National residential property prices fell 3 per cent in the March quarter 2019, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Every capital city recorded falls in their property prices in the March quarter 2019, with the larger property markets of Sydney (-3.9 per cent) and Melbourne (-3.8 per cent) continuing to observe the largest falls. The Bureau of Statistics also reported that the number of established house and attached home transfers in Sydney fell to 12,161 in the March quarter – the lowest level since March 2002. In the March quarter 2019, property prices in Adelaide (-0.2 per cent) and Hobart (-0.4 per cent) recorded their first falls since Marc
EXPERT OBSERVER Media portrays Sydney as a market of universal and relentless decline, but our analysis shows there’s a lot more to the story. While sales activity and prices are down generally, there are many different scenarios playing out across the Greater Sydney Area. In Hotspotting’s latest quarterly survey of sales activity, we can find only three suburbs where sales activity is trending higher, but there are 90 suburbs with steady, consistent sales and a similar number of plateau markets (where activity has dropped from the peak but remains at solid levels). And there are 61 suburbs classified as decline markets and 14 which we regard as danger markets, with the Sydney City, Parramat
A LIBERAL WIN IN THE FEDERAL ELECTION | APRA SCRAPS 7% LOAN BUFFER | RBA SIGNALS RATE CUT | SIGNIFIC
GUEST OBSERVATION Australia’s lowest ever Reserve Bank cash rate – 1.5% – is about to be consigned to history. On Tuesday Governor Philip Lowe made it clear he plans to cut it in two weeks’ time. The money market cash rate (from which all other rates derive) will then fall to 1.25%. After that, if betting in the market is right, he will cut the cash rate to just 1% by Christmas. Speaking in Brisbane, Lowe said the Reserve Bank board was of the view that: "Inflation was likely to remain low relative to the target, and that a decrease in the cash rate would likely be appropriate. "A lower cash rate would support employment growth and bring forward the time when inflation is consistent with the
Sydney and Melbourne dwelling values have now recorded respective falls of 14.5 per cent and 10.9 per cent since peaking in late 2017. But, as the downturn becomes “geographically diverse” with more regions across the country recording declines in values, Corelogic’s index results reveal the decline in home values has slowed pace in recent months also led by major markets Sydney and Melbourne's falling values now “losing steam”. Corelogic’s head of research Tim Lawless says the improvement in the rate of decline can be attributed to an easing in the two major capital cities' market downturn where values were previously falling much faster. “In December last year, Sydney dwelling values were
A LIBERAL WIN IN THE FEDERAL ELECTION | APRA SCRAPS 7% LOAN BUFFER | RBA SIGNALS RATE CUT | SIGNIFIC
A Liberal win in the Federal Election means no changes to Capital Gains Taxation or Negative Gearing. More importantly the unsureness or nervousness surrounding the proposed Labor changes have gone away. APRA Scraps 7% Loan Buffer – The largest impediment to adding to your property portfolio has been APRA’s requirement for banks to assess your ability to repay your loans using a rate of 7%. APRA have recognised this is no longer a valid position to take. Banks are now allowed to set their own minimum buffer. However, they still need to test if a borrower could service a loan assuming a rate 2.5% higher than the lending rate applied to the borrower. For most Silverhall clients, your current i
