If you’ve been holding out to buy a property in areas affected by lockdowns like Sydney, Melbourne or the ACT, we have some good news for you!
The Spring selling season is starting to heat up now that lockdowns have eased, with plenty of new listings coming on to the market.
Nationally, new listings surged 28.8% in the four weeks to mid-October.
Experts say stock levels are likely to continue to rise in the coming weeks, but we may see the usual seasonal decline from around mid-to-late November, so talk to us about your finance and get pre-approved today!
Interest rate news
At its November meeting, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) left the cash rate on hold at the historically low level of 0.10 per cent.
RBA Governor Philip Lowe has previously said the board would not increase the cash rate until actual inflation was within the 2 to 3 per cent target range, a condition not expected until 2024.
However, the latest consumer price index showed inflation jumped 0.8% in the September quarter, pushing the core inflation rate to 2.1%, which is within the RBA’s window for increasing the cash rate. As a result, some experts say the RBA may move their cash rate increase schedule forwards.
Recently there has been movement on interest rates by the Big Four banks, so now is a good time to review your mortgage. Speak to us for advice.
Home value movements
Auction activity continues to increase across the combined capital cities, with volumes on the rise.
In October, the combined capital cities experienced the second busiest auction week so far this year.
Meanwhile, Australian housing values continue to rise. Recently CoreLogic revealed the annual rate of growth was tracking at the fastest pace since the year ending June 1989. However, it does appear the rate of growth continues to lose steam.
CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless said the slowing growth conditions were the result of higher barriers to entry for non-homeowners along with fewer government incentives to enter the market.
“With housing values rising substantially faster than household incomes, raising a deposit has become more challenging for most cohorts of the market, especially first home buyers,” he said.
“The slowdown in first home buyers can be seen in the lending data, where the number of owner-occupier first home buyer loans has fallen by -20.5% between January and July.”
“Over the same period, the number of first home buyers taking out an investment housing loan has increased, albeit from a low base, by 45%, suggesting more first home buyers are choosing to ‘rent vest’ as a way of getting their foot in the door.”
