News that the Federal Government plans to expand its home loan guarantee scheme to allow more first-home buyers to step into the market without a 20% deposit or lenders mortgage insurance (LMI) was likely music to many people’s ears. And it should be good news. Because using the government’s First Home Loan Deposit Scheme, now…
Unemployment is on the way down. Why do I say this? Because job vacancies rose 6.9% in the 3 months to February to 423,000. Vacancies are now 86% higher than pre-pandemic levels. ABS stats show us the strength of labour demand stating that there are now just 1.3 unemployed people per job vacancy, less than…
From lockdowns to social distancing, high vacancy rates to people working from home, and even closed down cafes, bars and shops — our CBDs took a beating during the Covid-19 pandemic. The influx of CBD-based workers, visitors, and new residents have been key in CBDs maintaining their role as centres for activity and employment. So…
Australia’s mortgage market has already begun to shift in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Property prices are sky-high, supply is scarce and many suggest an RBA rate hike is on the horizon. Over the next 12 months, we can also expect more a drop in buyer demand, a shift back to inner-city living from…
Russian billionaires have seen their fortunes dwindle in a major way since the country started its invasion of Ukraine on February 24. On March 3, the net worth of the Russian ultra-rich listed on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index was a combined $88 billion lower than it had been on February 23. A closer look at some Russian billionaires…
The tide turning on overseas arrivals as fortress Australia crumbles. There were only 245,000 short-term visitors to Australia in 2021, down from 9.5 million two years prior. But now signs are emerging that the tide is starting to turn for the country’s battered international tourism sector. Australia eased its international border on 15 December 2021…
What’s ahead for interest rates? The Reserve Bank Board meets next week on February 1 and the Governor will be addressing the National Press Club on February 2 and the Bank will release its February Statement on Monetary Policy on February 4. And the media and most investors are waiting with bated breath to hear…
Australia’s housing market started the new year on a high with lending rates and building approvals seeing strong gains. Australia’s housing lending jumped again in December (+4.4 per cent month-on-month). In a recent ANZ Blue Note, senior economist Adelaide Turnbull explained that there is a growing risk the resurgence of lending could continue in the…
What can we really expect from our property markets in 2022? While have seen some wild predictions being thrown around in media headlines, the reality may be different from what you expect. Following a year where house prices had their largest annual rise in 30 years1 (21%) amid all the challenges of a global pandemic,…
Will Omicron derail our economic recovery? There’s no doubt that we’re going through a difficult time, with Omicron creating self-imposed lockdowns around Australia. We were supposed to be out of lockdown but the spread of CoronaVirus, the high daily numbers of new cases and self-imposed isolation, mixed in with a lack of rapid antigen tests…
