A lot can happen in one week in our property markets, can't it?
So here's a look back at some of the things I read or learned this week, that I believe you should also know.
- Also read:Melbourne property market forecast for 2025
- Also read:Brisbane’s property market forecast for 2025
- Also read:Latest property price forecasts for 2025 revealed. What’s ahead in our housing markets in the next year or two?
- Also read:Sydney property market forecast for 2025
- Also read:Everything you need to know about the state of Australia’s property markets in 20 charts – January 2025
1. New loan commitments increased despite higher interest rates...
The latest report from PropTrack revealed that new loan commitments increased by 4.8% in May 2023 to $25 billion.
This means that property buyers are becoming increasingly active even after 12 interest rate rises since May 2022.
The report also showed that investor lending picked up the most, with a 6.2% increase, while owner-occupier lending rose by 4%.
This puts new lending volumes 45% above the recent low in June 2020, when it dropped to $17 billion.
2. Housebuilding costs have again ceased over May...
Dr Andrew Wilson reports that the rate of annual growth of national housebuilding costs has again eased over May, however, the results remain at high levels and continue to place pressure on the profitability of many home builders.
The overall cost of building new homes has increased 13.4% over the last 12 months and, of course, the cost of building medium and high-density dwellings has risen even more, meaning most new high-rise developments are not financially viable and won't come out of the ground until in values increase significantly.
3. Continental shift on the world's most populous countries...
Statista reports that...
According to the United Nations’ latest global population projections, India surpassed China as the world’s most populous country in April 2023.
Having gradually closed the gap to China from more than 200 million people in 2000 to a little more than 10 million in 2022, the UN Population Division predicts India's population to reach 1,429 million in July 2023, surpassing long-time leader China by 3 million.
In recent years, China's population growth has slowed down notably due to its one-child policy before reaching an inflection point in 2022, when China’s population declined for the first time since 1961 when three years of famine had decimated the country’s population.
Looking beyond India and China, the UN predicts a continental shift in population growth over the next few decades.
With Europe's population already declining and Asia's and Latin America's growth expected to turn negative in the 2050s, Africa is set to be the largest driver of global population growth for decades to come.
By 2100, five African nations are expected to join India, China, and the United States among the world's 10 most populous countries, with Nigeria projected to reach a population of half a billion before 2080.
4. Will AI help or harm us? - the world is divided...
Visual Capitalist reports that...
In a recent poll conducted, which had 125,000 respondents in 121 countries, people were asked if AI would ‘mostly help’ or it would ‘mostly hurt‘ people in their home country over the next 20 years.
A higher ratio above 1.0 indicates that more people think AI could ‘mostly help’, while a ratio below 1.0 suggests that the population has more scepticism towards the technology.
Globally, the average ratio is 1.4, but significant differences can be seen when looking at each individual region.
the U.S. showed scepticism towards AI with a ratio of 0.9.
On the other hand, China expressed a ratio of 4.5, meaning for every 1 respondent that believes AI will ‘mostly harm’, 4.5 said AI would ‘mostly help’.
Meanwhile, Australia is at 1.7.
