Melbourne tops fastest list

Original article by Samantha Hutchinson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 4-Nov-14

New figures show that there was a one per cent rise in Australian house prices in October 2014. House prices in Melbourne recorded the strongest growth at nearly two per cent, ahead of 1.3 per cent for Sydney and 0.6 per cent in Brisbane. However, there was a 2.3 per cent decline in house prices in Hobart and an 0.1 per cent fall in Perth. Nationally, house prices have risen by 8.9 per cent in the last year

CORPORATES
RP DATA LIMITED, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, AUSSIE HOME LOANS LIMITED

Negative gearing main factor in high house prices: Saul Eslake

Original article by Nick Lenaghan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 34 : 29-Oct-14

Bank of America Merrill Lynch economist Saul Eslake has downplayed the role of foreign investment in the rising cost of residential properties in Australia. He argues that negative gearing has been a major contributor to the housing boom. Other factors cited by Eslake include the chronic housing shortage and the preference for Australians to live in more expensive inner-city suburbs

CORPORATES
BANK OF AMERICA AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MERRILL LYNCH (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD

RBA must ‘bite the bullet’ on housing and lift rates

Original article by Christopher Joye
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 8-Oct-14

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has finally adopted the advice of "The Australian Financial Review", and started to consider macroprudential measures to rein in rampant residential real estate prices growth. Some banking leaders also want the central bank to lift the official cash interest rate from its all-time low, to signal to property buyers that the current environment cannot last. Investors appear oblivious to the fact that the increase in asset values of 7%-plus per annum must come to an end, and a dangerous "bubble" may be forming

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE ON ECONOMICS

Don’t ‘scare’ housing: Triguboff

Original article by Turi Condon
The Australian – Page: 22 : 26-Sep-14

Apartment developer Harry Triguboff has warned against restrictions on residential property lending. The Reserve Bank of Australia has indicated that it may impose restrictions on bank lending for housing. Triguboff said that prices had risen in Melbourne and Sydney, but there was little growth in prices in the rest of the country. He said that restrictions could have unintended consequences and damage confidence in the housing market

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, MERITON APARTMENTS PTY LTD, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, RP DATA LIMITED, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

House tax change may backfire: HIA

Original article by Robert Harley
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 22-Sep-14

The Housing Industry Association (HIA) has argued against the dropping of negative gearing of investment real esate. In a research paper to be released on 22 September 2014, the HIA said that housing costs would be increased if negative gearing was reduced without changing other taxes. Critics of negative gearing claim that it increases the cost of housing. The report found that stamp duty was the largest tax distortion on housing

CORPORATES
HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, INDEPENDENT ECONOMICS

Correction in housing market ‘inevitable’

Original article by Damon Kitney
The Australian – Page: 21 : 3-Sep-14

Residential real estate prices have risen an average 15% in a year in the Australian state and territory capital markets, while auction clearance rates in late August 2014 are around 70%. Australian Prudential Regulation Authority data also indicate that the main four banks are taking on riskier mortgage loan borrowers. However business leader David Gonski says while an eventual price decline is a certainty in the housing market, the banks are able to manage their lending strategies

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, SCHULTE RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL

Confidence lifts but jobs lag

Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 21 : 13-Aug-14

The latest data compiled by National Australia Bank on the nation’s businesses, excluding agriculture, show that both confidence and trading conditions improved in July 2014. The latter are now at levels last witnessed in 2010, while sentiment is at the best reading since the global financial crisis. New Australian Bureau of Statistics figures also indicate residential real estate prices growth of 10.1% for 2013-14. However the jobless rate for July was up as well, to 6.4%. This was the worst result in a dozen years

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, COMMONWEALTH SECURITIES LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Renting may be better than buying, says Reserve Bank

Original article by Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1-Aug : 15-Jul-14

The Reserve Bank of Australia has released a research paper which refutes suggestions that house prices are overvalued. The report estimates that since 1955, house prices have risen by 2.4 per cent annually after adjusting for inflation. It concludes that many people may be better off renting a home rather than buying into the property market if house price growth falls below this long-term average

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, THE ECONOMIST NEWSPAPER LIMITED, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Sydney, Melbourne house prices rebound in June

Original article by Michael Bleby, Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 30-Jun-14

New figures from RP Data show rises in the residential real estate auction clearance rates for the Sydney and Melbourne markets on the 28-29 June 2014 weekend. In Sydney the week-on-week increase was from 70.1% to 73.2% and in Melbourne it was from 69.1% to 69.3%. Meanwhile the median dwelling price in Sydney has also improved 1.5% during June, compared with a fall of 1.1% in May. In Melbourne it is up 1.7% after a drop of 3.6% previously. There are some warnings that a further rapid increase may create a threat for the economy and trigger higher interest rates

CORPORATES
RP DATA LIMITED, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, DOMAIN.COM.AU, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY. CENTRE FOR APPLIED MACRO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS