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interest rates

Homebuilding Costs Increased by 40%

  Homebuilding costs have increased by nearly 40% since late 2019, according to a speech by Reserve Bank assistant governor Sarah Hunter. Meanwhile, general inflation (referred to as headline CPI in the graph) has been less than 20%. So why have residential construction costs grown twice as fast? Ms Hunter said one reason is that building materials and labour have “risen sharply” si...
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Home Loan Refinancing Surged

The home loan refinancing boom, which has lasted for two years and counting, surged to record levels. Refinancing activity has dramatically increased during that time from $13.7 billion worth in February 2021 to $16.2 billion in February 2022 and, now, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data, a record $19.9 billion in February 2023. The refinancing surge started ...
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Property Downturn May Be Over

Property downturn may be over as Australian property prices rose 0.6% in March. According to CoreLogic, property prices rose for the first time in 11 months since April 2022. But while prices increased at a national level, and in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane as well, they did decline in the four smaller capitals. Among the major capitals, Sydney saw the highest increase in prope...
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Good News For First-time Home Buyers

There is good news for first-time home buyers as research from Domain shows that over the past year, it’s become significantly easier to save a 20% house deposit. In order to become homeowners, first-time home buyers must overcome 2 significant financial obstacles. They need to save for a lump sum deposit and they need to keep up with the monthly mortgage repayments. February 2022 data show...
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Property Prices Set To Rise

New data from CoreLogic suggests property prices are set to rise. With that said, we might be near the end of the housing downturn. While Australia’s median property price fell 0.1% during February, values then rose in some markets in the four weeks to March 15: Sydney – up 0.8% Melbourne – up 0.2% Perth – up 0.1% Brisbane – unchanged Adelaide – down 0.4% Tim Lawless...
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Rental Income Rose During 2022

Rental Income Rose During 2022
Rental market conditions have strongly favored property investors during 2022 as rental income rose significantly. CoreLogic has reported that the median rent for an Australia investment property increased 10.2% during the year. The city-by-city breakdown was: Brisbane4% Adelaide9% Sydney4% Perth2% Melbourne6% Hobart3% Darwin1% Canberra3% During 2022, the nation...
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Refinancing is at Record-High

Refinancing is at Record-High
Refinancing activity is at record-high levels right now. According to another blog post, there are several reasons why borrowers are refinancing their home loans. The top reason is that owner-occupiers and investors alike are seeking home loans with lower interest rates as the Reserve Bank continues to raise the cash rate. Borrowers refinanced a record $19.5 billion of loans in November, the mo...
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Borrowers Favour Lower-Rate Variable Loans

Borrowers favour the lower-rate variable loans right now. According to the  October 22 data from Australian Bureau of Statistics, only 4% of borrowers fixed their loans (both new loans and refinances). Very few borrowers are currently fixing their home loans – unlike a year earlier when about half of borrowers were doing so. By contrast, 44% of borrowers fixed in October 2021 and 46% in ...
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Interest Rates Update

  While variable interest rates are continuing to rise, with another 0.50% increase earlier this week, some lenders are actually cutting their fixed rates. Lenders started increasing their variable rates in May, once the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) began increasing its cash rate. However, lenders increased their fixed rates much earlier, in anticipation of future rate hikes and ...
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