Rate call kills hopes for late spring bounce

Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 25 : 6-Nov-24

Kevin Brogan from national valuation firm Herron Todd White says the Reserve Bank’s decision to leave the cash rate unchanged on Tuesday will deter some buyers from entering the housing market. He adds that there is likely to be downward pressure on activity and prices in so-called mortgage-belt housing markets in particular. Property industry experts also suggest that the rates decision will hinder any upturn in the east coast market at the tail-end of the spring selling season.

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HERRON TODD WHITE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

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.

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CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

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.

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CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MORTGAGE AND FINANCE ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA

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.

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AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

‘Bad enough now’: Property investor tax breaks soaring to $22 billion a year by 2035

Original article by Matthew Elmas
The New Daily – Page: Online : 2-Jul-24

Parliamentary Budget Office data has revealed that property investors received $85 billion in tax breaks over the decade between 2014-15 and 2023-24. The PBO also found that the cost of negative gearing and capital gains discounts will jump to $165 billion over the next decade, with tax breaks to property investors to be worth $22 billion a year by 20235. Australia Institute senior research fellow David Richardson claims that property tax breaks will continue to push up property prices, with Richardson noting things are "bad enough now; he notes the cost of a median house in Sydney is around 13.5 times annual average weekly earnings.

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AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE, THE AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE LIMITED

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

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

Unit values outpace houses in half of suburbs

Original article by Nila Sweeney
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 32 : 3-Apr-24

Data from CoreLogic shows that growth in apartment prices outpaced detached homes in 633 out of 1,168 suburbs across Australia in the March quarter. This includes 77 per cent of Brisbane suburbs, 54 per cent of suburbs in Sydney and 50 per cent of Melbourne suburbs. Tim Lawless of CoreLogic says the outperformance of apartments could be sustained in the near- to medium-term, due to factors such as housing affordability and supply constraints. Buyer’s agent Amanda Gould says high interest rates are prompting some clients to opt for an apartment rather than a detached dwelling.

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CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

House prices could jump 5pc: McGrath

Original article by Campbell Kwan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 & 34 : 20-Feb-24

Real estate group McGrath Limited has posted a 2023-24 interim statutory profit of $7.5m and underlying EBITDA of $4.8m. Meanwhile, CEO John McGrath says the prospect of interest rate cuts later in 2024 may boost prices at the lower end of Australia’s housing market by up to five per cent. He adds that interest rate rises have seen house prices in this segment of the market fall by around five per cent over the last 12 months. However, McGrath says prospective buyers of homes priced below $1m are likely to remain cautious about returning to the property market until interest rate cuts actually occur.

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McGRATH LIMITED – ASX MEA