Sydney home values heading for fall this year

Original article by Nila Sweeney
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 24 : 1-Oct-24

Data from CoreLogic shows that home values in Sydney rose by just 0.5 per cent during the September quarter. This is the NSW capital’s lowest monthly increase in house prices since February 2023, and Tim Lawless of CoreLogic says prices could begin to fall in coming months. Meanwhile, house prices in Melbourne fell by 1.1 per cent in the September quarter; Perth recorded growth of 4.7 per cent, while house price growth in Brisbane slowed to 2.7 per cent. House prices rose by one per cent nationally during the period.

CORPORATES
CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Rates on hold will not help home buyers

Original article by Nila Sweeney
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 26 : 25-Sep-24

Australian home buyers’ borrowing capacity has been cut by around 30 per cent since the Reserve Bank started reducing the cash rate in May 2022. Tim Lawless from CoreLogic says borrowing capacity – and therefore buying activity in the housing market – will not improve until the central bank starts to ease monetary policy. AMP’s chief economist Shane Oliver in turn says demand is unlikely to rise until there are clear signs that the Reserve Bank is about to reduce the cash rate.

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RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP

Home values hit record highs, climbing in all states except Victoria

Original article by Millie Muroi, Shane Wright
The Age – Page: Online : 11-Sep-24

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that the total value of homes nationwide rose to nearly $11 trillion in the June quarter; this is $226bn higher quarter-on-quarter. The average house value across the nation is now more than $970,000; house values in NSW rose by one per cent during the period, to a record high of $1.22m. However, Western Australia recorded the biggest growth in average house values, up 6.2 per cent to $816,000. In contrast, the average house value in Victoria eased 0.7 per cent to $900,000.

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AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Substantial rate cuts needed for buyers to return

Original article by Nila Sweeney
The Australian Financial Review – Page: S4 : 10-Sep-24

The issue of housing affordability was discussed at a property summit on Monday. The median house price is just above $800,000 nationwide at present, but Eliza Owen from CoreLogic says a house would need be priced at about $500,000 to be affordable for someone on the median income. She told the summit that the pool of potential house buyers will remain limited until there is a substantial reduction in the cash rate. Meanwhile, Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia CEO Anja Pannek noted that factors such as higher serviceability buffers and interest rates are making it harder for some home owners to refinance their mortgage loan.

CORPORATES
CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MORTGAGE AND FINANCE ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA

Home approvals get a boost but still below target

Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 24 : 3-Sep-24

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that dwelling approvals rose to an 18-month high of 14,797 in July. Housing approvals also rose to an eight-month high of 165,443 in the year to July; approvals for detached houses increased by 0.3 per cent, while there was 34 per cent growth in approvals for apartments, townhouses and semidetached homes. JP Morgan economist Jack Stinson says sustained growth in approvals for apartments and other attached homes will be needed if the federal government’s target of building 1.2 million new homes over the next five years is to be achieved.

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AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Melbourne in box seat for next housing upturn

Original article by Nila Sweeney
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 24-Jul-24

AMP’s chief economist Shane Oliver expects all capital city housing markets to benefit when the Reserve Bank eventually starts to reduce the cash rate. However, he says Melbourne’s housing market may rebound the strongest, given that it has underperformed for some time. Data from CoreLogic’s daily home value index shows that a sharp rise in listings saw home values in Melbourne fall by 0.2 per cent over the first 19 days of July, and by 0.6 per cent over the last three months. Tim Lawless of Corelogic says Melbourne home values are likely to fall further in coming months, given the volume of new listings.

CORPORATES
AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Average home loan surges to record high

Original article by Nick Lenaghan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 9-Jul-24

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that the average new home loan for owner-occupiers reached a record high of $626,055 nationally in May. The average size of new home loans reached fresh highs in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia in May. NSW still boasts the nation’s highest average home loan, at $767,584; however, this is below the state’s peak of $803,235 in early 2022. In contrast, the average home loan in Victoria fell to $601,891 in May, compared with a peak of $651,364 in 2022. Sally Tindall of RateCity notes that home buyers are taking out bigger mortgage loans than ever, despite the cash rate rising to its highest level in 12 years.

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AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, RATECITY PTY LTD

Australian capital cities rank among world’s least affordable markets to buy a home

Original article by Clint Jasper
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 14-Jun-24

The Chapman University Frontier Centre for Public Policy examined housing markets in 94 cities in eight countries in terms of their affordability for middle-income buyers. Hong Kong, Sydney and Vancouver were rated as the most unaffordable markets for those buyers, while Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth all sit in the least affordable 25 per cent of cities The study concluded that the leading cause of unaffordable housing in the cities it studied were land use policies that artificially restrict housing supply, pushing up land prices, while it pointed to Singapore’s success in transforming a "desperate housing situation" in the 1960s to one of the most affordable markets in the report.

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CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY

Approved housing for 100,000 stalls on rising costs

Original article by Larry Schlesinger
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 & 28 : 29-May-24

KPMG’s analysis of data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that at the end of 2023, construction had yet to begin on more than 37,000 dwelling had been approved. This represents a nine per cent increase on the five-year average. These dwellings would provide housing for nearly 100,000 people, based on the nation’s average household size of 2.5 people. Townhouses and apartments comprise nearly two-thirds of dwellings that are awaiting construction. KPMG’s urban economist Terry Rawnsley says factors such as rising construction costs and labour shortages have contributed to the stalled housing commencements.

CORPORATES
KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

House prices bounce in prestige suburbs

Original article by Nila Sweeney
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 22-May-24

Data from CoreLogic shows that house prices in some of the more expensive suburbs in Sydney and Melbourne rose by up to seven per cent in the three months to April. The median house price in Sydney’s upper north shore suburb of Gordon increased by 7.1 per cent, after falling by 1.4 per cent in the previous three months. Melbourne suburbs that recorded strong price growth include Kew East, Brighton and Camberwell. Tim Lawless from CoreLogic says it is not surprising that house prices in premium suburbs have risen, given that they have fallen in recent months.

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CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD