April 2011
Australian super-fast national broadband network rolls out – future looks bright
April 30, 2011 by Editor · Leave a Comment
NBN Co has announced the next seven Tasmanian towns and suburbs in which the super-fast broadband network will be rolled out.
The Tasmanian towns of Smithton, Scottsdale and Midway Point last year became the first three locations in the country to be hooked up to the national broadband network.
A statement from NBN Co said 11,500 homes and businesses in Deloraine, Kingston Beach, George Town, Sorell, South Hobart, St Helens and Triabunna would be the next towns in the rollout, after contracts had been signed with construction company Conneq Infrastructure Services. (more…)
CPI shifts rates expectations in 2011
April 30, 2011 by Editor · Leave a Comment
A surprisingly big rise in consumer prices means a rate rise this year has become more likely, but it will not be an easy decision for the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).
Credit demand increases, but not for houses – CBA economist says turnaround long way off
April 30, 2011 by Editor · Leave a Comment
While the federal government continues to promise severe belt-tightening in the May 10 budget, it seems that business and consumers are becoming less restrained.
New data released by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) on Friday showed demand for credit from the private sector and households has increased, although loans for housing have weakened.
The latter coincided with other data highlighting a further softening in house prices. (more…)
Prominent information provider claims Australian property weekly rental rates are soaring in 2011
April 29, 2011 by Editor · Leave a Comment
While Australia’s capital city home values were flat in March (-0.2% seasonally adjusted and 0.0% raw), they softened by -2.1% (seasonally adjusted) over the March quarter (-0.4% in raw terms).
In contrast to these results, weekly rental rates are up 4.6 per cent over the last six months.
The latest RP Data-Rismark Home Value Index results show capital city dwelling values were flat in the month of March (-0.2 per cent s.a. and 0.0 per cent raw).
However, over the March quarter capital city home values softened noticeably (-2.1 per cent s.a. and -0.4 per cent raw). (more…)
Property values dive in Queensland flood zones and could take 10 years to recover
April 28, 2011 by Editor · Leave a Comment
Land valuations of flood-affected Queensland properties have plummeted, exposing thousands of victims to mortgages greater than the worth of their homes.
The Courier-Mail can reveal that revised State Government valuations on 23,000 properties impacted by the floods have estimated price drops of between 5 and 25 per cent.
Valuer-general Neil Bray confirmed the movements, saying this morning that there will be some big winners and loser in the latest round of land valuations. (more…)
CEO of major lender found guilty of bank fraud, securities fraud, and wire fraud
April 26, 2011 by Editor · Leave a Comment
Lee Farkas isn’t exactly a household name in America, but this week he became the first mortgage executive of a once top ranked lender to be found guilty of a fraud with its roots in the housing bust.
Farkas, the former chairman and CEO of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker, is looking at a possible life sentence.
Earlier in the week a jury found him guilty on all 14 counts tied to a $2.9 billion fraud scheme that lasted seven years and resulted in the failure of the Ocala, Fla.-based TBW, and played a role in the downfall of its chief warehouse lender, Colonial Bank. (more…)
Property prices falling from the sky in Australia
April 23, 2011 by Editor · Leave a Comment
The bigger they are, the harder they fall in the struggling Gold Coast highrise market. Amid the slide in apartment values, recent re-sales reveal the “sky homes” in Surfers Paradise supertower Q1 have taken one of the biggest dives.
Property records show sale prices in the 80-level tower have plunged by up to 30 per cent since it was completed in 2005.
Apartments on Q1′s higher-priced upper levels have copped the biggest falls in market value. (more…)
National OH&S proposals could increase building costs and delay construction projects
April 23, 2011 by Editor · Leave a Comment
Employer groups, including the Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ACCI) and the The Housing Industry Association (HIA), believe the proposed national health and safety laws could delay construction projects and increase the cost of housing in Australia due to over-regulation on construction companies.
According to an article in today’s Australian, the ACCI says the new national laws are in danger of collapse unless Safe Work Australia dropped proposals that would leave companies “suffocating in red tape”. (more…)
The Alt A and Options ARMS mortgage crisis is looming in the USA
April 22, 2011 by Editor · Leave a Comment
A recent Barclays report has stated that “option adjustable-rate mortgage and alternative-A mortgage loss severities has increased ” in February 2011.
While the impact of subprime defaults are still being felt in the mortgage finance market, other mortgage products that were popular during the housing boom, particularly Alternative-A (Alt-A) and option adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs), may provide another set of speed bumps on the road to recovery. (more…)
Aust gov plan to introduce new property sales tax and reduce negative gearing benefits for investors
April 22, 2011 by Editor · 2 Comments
Today’s reports in the media that the Federal Government is considering a new sales tax on investment property as well as a reduction in negative gearing benefits is disturbing and damaging to confidence in an already struggling housing market, says the HIA.
“The suggestion that the Federal Government has plans to introduce a new sales tax on investment housing has all the hallmarks of the disastrous move to introduce a similar tax in NSW in 2004. This tax led to home building in NSW grinding to a halt, a situation from which the state has struggled to recover,” said HIA Chief Executive, Mr Graham Wolfe. (more…)
There will be a correction in the Australian residential property market – the 2011 Actuaries Convention
April 21, 2011 by Editor · 1 Comment
The Australian housing market has a massive impact on the Australian economy due to the significant level of wealth that will be tied up in an individual’s home and the multitude of industry groups employed in the construction, servicing and financing of residential property.
Extremely strong house price gains over the past 10 years have lead many domestic and international commentators to suggest that Australian residential property is significantly overvalued and potentially in the midst of a housing bubble. (more…)
The war of the latte line Melbourne versus Sydney who’s winning
April 20, 2011 by Editor · Leave a Comment
Melbourne may pride itself on its reputation for the arts, restaurants, fashion and for its love of sport.
But according to social commentator and demographer Bernard Salt, the nation’s fastest-growing metropolis had become unbalanced.
“For 160 years, Melbourne pressed east … resulting in an urban form that by the end of the 20th century, was seriously lop-sided,” Mr Salt said.
The good news for the southern capital is that the situation is being redressed with the relocation of the so-called Latte Line. (more…)
More Chinese cities see home prices slip in March 2011
April 20, 2011 by Editor · Leave a Comment
More Chinese cities saw the cost of new homes fall in March, official data showed Monday, leading to suggestions that government moves to cool the real estate market could be having an impact.
The Chinese National Bureau of Statistics data, which came a day after authorities moved to further limit banks’ lending, showed prices of new builds were lower in 12 of the 70 major cities tracked in March compared with February. (more…)
The rot continues more Aussie developers go into receivership
April 20, 2011 by Editor · Leave a Comment
Two more developments have fallen victim to Perth’s lacklustre property market, with apartments in a city skyscraper and a beachfront complex going into receivership.
Receivers KordaMentha have been appointed to 43 of the 138 apartments in the Elevation tower, developed by Sydney-based Quadwest Developments.
It is understood the developer had failed to sell the apartments in the tower quickly enough to meet loan repayments with the Bank of Scotland. (more…)
Australian housing market is comparable to the southern and mid-west states of the USA
April 20, 2011 by Editor · 1 Comment
What’s happening on the Sunshine and Gold Coast apartment markets is a mirror image of what happened in the housing markets in the southern and mid-west states of the US. And it provides a valuable pointer to answer the two questions that plague so many Australians: What could cause an abrupt end to the high level of Australian dwelling prices? Or, put another way, how do we maintain or increase Australian prices? (more…)
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