Australian Property

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.

Cross-posted from The Conversation: Australia, and particularly Sydney, are gripped by a housing affordability crisis.

By Leith van Onselen Over the years, “Highrise” Harry Triguboff has shown himself to be one of Australia’s biggest rent-seekers, supporting policies that would line his own pockets.

From Chris Joye today: The great Australian housing boom might be grinding to a stand-still thanks to the banks’ out-of-cycle rate hikes—correcting the two misguided official cuts in 2016—and tough new “macroprudential” constraints on interest-only lending imposed by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).

By Leith van Onselen The battle lines are being drawn on housing, with Labor Party today set to add new measures to its housing package including a proposed federal tax on vacant properties and a ban on self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) being able to borrow money to fund property purchases.

From S&P: The number of delinquent housing loans underlying Australian prime residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) fell to 1.23% in February from 1.29% in January, according to a recent report by S&P Global Ratings.

From Canada: Ontario is taking action to make housing more affordable for homebuyers and renters by introducing the Fair Housing Plan.

From Morgan Stanley: We think recent developments fundamentally alter the Australian mortgage market. Re-pricing should support banks’ near-term earnings, but we forecast lower loan growth and believe current multiples ignore the risk of unintended consequences. We prefer ANZ (OW) to CBA (UW).

By Leith van Onselen The ABS last week released dwelling construction data for the December quarter of 2016, which has once again allowed me to track how quarterly approvals, commencements and completions are tracking against population growth across the major markets.

A few months ago the sadly priced-out denizens of Sydney were told: Premier Gladys Berejiklian has vowed to address the housing affordability crisis, declaring it “the biggest issue people have across the state”.

AFR: Toyota Australia has hitched its wagon to Melbourne’s boom in high-rise living with plans for a massive four-tower apartment project over its dealership just outside the CBD.