Australian Property

By Leith van Onselen The ABS’ latest CPI data showed that housing rents nationally have registered zero growth in inflation-adjusted terms over the past five years (see my earlier post): Despite this, the number of affordable rental properties is at all-time lows according to a Anglicare’s latest Rental Affordability Snapshot.

Poor young Australia.

By Leith van Onselen ABC’s 7.30 Report last night ran a depressing segment on the Western Australian economic/property crash.

Readers will know that MB has a bearish three-stage bust outlook for Australian house prices. phase one is monetary authorities pulling up prices and triggering minor falls (in the east as well as west).

Via Investor Daily: In a ‘Spectrum Insights’ article released recently, Spectrum Asset Management principal Damien Wood put forward his views that the third-party channel is a significant risk that could spark problems for Australia’s banks.

By Leith van Onselen The March quarter consumer price index (CPI) data, released yesterday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), revealed continued weak rental growth at the national capital city level.

By Leith van Onselen The Property Council of Australia (PCA) yesterday released its 10-point plan for housing affordability, which is worth critiquing.

From Moody’s: Moody’s Investors Service says housing affordability deteriorated on average across Australia over the year to March 2017, a credit negative for Australian residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS).

By Leith van Onselen The Housing Industry Association (HIA) has released its land sales report for the December quarter of 2016, which revealed further appreciation in vacant lot prices to unprecedented levels, as well as a crash in the number of lots sold (see next chart).

By Leith van Onselen Digital Finance Analytics’ Martin North has done a great job in highlighting the mortgage stress building across Australia.

By Leith van Onselen The Turnbull Government’s May 2017 Budget is tipped to include superannuation incentives for retirees as part of its strategy to address housing affordability.

Via Australian Broker: A staggering 57% of mortgage holders could not handle a $100 increase in their loan repayments, according to new research by Finder.com.au.

By Leith van Onselen Modelling by PwC suggests that allowing home buyers to pay land tax rather than stamp duty could generate significant savings.

Via the AFR: Australia’s housing market may be at its peak in this cycle, according to some experts, and investors might be wondering whether they should look for alternative places to put their money.

This is no longer a seasonal fall: Indeed, it is now materially below the comparable week in 2016 (which had already turned and was climbing) on macroprudential 2.0, which was itself down hard from 2015 on macroprudential 1.0.

By Leith van Onselen The whining over Labor’s proposed ban on self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) being able to borrow money to fund property purchases hit a crescendo over the weekend.

From Westpac’s Red Book: ― The ‘time to buy a dwelling’ index has continued to track lower, down 4.5% since Jan.

By Leith van Onselen The Housing Industry Association (HIA) has issued another media release cautioning against policies aimed at cooling housing demand: Australia needs supply not demand focused solutions to address our national affordability challenges, said the Housing Industry Association.

There is nothing more satisfying than observing a dodgy realtor get upset that his/her dodgy trade with dodgy foreign money launderers is being shut down: Labor leader Bill Shorten’s pledge to double the fees and penalties imposed on foreign property buyers and tax vacant properties drew a strong reaction for singling out Chinese investors.