CoreLogic data indicates that property prices in the 5 largest capital cities have fallen by 7.1% since May when the RBA started hiking interest rates. Sydney has seen the largest price fall – down by around 10%, and Melbourne has fallen by 6.7%. But it’s not all bad news. House prices in Brisbane, Adelaide, and…
As you are aware, the RBA has aggressively hiked rates by 3% p.a. over the past 8 months, so variable home loan rates are now more than 5% p.a. (and investment loans approaching 6% p.a.). Fixed-rate borrowers have avoided these higher interest rates. However, a lot of fixed rates will begin expiring next year. As…
There are many large and powerful institutions that have a vested interest in rising property prices. But all levels of government (i.e., federal, state and local) probably have the most to gain, as I’ll explain in this blog. This leads to two important observations. Firstly, the government is the main contributor to housing affordability pressures…
It is becoming increasingly difficult to buy an investment-grade house for under $1 million in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney. This begs the question; if your investment property budget is less than $1 million, where and how do you invest it? Brisbane is becoming more difficult In early August 2021, I presented an investment case for buying an…
The Albanese government’s first Federal Budget was a bit of a fizzer in that there wasn’t much in the way of changes that affected investors and superannuants. However, subsequent murmurs by politicians hint at proposed changes that the government may be contemplating. In particular, I wanted to address these potential super changes and how they…
Borrowing capacity has probably never been tighter in the 20 years since I started ProSolution! This is delaying investment plans for some clients. However, I expect this to be temporary and an easing in borrowing capacity might not be too far away. How borrowing capacity rules have changed over recent years In 2019, the banking…
A Goldilocks investment strategy means that you are making the most of your financial opportunities without overdoing it and taking unnecessary risks. That is, your level of investing is exactly right (i.e., perfectly balanced). Underinvesting means that you risk not having enough investment assets to enjoy a comfortable retirement. Overinvesting means that you have taken…
Many lenders are taking a number of weeks (sometimes months) to approve loans at the moment. These delays have been caused mainly by significantly higher mortgage application volumes and the operational disruption from onshoring back-office services due to Covid lockdowns in the Philippines and India. As such, banks are prioritising applications for borrowers that have…
In my book, Investopoly, I outlined 8 investing rules that if followed, will help you build wealth and avoid making costly mistakes. These 8 rules are evidence-based which I have refined over the past 20+ years. Rule number one is; to play the long game. Arguably, it’s the most important rule because I’ve observed that this is…
In mid-2021, I wrote this blog: “Don’t buy a property in this market…” because, at that time, many property buyers were over-paying for a property just to get into the market. I call it the FOMO premium, for lack of a better term (more about this below). My thesis was that since it’s never wise to allow…
