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New home building approvals crash in Western Australia

Building approvals for new homes in WA crashed during November despite the Reserve Bank’s Melbourne Cup day interest rate cut. In the latest sign highlighting the mixed economic fortunes being felt by Australians, dwelling approvals in the State slumped 16.9 per cent to a 32-month low, according to Bureau of Statistics figures out today. The crash in building approvals follows news yesterday that... [Read more]

Resources boom cuts deep in Western Australia

When Ian Blevin needs to buy a new truck for his business, he no longer  bothers shopping around at Perth car yards. Instead, he boards a plane to  Melbourne, buys a truck on the east coast and drives it 3500 kilometres across  the Nullarbor. ”It’s cheaper than to buy a truck here,” says Blevin, the managing director  of Perth company WOMA, which makes and sells high-pressure... [Read more]

2012 Eurozone recession fears grow and currency slides to 11 year low

The euro came under renewed pressure on Friday, falling to an 11-year low against the yen as a fresh round of downbeat data intensified fears the troubled region is heading for recession. The single currency also hit new lows against the dollar and the pound, as a combination of falling retail sales in the eurozone and a sharp drop in German factory orders knocked investors’ confidence. “[Friday's]... [Read more]

Govt combines seventy property registers into one for personal property securities

The Federal Government has consolidation 70 different property registers into just one repository to simplify the monitoring of personal-property securities. When people use a piece of their property as security against a loan, the property can be registered in a number of databases, including the ASIC Register of Company Charges, the State Registers of Encumbered Vehicles and Vehicle Securities Registers,... [Read more]

Top end of QLD property market drops by up to 56% – foreign investers concerned about volatility

The Mermaid Beach beachfront attracts the highest prices on the Gold Coast – and thereby attracts the greatest attention in both buoyant and depressed markets. The latest resale hasn’t had much publicity, but at 56% less than its 2007 pre-global financial crisis sale price, it’s the highest yet recorded luxury price decline. The 199 Hedges Avenue property has been bought by Parkdon Pty Ltd,... [Read more]

USA housing market still depressed with 33% decline since 2007 and huge numbers of vacant foreclosed homes on market

The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday called for more action to stabilize the nation’s ailing housing market, warning that failure to do so could harm the broader economy. In a 26-page white paper sent to Congress, the Fed outlined several potential ways to stabilize the housing market, many of which are already under discussion or being implemented by the Obama administration and housing regulators. “Restoring... [Read more]

Institute Of Chartered Accountants Predicts Silent Property Crash And States Australia’s House Prices Are Significantly Overvalued

A debate is raging as to whether Australia’s housing market is a bubble about to burst. The debate, which has split the property industry, has been triggered by price falls in most capital cities. The falls have raised the question – is this the start of something bigger? Some say the market is up to 40 per cent too high and could plummet if the Reserve Bank of Australia hikes rates steeply or... [Read more]

Foreclosures rise as more Australian borrowers fail to repay

Banks  and building societies have repossessed 22.5 per cent more homes than in 2010,  with western Sydney and big regional centres in NSW  hardest hit. Lenders  asked the NSW Supreme Court to issue 2466 writs of possession against borrowers in default in the 10 months to November last year. The number of writs issued in the same period in 2010 was  2143, indicating heavier financial pressure... [Read more]

The dark side of the boom in Australia

Graham Evans has lived in Dampier, on the Pilbara coast, for 43 of his 50  years. As a boy, he rode the school bus with the famous  Red Dog, and swam off  the beach in a now-vanished children’s enclosure, near where a busy hub for  commercial seacraft now sits. Evans’ livelihood is linked to the resources sector that dominates Dampier  and nearby Karratha; his business, Australian... [Read more]

APRA angry as Westpac reclassifies $28.8 million in Australian mortgages

WESTPAC has infuriated the peak banking regulator and the opposition has called for an explanation after the bank revealed that it had incorrectly classified $28.8 billion in property loans for up to three years. Australia’s second-largest bank had been recording the loans as belonging to owner-occupiers since November 2008, when in fact they had been used for investment purposes. [Read more] »... [Read more]

Risky home loans – avoid shared equity mortgages: Choice

A shared equity or shared appreciation mortgage (SAM) works differently from a normal home loan: You borrow, say, 20% of the value of the property as a SAM and instead of paying interest on it, you’re charged a percentage of the capital gain when you sell. For the remaining percentage of the home’s value (minus your deposit) you take out a normal home loan. This means your monthly repayments are... [Read more]

Risky home loans – avoid guarantees: Choice

Your lender may ask you for a guarantee from someone, such as your parents, if it thinks you might not be able to cover the loan repayments yourself. If you don’t have a deposit, a guarantee may also mean you don’t have to pay mortgage insurance and have a wider choice of loans. Guarantors usually use their home as security, and traditionally they were liable for the full amount of the home loan.... [Read more]

Risky home loans – avoid no-deposit home loans: Choice

Several financial institutions offer a home loan for the full purchase price, or close to it.  However, this comes at a cost: Mortgage insurance usually applies if you have less than a 20% deposit. No-deposit loans can also have a higher interest rate, especially compared to basic loans. Mortgage insurance doesn’t insure you, but the lender. It protects the lender if you default on the loan and... [Read more]

Risky home loans – avoid 40-year mortgages: Choice

CHOICE crunched the numbers and found that extending a mortgage to 40 years doesn’t make it much more affordable, and costs you many thousands of dollars more in the long term. On a $250,000 loan with an interest rate of 8%, your repayments would be about $100 per month cheaper: $1738 per month over 40 years instead of $1834 over 30 years. But it’ll cost you. Over the 40 years you’ll pay nearly... [Read more]

Risky home loans what to avoid: Choice

With first homes averaging $430,000 and housing affordability at a record low, new types of loan may seem an answer to the prayers of desperate home buyers — but are they? In this article,  Choice takes a look at these new loans: 40-year mortgage   Spreading your repayments over a longer period means lower minimum repayments, but you’ll pay much more in interest. No-deposit home loan   With... [Read more]

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