Australian Property

By Leith van Onselen SQM Research has released its rental vacancy data, which registered an small increase in the number of rental vacancies across the nation in June, with the vacancy rate also up by 0.1% over the year (see below table).

By Leith van Onselen The New South Wales Government continues to cash in on Sydney property, where home prices have risen by an incredible 35% in two years, according to RP Data (see next chart).

By Leith van Onselen Barclays clearly disagrees with the RBA’s senior research manager, Dr Peter Tulip, who last week claimed that Australian housing values were 30% undervalued and that owning a home is “now more attractive, relative to renting than it has been at any time in the past 30 years”.

By Leith van Onselen Sydney’s speculator frenzy has reached truly gargantuan proportions, with today’s Lending Finance data for May, released by the ABS, once again obliterating all records, with both the value and proportion of mortgages going to New South Wales investors surging to another all time high.

Click to view Core Logic-RP Data’s latest weekly housing market update, which provides a useful snapshot of the housing market as at 12 July 2015.

By Leith van Onselen Friday’s housing finance data for May showed clear signs that the dwelling construction cycle is approaching its peak, with the number of commitments for construction and new dwellings slumping by a combined 5.6% in May to be down by 5.7% over the year (see next chart).

Core Logic-RP Data released its auction market report last night, which revealed a slight weakening in the national auction clearance rate.

From RP Data: According to analysis from CoreLogic RP Data, rental rates across the combined capital cities fell by -0.2% in June 2015 and the annual rate of growth continues to slow reaching new record lows.

By Leith van Onselen Dr Tulip’s bizarre claim that Australian housing is 30% undervalued and that owning a home is “now more attractive, relative to renting than it has been at any time in the past 30 years”, has gotten “Mad” Adam Carr excited enough to pen more click bait.

By Leith van Onselen Earlier today, I tore apart delusional analysis from the RBA’s senior research manager, Dr Peter Tulip, who claimed that Australian housing values were 30% undervalued and that owning a home is “now more attractive, relative to renting than it has been at any time in the past 30 years”.

From Sydney Morning Domain: …”I think the fact it has fallen so sharply will make investors in China think about alternatives and one of those alternatives will be Australian property,” St George Bank chief economist Hans Kunnen said.

By Leith van Onselen The rise and rise of the first home buyer (FHB) investor is coming to an end, with the nation’s second biggest bank and biggest lender to property investors announcing that it would lower its maximum loan-to-value ration (LVR) on investor mortgages to 80%.

The Australian Treasury yesterday released the Exposure Drafts and Regulatory Impact Statement of legislation designed to tighten foreign investment rules, including those relating to residential real estate.

By Leith van Onselen SQM Research has released its stock on market figures for the month of June, which registered a 6.5% monthly decline in the number of homes for sale, with for sale listings also down by 3.2% over the year (see below table).

By Leith van Onselen Australian Finance Group (AFG) has released its housing finance data for the month of June, which registered a big rise in monthly mortgage applications, as well as a large increase year-on-year.

From the AFR: One of the country’s biggest mortgage brokers, Mortgage Choice, says the clampdown on lending to landlords has dragged property investors’ share of its loan approvals to a 20-month low.