I am pleased to shout out to the world that I recently got engaged. Avid readers of my newsletter (all 5 of you) may recall I have talked about Heidi in previous newsletters. Well now that we are engaged I thought I would share with you a picture of us looking suitably happy. Wedding will be in March 2012.
Spring is here, the grand final has gone and that means another auction season is underway. If you are looking to buy a property and attending auctions here are some tips that i recently picked up from Philip Middlemiss, Director at Stockdale & Leggo.
At its meeting today, the Board decided to leave the cash rate unchanged at 4.75 per cent.
Statement by Glenn Stevens, Governor Monetary Policy RBA:
The global economy is continuing its expansion, led by very strong growth in the Asian region, though the recent disaster in Japan is having a major impact on Japanese production, and significant effects on production of some manufactured products further afield. Commodity prices have generally softened a little of late, but they remain at very high levels, which is weighing on income and demand in major countries and also pushing up measures of consumer price inflation. In response, a number of the countries with stronger expansions have been moving to tighten their monetary policy settings over recent months. Overall, though, financial conditions for the global economy remain accommodative. Uncertainty over the prospects for resolution of the banking and sovereign debt problems in Europe has increased over the past couple of months, which has been adding to financial market volatility.
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For settlement after 1 July 2011, first home buyers are eligible for cuts to land transfer duty where they purchase a home for less than $600,000.
The reductions in transfer duty which will be implemented over the next 4 years (and are cumulative) are as follows:
1 July 2011 – 30 June 2012 20%
1 July 2012 – 30 June 2013 10%
1 July 2013 – 30 June 2014 10%
1 July 2014 – 30 June 2015 10%
On a property valued at $599,000 this will bring the transfer duty down from $33,961 to $27,169 saving first home buyers $6,792.
Over the first 5 months of 2011 we have seen an increase in competition amongst lenders in terms of the interest rates on offer. This has resulted in me being able to save clients up to 0.25% pa on their existing home loans in some cases.
Clients best positioned to take advantage of this competition are those with borrowing over $400,000. However savings have been negotiated for borrowers with as little as $250,000 in lending
In some instances clients have refinanced to get the better rates whilst in most cases we have been able to renegotiate the client’s interest rate with their existing lenders.
Call us at Hatch if you want to see if we can save you money.
AUSTRALIA’S much-debated property ”bubble” may not have burst but recent data shows house prices are deflating, posting their worst quarterly decline in a decade.
Capital city prices were down 2.1 per cent nationally, to a median of $455,000, in the March quarter and fell by 0.6 per cent over the year, according to property analysts RP Data-Rismark.
This follows less marked declines recorded by Fairfax-owned Australian Property Monitors, which reported dwelling values falling 0.6 per cent over the March quarter.
”The market is essentially going sideways,” said NAB chief economist Alan Oster.
”Broadly what you’re seeing is house prices either flat or slightly down and we would expect that to continue for the rest of the year,” he said.
The biggest falls were in Brisbane and Perth, down 4.6 and 3.4 per cent respectively. Melbourne’s median dwelling price slumped 1.5 per cent and Sydney’s dropped 1.1 per cent over the first three months of 2011, RP Data said.
The most expensive 20 per cent of Australia’s homes fell 3.3 per cent in value over the year to March. The most affordable 20 per cent of homes rose in value by 0.3 per cent.
The Melbourne figures contradict recent Real Estate Institute of Victoria results, showing an even greater 6 per cent drop in local median house values.
The quarterly decline was the largest since RP Data-Rismark began recording results in 1999.
I do not think that this headline will be “news” to many but thought that those wishing to understand the housing market might find this information helpful to know and understand…
Due to increasing house prices and interest rates, the proportion of the average family income required to pay the average loan increased from 30 per cent a year ago to 36.1 per cent in the December quarter. The main reason for this is that incomes have increased at a slower rate than loan repayments have.
This will not surprise anyone with a mortgage as they have seen the bank standard variable rate increase by almost 1% over this time. That has translated to an average of $470 per month to service an average loan compared to an increase in median family income of $191 over the same time.
The average home loan was $313,808 compared to $287,331 a year ago, so not only have interest rates increased but so, too, has the size of loans. This is because over the same time house prices have also increased strongly.
Predictions are strong for continued interest rate rises in 2011, but the good news is that many economists believe the cash rate will remain well below 2008 levels.
Your home is going on the market and you want to ensure it sells for the best possible price. How do you go about it? The obvious answer is to make sure it looks good, but this is not the only selling strategy that counts. Take a look at our top six tips for attracting a sale.
If you have been to an auction at any point since the dawn of time, you will have heard all about the 3 P’s of buying property…because the auctioneer told you that buying property was all about POSITION, POSITION, POSITION.
So what then are the 2 P’s of buying property? And why are these P’s more important to take into account when you set out to buy a property – whether it is to be a home for you to live or an investment. I believe the 2 most important P’s of buying property are: Preparation & Patience.