Australian Property

Via Martin North: DFA has released the November 2018 mortgage stress and default analysis update. Across Australia, more than 1,015,600 households are estimated to be now in mortgage stress (last month 1,008,000).

By Leith van Onselen Philippe Brach, CEO of Multifocus Properties and Finance, has penned a hilariously contradictory article in Your Investment Property attacking Labor’s proposed negative gearing reforms.

By Leith van Onselen Several commentators have warned that Sydney and Melbourne are facing far worse housing correction than Perth, whose housing market has been plunging for more than four years.

Via Banking Day: Australia’s mortgage broking industry is preparing to engage in the 2019 Federal Election campaign, with plans to enlist support from home borrowers who want lenders to continue paying commissions.

Must be a slow news day because this is not new nor an exclusive at the AFR: The timing of the next federal election means investors could have a year longer than anticipated before Labor’s proposed cuts to negative gearing and capital gains tax breaks can start.

Via Martin North: As home prices fall, the risk of households with mortgages falling into negative equity is rising.

Weeoo, weeoo, weeoo.

By Leith van Onselen With Australia’s housing correction now dragging on for 14 months, and peak-to-trough declines totalling 5.5% at the capital city level, it’s an opportune time to compare this correction to prior episodes.

Via the AFR: Suncorp is attempting to improve insights on living expenses and lending on mortgage borrowers by requiring a minimum of three months statements for all credit liabilities, including home and personal loans, overdrafts, lines of credit and any other loan facility statements.

More folks turning uber-bearish.

Via the AFR: …”Now is not the time to be flipping,” director at Ray White Surry Hills Ercan Ersan said.

By Leith van Onselen Place Advisory residential research director, Lachlan Walker, claims that Brisbane house prices are about to take-off: BRISBANE home prices are about to take off at a time when the nation’s overall housing market is in its biggest slump since the global financial crisis.

Funny stuff today from Adam Creighton: If your family had doubled down on the London property market in 1938, you’d have done very well.

Via Deutsche’s new banking analyst Matthew Wilson: At best, mortgage growth will continue to slow as deleveraging works its way through the economy constraining house prices and discretionary spend, but it’s unlikely to be beautiful.

CoreLogic’s weekly housing indicators continue to show broad weakness.

By Leith van Onselen A month ago, UBS’s George Theranou reported that there was still a huge pipeline of apartments to be constructed: “[In the June quarter there were] 229,000 dwellings under construction, including 156,000 private multi-dwellings,” UBS says.

By Leith van Onselen It was recently reported that the owners of the 328 apartments in Melbourne’s Lacrosse tower are facing an estimated $10.7 million to replace dangerous flammable cladding.