’ index lurched lower again in May-Jun but managed to rally 3.1% in Jul. This is the fi rst increase we have seen in 2017, after a cumulative 10% decline over the first half of the year. Moreover, it comes despite further rate increases for ‘interest only loans’.

― Recent increases in state government assistance for fi rst home buyers – introduced in NSW, Vic and Qld – appear to have been a factor in the Jul rise with the ‘time to buy a dwelling’ sub-index for 25–34 year old’s surging 36% in the month.

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About the author

David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.