News Australia

Fixed term mortgages hit 3.5 year high in October Basic variable rates were the most popular with new home loan borrowers only 11 months ago, but today they have been far surpassed by ongoing discount rates and fixed rates, according to loan approval data from Mortgage Choice, Australia’s largest independently-owned mortgage broker. At that time, [...]

One in 10 Australian households is in housing stress and at risk of financial hardship and poverty, a new report says. Renters and first home buyers are most under pressure, with 26 per cent of renters and 15 per cent of first home buyers in housing stress, the Australians for Affordable Housing (AAH) said on [...]

Now we know the starting price on carbon – $23 – a clearer picture is starting to form as to its impact on the property industry. Will it have a negative impact? That all depends on who you talk to. The Housing Industry Association – a body that represents builders and the makers and suppliers [...]

TWO of the nation’s biggest insurers expect to introduce full flood cover by early next year, substantially boosting the number of households that will have automatic protect from a full range of natural disasters. Coming after a backlash directed at the industry following last summer’s devastating floods across Queensland, Insurance Australia Group and Suncorp are [...]

House prices are predicted to fall over the next 12 months, as the outlook for residential real estate weakens, but falls will be smallest in New South Wales, a survey shows. The National Australia Bank residential property index, which predicts houses prices, rents and real-estate market conditions over the coming year, said national home prices [...]

NEW home construction is tipped to fall 17 per cent in Victoria this financial year but the HIA says its forecast is not all bad news. The Housing Industry Association says its not all doom and gloom with the state coming off record highs. HIA chief economist Harley Dale said the forecast for a 17 [...]

House prices have fallen almost three per cent so far in 2011 as potential home buyers choose to save their pennies rather than bid for real estate. The RP Data-Rismark Hedonic home value index shows a 2.7 per cent decline in Australia’s capital cities house prices through the first five months of 2011. In the [...]

Australian home owners are among the most indebted in the world, but most had no trouble meeting monthly repayments on their mortgage in the last year, new research shows. A survey of home owners and aspiring first-home buyers in eight countries by mortgage insurance provider Genworth has shown one in five Australian home owners spend [...]

The price of luxury properties in Australia could fall for up to three years with some having seen drops of 20% since January as expensive suburbs become the poorest real estate market performers. The near double interest rate rise in November last year has hit Australian capital city property values which are down 1.2% in [...]

Australia is suffering from a housing affordability crisis because of rising interest rates and uncertainty surrounding the Gillard government’s planned carbon tax, the opposition says. Australian Bureau of Statistics data released today showed the number of new homes approved in April fell by 1.3 per cent from the previous month, and now stand 11.5 per [...]