It’s a tough time for central bankers the world over, but especially for Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe. Having forecast during the COVID recession that Australia’s central bank wouldn’t raise interest rates before 2024, he’s taking a lot of stick for nine consecutive rate rises since May 2022. This has taken the cash…
Australia’s COVID-induced whirlwind love affair with the country’s hottest regional cities has run its course with values declining sharply as vendor discounts climb and days on market blow out. CoreLogic’s Regional Market Update, which examines Australia’s 25 largest non-capital city regions, shows 13 areas recorded an increase in house values over the year to January…
Australia is known for its vast land and open spaces, but in recent years, the size of blocks of land available for residential development has been shrinking. This trend is particularly evident in urban areas, where the demand for housing is high and the land is scarce. The shrinking size of blocks has significant implications…
The RBA lifted the cash rate a further 25 basis points, to 3.35%, at their February board meeting, continuing what is now the fastest and largest rate hiking cycle on record. The cash rate has jumped 325 basis points since moving off record lows in May last year. Today’s rise in the cash rate was…
After months of declining dwelling approvals, the trend appears to be shifting positively. In fact, the latest data from ABS show that dwelling approvals rose a sharp 18.5% month on month in December, rebounding after the previous month’s 8.8% fall. The rise was driven by the very volatile apartment series (+56.6% month on month after…
We keep track of housing finance approvals as they are a good “leading indicator” of what’s ahead for our property markets. Based on the latest data released by the ABS, new housing loan commitments fell 4.3% month on month in December, its eleventh consecutive month of decline, to be at its lowest level since October…
Queensland, Australia’s second-largest state, has made history by becoming the best-performing state economy for the first time. The recent CommSec State of the State report shows that its economy has been growing at a faster pace than any other state in Australia, thanks to strong population growth, a solid job market and overseas demand for energy resources,…
The dream of homeownership can drive people to do desperate things, including lying on their mortgage applications. In fact, according to Finder’s new research, thousands of Aussie homeowners have told a fib in order to secure their home loans. The survey revealed that out of 1,114 respondents – 310 of which have a mortgage –…
Millions of Aussie families are switching to public schooling to help save the budget, according to new research by Finder. According to Finder’s Parenting Report 2023, which surveyed 1,032 Australian parents of children under 12, 17% are contemplating moving their child from a private school to a public school to reduce their expenses. A further…
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 1.9% in the December 2022 quarter, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Annual inflation was 7.8%, close to the Reserve Bank of Australia forecast that headline inflation would peak at 8% over the year. More importantly, underlying core inflation (the RBA’s preferred reading…
