Following on from ANZ reporting a sharp slowdown in spending in March comes some more reassuring figures from Judo bank. All sectors of the Australian economy are now in contraction, suggesting that the interest rates hikes are more than just doing their job. And input price pressures are easing sharply, confirming that the peak inflation…
The World Health Organisation declared a global pandemic on 11 March, roughly corresponding with Australia’s 100th diagnosed case of COVID-19. While this crisis in health had little direct implications for the housing market, there were plenty of responses to the pandemic that did. Unprecedented expansionary fiscal and monetary policy (and subsequent tightening), heavy border closures…
Blogs, podcasts, videos, books, webinars, articles, newspapers …the amount of financial commentary published these days is staggering. The volume of news and analysis could be cut by 90% and it would still be completely overwhelming. So how do you make use of it all? As a property commentator who spends an embarrassing amount of time…
Australia’s traditional peak property listing window is upon us. Every year during the first half of March – referred to as weeks nine to 11 on the calendar – there is a surge in listing activity. But not in 2023. Listings provide a useful real-time indicator of seller sentiment and general market confidence. However, this…
According to to Compare the Market, purchasing a first home is a significant objective for numerous young individuals. However, achieving this goal may require some form of sacrifice. To explore this further, they surveyed over 3,000 Australians, Americans, and Canadians about their living arrangements and the compromises they would be willing to make to secure…
It is not uncommon for a group of people to entertain the idea of pooling their resources in order to increase their buying power and spread the risks associated with investing in property. Surely this is a no-brainer, right? By chipping in with friends or family you will have a larger deposit and can potentially…
Whatever the result of the New South Wales election on March 25, rising housing stress is a problem the new state government will have to confront. Soaring rents and an extraordinary lack of rental vacancies are intensifying housing stress in Sydney and elsewhere. Many low-income households are spending well over 30% of their income on…
If I had a dollar for every time in my capacity as a property strategist I’ve been asked “How Many Properties does Michael Yardney own?”, I’d be almost as wealthy as Michael. Well before I put you out of your misery and answer the question I thought we could have some fun first. How about…
Women in Australia continue to trail men in the homeownership stakes amid crippling interest rate rises and falling home values. CoreLogic’s 2023 Women & Property report released ahead of International Women’s Day, found men were associated with ownership of 3.1% more of the housing stock analysed than women. Female-only ownership of dwellings was 26.8%, while…
The ‘fixed-rate cliff’ has emerged as one of the biggest potential risks to housing market values, and overall stability in 2023. This article explains what the cliff is, and five must-know pieces of information that put the cliff into context. What is the ‘fixed-rate cliff’? Mortgage rates fell dramatically during the pandemic. This was particularly…
