Australian Property

Via Damien Boey at Credit Suisse: Another two bite the bullet ANZ and CBA are the latest of the major banks to hike mortgage rates out-of-cycle.

Your new Property Council PM has declared his priorities: “Menzies talked about the other things that were needed, you know, he talked about a ‘comfortable home’ and an ‘affordable home’, as important today as it was then,” he said.

By Leith van Onselen CoreLogic’s latest dwelling sales data paints a depressing picture for those groups heavily reliant on property transactions, such as real estate agents and state governments (via stamp duty).

ANZ has joined Westpac in lifting interest rates on mortgages in response to higher funding costs: Variable interest rates for home and residential investment loans will rise by 16 basis points (Westpac’s was 14 basis points), effective September 27.

Via Martin North: Despite the “good news” from the GDP numbers yesterday, our latest mortgage stress report, to end August 2018 continues to track higher.

By Leith van Onselen Some wise words of advice from AMP’s Shane Oliver: With a “huge increase” in supply set to come onto the market at a time of tightening bank-lending standards, sensible investors should be weighing up their options, according to AMP Capital chief economist and head of investment strategy Shane Oliver.

Last night I attended Prosper’s 127th Annual Henry George Dinner, where keynote speaker, Dr Cameron Murray, laid-out a blueprint for delivering affordable housing.

Via Investing in Chinese Stocks. The top story in the finance section on Tuesday morning is about the Chinese government’s hunt for hidden assets (and unpaid taxes) overseas.

By Leith van Onselen The new South Australian (SA) Liberal Government clearly has plans to turn SA into a ponzi state.

Suddenly everyone is a bear, at The Guardian: Australians should prepare for the “longest and deepest” housing downturn in the country’s modern history as the full effects of tighter credit and rising mortgage rates are felt, a leading economist has warned.

Harry Triguboff at The Australian: Billionaire apartment developer Harry Triguboff says average Australian wages are too low and are adding to the drag on the weakening housing market.

Following on from Friday’s post on CoreLogic’s daily dwelling values index results for August, which showed that Australian dwelling values fell for the 11th consecutive month, CoreLogic has released its full results, which also cover the smaller capitals and regional areas (see next table).

By Leith van Onselen The first major law suit has been filed relating to the rectification costs arising from dodgy flammable cladding installed on thousands of Australia’s high-rise apartments: They want $24 million.

MB has long observed Fairfax Media’s descent from objective journalistic house into rent-seeking property parasite.

Australian banks don’t seem concerned that the bedrock of their liabilities is developing a fatal crack, via The Australian: Savers are being slugged by ultra-low deposit rates as the nation’s banks work hard on both sides of the balance sheet to prop up their flagging interest margins, while borrowers suffer out-of-cycle rate rises.

CoreLogic released its auction report yesterday, which reported a small rise in the preliminary national auction clearance rate to 58.2% from 57.9% last weekend (later revised down to 54.6%).

Via HIA: Consistent with the trend for much of 2018, new home sales fell in all five states in July to see sales fall by 3.1 per cent compared to the previous month.