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Strong competition amidst lenders and an environment of low cash rate have together brought borrower demand towards previously unscaled peaks. An article on the website rebonline.com.au states that AFG, a premier mortgage broking company, has already crossed the $4 billion mark in home loans for the month of October.

The exact figure of $4.057 billion is 12% higher than $3.62 billion recorded in the month of September.

NSW’s home loan figures have increased by 10.9%- this is higher in terms of percentage increase when compared to Western Australia but is lower than South Australia’s percentage hike.

Another trend worth noting is the impact of grant withdrawal for First Home buyers. It has resulted in distinctly lesser applications from First Home buyers.

You can read the original article here.

The property market is on recovery mode but rise in median house prices or capital city value growth should not be made an occasion for celebration just yet. Michael Yardney for the Property Update mentions how the 2.2% growth in median housing prices this quarter is quite moderate and even below the last quarter’s performance  by 0.3%.

The average capital city value growth is not a true reflection of the country’s property market either. It’s just that Sydney to a very large extent and Melbourne in a smaller capacity have overcompensated for the patchy performance of other capital cities; and hence the growth.

Consumer sentiment, though reported otherwise, is still sloppy and there is sparse growth in household income. Recent oversupply in Sydney may impact rental yield negatively but the capital city itself (along with Melbourne) should continue to do well.

You can read the original article here.

Do you think Sydney will beat Melbourne flat in terms of value growth over next few years?

Sydney’s auction clearance rates continue to impress. The capital city has posted a figure of 86.1% for the third weekend of September. Especially impressive is the figure for the Sydney Inner West- a mammoth 95% clearance rate, reports an article on Your Investment Property.

The western suburbs are doing almost as well though the auction numbers aren’t that high there. Also, 91% clearance rate for the Upper North Shore was a tad higher than 84% recorded by Canterbury and Southern Sydney. For records, Northwest has clocked a tidy figure of 81% too.

You can read the original article here.

How close to 100% do you think Sydney’s clearance rates can reach, knowing that there is nothing called a 100% clearance rate?

The generation closing on retirement (or retired) is making rapid inroads into the First Home Buyer Market. Their self-managed super fund is proving to be of great assistance in this regard. Yeah! I would any day lay a bet on that kind of fund getting the better of paltry resources that first home buyers have (despite the Grants). Peter Sarmas for the StreetNews reports that SMSF-aided investors have grown double-fold whereas FHB numbers have come down by half since last year.

Investors from the generation of baby boomers are a strong presence at the auctions. Buoyed by low interest rates, they are easily outbidding the first home buyers.

The value of residences in capital cities have grown by nearly 7% since the trough they hit in May 2012. This is also a trigger for the baby boomer generation which has enough money stacked up their sleeve.

You can read the full article here.

Are you investing in some equity release product (reverse mortgage and their likes)?