Australian Property

From Domainfax: Independent economist Saul Eslake says that if you see the rebound in investor lending as a concern, there are three options on the table.

Via the AFR: Bankwest, a subsidiary of Commonwealth Bank of Australia, has slammed the brakes on property investment lending for new customers.

By Leith van Onselen For close to 15 years, Residex has reported house and unit price growth using a combination of repeat sales technology, hedonic technology and median/stratified median index technology.

By Leith van Onselen CoreLogic has released a new report examining housing affordability, which paints a generally depressing picture: This report includes four measures of housing affordability, including rental affordability, which show different outcomes… The four measures utilised by CoreLogic are outlined below.

Here’s the realty-negative piece produced prior to the RBA meeting every month by Domainfax: Hong Kong-based hedge fund manager Apt Capital Management has shorted Australian banks because of their exposure to a property market it believes is out of step with Australia’s economic strength.

By Leith van Onselen Treasurer Scott Morrison has confirmed that the Government has forced the sale of another 15 homes that were illegally purchased by foreign nationals in contravention of Australia’s foreign ownership rules, taking the total to 61 forced sales.

It’s a property boom with fewer and fewer winners.

By Martin North, cross-posted from the Digital Finance Analytics Blog: The number of Property Investing households in Australia in rising.

A little schadenfreude today for a news story that is a week old but seems timeless nonetheless.

By Leith van Onselen With the ABS yesterday releasing its dwelling approvals data for the December quarter, it’s an opportune time to once again examine how dwelling construction is tracking against population growth at the national and state and territory levels.

By Leith van Onselen Yesterday’s dwelling approvals data for December from the ABS reported another big trend downturn in unit & apartment approvals (see next chart).

By Leith van Onselen It seems Australia’s biggest mortgage lender – the CBA – does not agree with Treasurer Scott Morrison that Labor’s negative gearing policy is “crap”, urging reform while accusing the federal government of artificially pumping housing demand.

By Leith van Onselen The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released dwelling approvals data for the month of December.

By Leith van Onselen Australia’s real estate treasurer, Scott Morrison, has launched another classless and evidence-free attack against Labor’s proposed reforms to negative gearing, labelling them “crap” on ABC Radio this morning.

From Gotti today: The Chinese government’s campaign to stop its citizens from exporting money to buy apartments in Melbourne, Sydney, Vancouver and other places is really starting to bite.

By Leith van Onselen Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull moved fast to do-nothing on housing affordability, yet again blaming the states for the lack of supply in yesterday’s National Press Club Address: Ensuring more Australians can afford to buy a home is a priority.

By Leith van Onselen The Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) has demanded an increase in first home buyer (FHB) subsidies in its pre-Budget submission to the Turnbull Government.

By Michael Matusik One of the current social themes is that the consumer is to blame for wanting a big home.

From Roy Morgan Research: In the 12 months to October 2016, the latest Roy Morgan Research data has identified 6.9% (302,000) of Australian mortgage holders as having little or no real equity in their home.

Snooooooooooooooore: National Australia Bank is turning up the heat on rivals by making it easier for property borrowers to qualify for home loans amid concerns that red-hot property markets are beginning to boil.