Australian Property

On Wednesday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released its dwelling approvals data for November, which recorded a modest rebound in apartment approvals: However, apartment approvals remained 48% below their June 2016 peak.

Mortgage rates may have cratered, but mortgage stress has lifted to another record high with 1.1 million households now under stress, comprising 32.7% of borrowing households.

One pattern that stands out in the property market is that although homes prices are at all-time highs, so too is the proportion of vacant dwellings.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released dwelling approvals data for the month of November. At the national level, the number of dwelling approvals surged by a seasonally adjusted 11.8% to 14,675. The overall lift in approvals was broad-based, with both units & apartments (+22.6%) and houses (+6.1%) rising.

SQM Research has released its Stock on Market report for December, which reports a massive 14.8% slump in property listings nationally over the month as well as a 12.0% decline over the year: As shown above, all capital city markets experienced big falls in property listings.

2019 was a tale of two halves for Australia’s housing market.

Via CoreLogic comes the 2020 outlook for property: Housing prices are likely to trend higher through the year.

I honestly don’t know how Millennials don’t burst spontaeously into flames of rage, via Domain: With properties hidden away off the grid in remote locations, popular travel startups based out of tiny houses are keeping a careful eye on bushfires.

The ABS has released a new housing finance series that replaces the old format.

In an interview with CNBC, SQM Research’s managing director, Louis Christopher, claims that Australia’s authorities are hoping the rise in Australian dwelling values will feed through to greater confidence in the economy.

Back in June, the Australian Institute of Building Surveyors (AIBS) released a member communique warning that “the situation around Professional Indemnity (PI) Insurance has reached crisis point” with “a real possibility that without government intervention… private building surveyors may be forced out of work and the construction industry across Australia will be significantly impacted”.

Last month, Martin North and John Adams challenged the credibility of the various private sector property indices, which were reporting strong rebounds in property values, claiming “the establishment has sought to kill the counter narrative that the market is falling”.

Vai The Advisor: Twenty-six additional lenders have been appointed to the initial panel of the government’s First Home Loan Deposit Scheme, including major bank, Commonwealth Bank. The National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC) has announced its full panel of lenders taking part in the federal government’s First Home Loan Deposit Scheme (FHLDS).