News Archive
22 February 2009
Buyers hit the sweet spot
The stars have aligned for people looking to buy their first house. Reveal yourself as an aspiring first-home buyer and the response used to be a sympathetic head tilt accompanied, with any luck, by a "this round's on me". Property prices were moving further out of reach by the day and the added blows of slower wage growth and soaring interest rates meant home loan affordability was ... read news item »
19 February 2009
CBA tightens mortgages amid new deposit rules
The Commonwealth Bank will tighten borrowing rules for first-home buyers to insist they contribute at least 3 per cent of the purchase price in their own money, in addition to any available government grants. The move is in response to growing industry concerns about the quality of loans to the fast-growing, first-home buyer market and is... read news item »
16 February 2009
Housing cash injection to lift building starts
The Federal Government is considering investing in up to 11,000 unbuilt NSW flats and houses, most of them in Sydney, to help property developers and increase the city's stock of affordable housing. The property industry has been lobbying the Housing Minister, Tanya Plibersek, to use $6 billion marked for social housing in the $42 billion economic stimulus package to revive private developments... read news item »
12 February 2009
Housing shines amid more economic gloom
The Government and Reserve Bank are gaining traction as they try to strengthen the housing market, with banks writing an increased number of home loans late last year. But the relief for the sector comes amid broader economic gloom. Sentiment among consumers is weakening, while financial markets met the US Government's latest bank bail-out plan with scepticism. The value of new housing loans -... read news item »
08 February 2009
Don't bet your house on it...but it can be cheaper to buy.
The gap is narrowing between renting and buying in Sydney, prompting first-home owners to take the plunge into the property market. If buyers take out an interest-only loan, it can be cheaper to buy than to rent. A combination of slashed interest rates, increasing rents, falling house prices and generous first-home buyer grants means that for the first time in many years, buying has become an ec... read news item »
07 February 2009
Federal rebates for water tanks
Rebates of up to $500 are available to households that install a rainwater tank or grey-water system under a Federal Government rebate scheme. Rebates are available for the purchase and installation of a new rainwater tank that's connected for use of the water in the toilet and/or laundry, or a permanent grey-water treatment system. Climate Change and Water Minister Penny Wong said the rebat... read news item »
07 February 2009
Government chips in to insulate homes
Homeowners will receive up to $1600 to install ceiling insulation, while investors can receive a $1000 rebate, as part of the Rudd Government's economic stimulus package. The insulation scheme is part of a $42 billion stimulus package announced this week that also includes direct cash payments to millions of families, and large investments in schools and infrastructure. All Australian owner-... read news item »
07 February 2009
Sticking up for property managers
Debra Sutherland revealed in API’s My Property Nightmare section in December how she was left with hundreds of truck and bus tyres to clean up at one of her rental properties, with little warning from her property manager. Debra’s story prompted Destiny Financial Solutions branch manager Louise Lucas to write to API, suggesting that despite such nightmare stories, property managers... read news item »
05 February 2009
Batts set to fly thanks to Rudd's insulation plan
Installing batts beneath an old roof in summer would be one of Australia's tougher jobs, but the insulation industry is set to become an employment stronghold in troubled times. There is talk of 4000 jobs being created through the Federal Government paying up to $1600 towards the insulation of owner-occupied dwellings and doubling to $1000 the rebate landlords can get for insulating rental prop... read news item »
03 February 2009
RBA lops rates by 1% to 3.25%
Today's cut will save a mortgagee with a typical 30-year, $300,000 home loan about $170 in monthly repayments if the lender passes on the full amount. Over the life of the loan, the savings will total about $61,272. ''There was a significant deterioration in world economic conditions late in 2008,'' said RBA Governor Glenn Stevens in a statement accompanying the cut. ''The effects on household ... read news item »