Australian Property

By Leith van Onselen Several economists have warned that the fall-off in Australian dwelling construction could soon force-up unemployment: Mr Oliver said the worst is yet to come for Australia’s tradies, in a view supported by BIS Economics’s Angie Zigomanis.

Perhaps there is hope yet for Aussie property prices.

Following this morning’s post on CoreLogic’s daily dwelling values index results for September, which showed that Australian dwelling values fell for the 12th consecutive month, CoreLogic has released its full results, which also cover the smaller capitals and regional areas (see next table).

CoreLogic released its auction report yesterday, which reported another very weak weekend of auctions; albeit affected by the footy grand finals. The preliminary national auction clearance rate at just 49.1% versus 55.5% last weekend (later revised down to 52.4%).

By Leith van Onselen A survey of property experts and economists have tipped significant further falls in housing prices across Australia’s cities.

Via Damien Boey at Credit Suisse today: Sydney housing is no longer a safehaven We have just published an article about the outlook for Sydney housing.

By Leith van Onselen The Victorian Labor Government has backed the ‘rent-to-buy’ fad, claiming it will help to solve Melbourne’s woeful housing affordability: Towers of rental apartments owned by superannuation funds instead of mum-and-dad investors could soon be built in Victoria under a state government plan.

Via the UBS Global Housing bubble Index: Sydney / Australia Prices peaked last summer and have slid moderately as tighter lending conditions reduced affordability.

I guess the problem with being a billionaire is people see you coming.

From Gotti: While there was no surprise in the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate rise, the quick response from the US share market was an ominous sign for Australia and our struggling housing market.

Via The Australian: The seven heavy volumes of the Hayne royal commission’s interim report will land with a thud on Josh Frydenberg’s desk tomorrow.

Amusing stuff at the AFR: Despite a sharp fall in bitcoin prices over the past eight months, some bullish investors are still willing to accept the cryptocurrency instead of Australian dollars for the sale of their multimillion-dollar homes.

More great work from Martin North today as he discusses the fallout from the Hayne Royal Commission with Professor Gill North: The conclusions are sobering for banks, brokers, regulators and credit provision going forward.

By Leith van Onselen Two months ago, self-proclaimed property investment guru, Bushy Martin, labelled concerns around housing affordability an “insidious myth”: Bushy Martin… is convinced the only issue is with our own “entitled expectations”.

By Leith van Onselen With last week’s release of Australia’s population data for the March quarter, as well as the number of dwellings for the June quarter, it’s once again time to examine how Australia’s dwelling supply is tracking against population growth.

It’s farewell to the SMSF mortgage, thank goodness: AMP is set to axe new residential and commercial lending for self-managed super funds, making the wealth giant the last of the major providers to withdraw from the controversial sector amid falling property values and rising regulatory concerns.

The wagons begin to circle as house price falls accelerate.

By Leith van Onselen Amid the growing community backlash against short-stay apartment rentals through portals like Airbnb, an interesting service called BnbGuard has emerged to police unauthorised short-term lettings.

By Leith van Onselen The epic fall in Perth property prices has pushed apartment affordability to 2004 levels, according to Perth Now: Comparing average weekly income figures to median unit prices reveals apartments in Perth are at their most affordable since 2004, before the start of the mining boom.