Thursday, October 28, 2010

Perth Housing Prices to Remain Flat

“This quarter’s results show the effect on prices of increased borrowing costs following the normalising of interest rates, together with falling auction clearance rates and lower levels of finance,” APM head of research Yvonne Chan said.
“In the short-term, with national house price growth at 6.1% for the nine months to September, and with expectations of rising interest rates, APM anticipates that prices will remain flat or fall slightly for the remainder of the year with this trend to continue into 2011.
“The outlook for property prices remain stable, supported by an undersupply of new housing, solid population growth, low unemployment and strong income growth.
“Rents are also predicted to increase, and coupled with softer house prices, rental yields will improve encouraging a return of investors to the market.”

APM results released today showed that house prices dropped 1.5% in the September quarter, which supports REIWA's reports for the same period which showed a 4% drop in median house prices.

The general conclusion for buyers seems to be, bargain hard and don't accept a price too easily. The average discount on property listed prices is 8% so at least try haggle down $40k for a $500k property.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

What happened last week in Perth Real Estate?

REIWA has just released some statistics from last week's property sales in Perth, showing a drop in sales from last year and an average period on the market of 63 days before a property is sold. The most popular suburbs which replaced For Sale signs last week were Morley, Como, Canning Vale, Thornlie, Wanneroo and Scarborough. The market continues to struggle with an increase in houses on the market. Personally, it hasn't encouraged me yet to actively look for my first home. For now, I am sitting on the sidelines until there are more positive signs for buyers. 


Property Sales for Perth #

Last Week 928
4 weeks ago^ 922
Same week last year 1072
# Contract Sales reported by REIWA members
^May have changed due to sales falling through

Top Selling Suburbs

North of the River
Morley 16
Wanneroo 13
Scarborough 13
Ellenbrook 12
East Perth 11

South of the River
Como 14
Canning Vale 13
Thornlie 13
Gosnells 12
St James 12

Properties listed for Sale
Total* 16 309
Houses 10 701
Units 3 241
Land 2 367
*Listed on reiwa.com and other sources

3 months to September 2010
Average Selling Days 63
Average discount* 6.0%
*Difference between original listing and selling price

Friday, October 8, 2010

Best Fixed and Variable Mortgages

According to the Barefoot Investor newsletter today, the following are the top value mortgages available in the market... know any better? leave a comment. 



TOP VALUE MORTGAGES
(BASED ON A BASIC NO-FRILLS LOAN, $350,000 OVER 30 YEARS)
Variable rate:
Bank lender: NAB Tailor Choice, variable rate 6.54%, real interest rate 6.70%*
Mutual: Newcastle Permanent, variable rate 6.49%, real interest rate 6.63%

3-year fixed rate:
Bank lender: AMP Bank, fixed rate 7.14%, real interest rate 7.41%
Mutual: CUA, fixed rate 6.75%, real interest rate 6.88%

5-year fixed rate:
Bank lender: ING Direct, fixed rate 7.44%, real interest rate 7.07%
Mutual: Heritage Building Society, fixed rate 7.29%, real interest rate 7.20%


*Real interest rate (RIR) is a rate incorporating interest plus the lender’s fees and charges for establishing, maintaining and exiting a loan.


Wednesday, October 6, 2010

ABC News: Housing Industry Downturn predicted

A report into Australia's housing industry has warned of a downturn in supply as federal stimulus measures fade.
The Housing Industry Association's National Outlook says housing starts are forecast to fall by 4 per cent in the current financial year.
The report says last year's boost to the first home owner grant and lower interest rates helped drive a 26 per cent increase in the number of new homes built nationally.
But the HIA warns the country's housing shortage is set to get worse because not enough homes are being built to match demand.
The report also found the stimulus measures prompted a short-term recovery in new home building and helped Australia avoid a recession.
More here

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

RBA keeps rates at 4.5%

The Australian jumped the gun and pressed SEND, publishing an article that said the interest rates had actually risen. @melvinbuenate caught this and twitpic'd this image 






Here's the official statement from the RBA: 
At its meeting today, the Board decided to leave the cash rate unchanged at 4.5 per cent.
The global economy grew faster than trend over the year to mid 2010, but will probably ease back to about trend pace over the coming year. Recent information is consistent with a more sustainable, but still strong, pace of growth in China and most of the Asian region. In Europe and the United States, growth prospects appear to be modest in the near term, a legacy of the financial crisis and its impact on private and public finances. Financial markets are still characterised by a degree of uncertainty, and are responding both to differences in growth outlooks between regions and evident strains on public finances and banking systems in several smaller countries in Europe. Most commodity prices have changed little over recent months, and those most important to Australia remain very high.
Information on the Australian economy shows growth around trend over the past year. Public spending was prominent in driving aggregate demand for several quarters but this impact is now lessening, while the prospects for private demand, and in particular business investment, have been improving. This is to be expected given the large rise in Australia’s terms of trade, which is now boosting national income very substantially.
Asset values are not moving notably in either direction, and overall credit growth is quite subdued at this stage, notwithstanding evidence of some greater willingness to lend. Inflation has moderated from the excessive pace of 2008. The effects of the rise in tobacco taxes aside, CPI inflation has been running at around 2¾ per cent over the past year. That looks likely to continue in the near term.
The current stance of monetary policy is delivering interest rates to borrowers close to their average of the past decade. The Board regards this as appropriate for the time being. If economic conditions evolve as the Board currently expects, it is likely that higher interest rates will be required, at some point, to ensure that inflation remains consistent with the medium-term target.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Aussie Dollar may reach Parity with USD Tomorrow

Tomorrow, the Reserve Bank will gather to decide and then announce whether the interest rates will go up another 25 basis points. More importantly, they will issue a statement which will be read very carefully by currency traders around the world. If the RBA indicates that the future looks good for Australia, the AUD may reach parity with the USD tomorrow. Of course, homeowners will not be looking forward to an increase in interest rates, making their mortgage repayments more expensive and more difficult for those looking for an affordable home. However, an interest rate rise may affect demand for real estate enough to bring down prices. Keep an eye out tomorrow for the RBA decision..

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