Booming property prices have pushed Australia’s household wealth to record levels, despite hundreds of thousands of people remaining unemployed. Key points: Australia’s total household wealth hit a record high of $12 trillion in December The value of the country’s residential property soared by more than $450 billion in the last six months of 2020 Treasury warns the unemployment rate could increase in coming months The value of Australia’s residential property jumped by roughly $250 billion in the last three months of last year. It followed an increase in property values of more than $200 billion in the September quarter. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the combination of rising property prices and a recovery on stock markets saw total household wealth grow by $501 billion in the December quarter — the largest quarterly growth since December 2009. The recovery in stock markets in the last half of 2020 […]

COVID-19 lockdowns have severely hampered market activity across much of the nation this year, seeing many vendors postpone sales campaigns until buyers can attend auctions and open for inspections in person. This has seen a significant reduction in the supply available to eager buyers, who have been forced to compete for the reduced purchasing opportunities, via online auctions or private sales. Across the nation, total stock advertised was down 27.1 per cent on the five year average in the four weeks leading up to August 8, according to CoreLogic.  Sydney, suffering under its protracted lockdown, has seen new listings fall more than 17 per cent over the four weeks leading up to mid August. Once lockdowns eventually ease however, we can expect a surge in market activity, as vendors take the opportunity to hold in person auctions and open for inspections again. This pattern was seen following Melbourne’s protracted lockdown […]

First home buyers have been drifting out of the market, while investors have been piling in, according to the most recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. June was the fifth consecutive month in which the number of first home buyer loans fell and in which the share of first home buyer loans (compared to the overall market) fell. At the same time, June was the third consecutive month in which investors increased their market share. Still, first home buyer activity is at historically high levels – the number of first home buyer loans in June was 47.1% higher than the year before. But so is investor activity – which increased by 116.0% over the same period. Whether you’re a first home buyer or an investor, the market is hot right now and competition for properties is fierce. So it’s important to organise pre-approval before you start house-hunting. That […]

Perth’s property market continues its ascent, with sales volumes and property prices sharing in the national attraction to low interest rates, high savings levels and relatively low numbers of COVID cases. Among the top ten suburbs for price growth, median property prices rose by 25 to 45 per cent in a range of prestige and working class suburbs. Salter Point recorded the biggest growth to its median house sale price in the last financial year, increasing 44.7 per cent to $1.352 million. This was followed by Ascot (up 42.1 per cent to $810,000), Bicton (up 30.9 per cent to $1.14 million), Claremont (up 30.8 per cent to $1.7 million) and Medina (up 30 per cent to $260,000).  REIWA President Damian Collins said the top 10 list represented a diverse mix of suburbs, with median house sale prices ranging from as low as $255,000 to as high as $1.7 million.  “It […]

The latest research from Perth Cityscope shows property sale numbers and figures have decreased. The last three months to the beginning of June 2021 recorded 20 sales for a total of over $85.4 million; with $76.8 million for commercial, $3.8 million for commercial strata, $1.2 million for retail, $2.1 million for retail strata and $1.4 million for other. In comparison, the three months to the beginning of March 2021 recorded 30 sales for a total of over $112.6 million; with $84.2 million for commercial, $12.6 million for commercial strata, $5.9 million for retail, $8 million for retail strata and $1.9 million for other. The 12 months leading up to the end of June 2021 recorded 82 sales for a total of over $240.9 million, over $228.2 million lower than the recorded figure for the same time period the year before. The table below shows sales recorded for the past eight […]

While the government touts its efforts to boost home ownership, one real estate network warns that current first home buyer schemes could be a catch-22. The government has substantially increased property price caps under several of its schemes aimed to help first home buyers into the market, but the PRD Real Estate Group has now argued that participants may be swapping early and/or easier access to home ownership with a debt level they may not be ready to take on. According to Minister for Housing Michael Sukkar, new price caps for the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme (FHLDS) and the Family Home Guarantee (FHG) acknowledge the challenges of buying a new home or re-entering the housing market. And while the government’s intention might be good, PRD’s chief economist, Dr Diaswati Mardiasmo, warned of possible long-term challenges for current buyers. With the FHLDS foreseeing a slim 5 per cent deposit and […]