news archive

Median home loan needs $100,000 income

24 October 2007

First-home buyers now require a household income of more than $100,000 to qualify for a loan on the median-priced first home, a report from the Housing Industry Association and Commonwealth Bank has found. This is up steeply from $80,000 two years ago, due to rising home prices and interest rates. The figures showing housing affordability has plunged to another record low have reignited th... read news item »

Shop Around for Good Rates

22 August 2007

The strategy: To cope with the latest interest rate rise. How do I do that? For starters, not everyone will be disappointed with the recent 0.25 percentage point interest rate rise. Those who have paid off their mortgage, and have money to save, will welcome getting a higher return on their funds. BankWest was one of the first institutions to pass on the benefit, lifting the introductory rate... read news item »

The Family Way to Home Ownership

22 August 2007

Coralie Peters and partner Adam Saunders were stuck on a rental roundabout. They found themselves bumped from one rental property to another, often when the owners wanted to renovate. "We had a few bad experiences renting," Ms Peters says. Tired of being given the run around by real estate agents and landlords, they joined other young hopefuls escaping the rental pinball machine and j... read news item »

Beating the Affordability Blues

10 July 2007

First-home buyers must think more creatively if they want to enter the property market, say Mark Armstrong and David Johnston. It seems that barely a week goes by without another gloomy statistic confirming how hard it is to enter the property market. The latest analysis from the HIA and Commonwealth Bank shows that affordability for first-home buyers fell a dizzying 10.3 per cent in the 12 mon... read news item »

Interest Rates Remain on Hold

06 June 2007

Interest rates remain on hold this morning with the benchmark rate staying at 6.25 per cent. The central bank last lifted the cash rate in November by 25 basis points. "At its meeting on 5 June, the Reserve Bank board decided to leave the cash raet target unchanged at 6.25 per cent,'' the RBA said in a statement. Economists were unanimous in their expectation that interest rates would re... read news item »

Homeowners Stay Put in Slumping Market

22 May 2007

The stagnant state of Sydney’s housing market is evident in the first quarter 2007 property data just released by the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales (REINSW). It shows flat and even declining prices, fewer sales, record low vacancy rates and rising rents. The volume of house sales declined in both Sydney and Wollongong with Newcastle the only urban centre to experience a slight up... read news item »

Best of both worlds

12 May 2007

Buyers are warming to houses in master-planned communities, which often have five-star facilities. There can be nothing worse than purchasing your dream home, only to learn that your neighbours have planned a Gaudi-inspired creation next door or that they're about to take up a one-family protest against mowing front lawns. Buying a home within a master-planned community is one way to avoid su... read news item »

Happy days here again

28 April 2007

Sales are picking up and the agents are cheering. Even most analysts are cautiously upbeat. When Double Bay real-estate agent Michael Finger went to an auction the other night, hoping to sell two Clovelly properties, he ended up selling three. Buyers were so keen to snap up what he had to sell that one of the vendors ended up putting a property he owned next door on the market, too. "And... read news item »