Author: Otto Dargan
$500 Million Victorian Homebuyer Fund | Who Can Apply?
On 8 October, Premier Dan Andrews revealed a $500 million Victorian Homebuyer Fund (VHF) to help 3,000 aspiring home buyers purchase a property in the state. The biggest benefit of the scheme is that you can buy a home in Victoria with a deposit as low as 5%. The Victorian...
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bookmarkTags: government scheme, low deposit home loan, Victoria
Interest Rate Buffers Are Going Up, To Bring Debt Levels Down
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) announced that it will increase the interest rate buffers banks use to assess the serviceability of home loans from 2.5% to 3%. The higher buffer rate will be in place from the end of October 2021. It is applicable only...
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bookmarkTags: APRA, Borrowing power, lending criteria
Housing Boom Slows As First Home Buyers Priced Out
CoreLogic data shows house values rose 1.5% in September 2021. They are 20.3% higher over the past 12 months. While housing values had been rising at their fastest pace since 1989, the monthly rate of growth is losing steam. The market’s growth rate peaked in March 2021,...
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bookmarkTags: Australian property market, property market update
Banks Now Accept Self-Employed Salary As Income
If you’re self-employed and you get a regular salary from your business, you can now use it as income to apply for a home loan. Before this change, most lenders required self-employed borrowers to provide at least 2 years’ worth of tax returns, financials and notices...
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bookmarkTags: self-employed borrowers
How To Buy A House In A Hot Market
The Australian housing market is a hotspot right now. Absorption rates are high, real-estate prices are soaring and inventory levels are low – all indicating a seller’s market. Plenty of buyers remain undeterred. Nearly 598,000 house and unit sales took place across Australia...
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bookmarkTags: Australian property market, home buyers
Property Market Still Booming, Affordability Challenges Loom Larger
Australia’s housing market is still on the rise, despite the lockdowns. However, the rate of growth is losing steam and August marked the lowest monthly rise in housing values since January. CoreLogic’s national home value index shows housing values grew 1.5% in August...
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bookmarkTags: Australian property market, Property Market, property market update
Property Market Experiences 16.1% Lift
Housing values rose 1.6% in July 2021. This increase takes Australia’s housing values 16.1% higher over the past 12 months and 14.1% higher over the first seven months of calendar 2021. CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless says, “The 16.1% lift in national...
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bookmarkTags: Australian property market, property market update
Property Prices Surge 13.5% In 2020-21; Highest Growth Rate Since 2004
Property prices rose 1.9% in June. All of the capital cities experienced a rise in property values. Perth had the smallest increase, at 0.2%, and Hobart’s 3% was the largest. Sydney had a 2.6% increase while Melbourne had a 1.5% increase. Regional Australia’s 2% price growth...
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bookmarkTags: Australian House Prices, Australian property, property market update
Property Still Booming, As Values Rise 2.2% In May
CoreLogic data shows that the home value index for May was up 2.2%. The rise in May was stronger than in April, when prices rose by 1.8%. However, the rise is still weaker than the 32-year-high recorded in March 2021, which was 2.8%. The combined capital city home values...
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bookmarkTags: property market update
Cash Rates Unchanged In June: Investors Moving In
The rapid surge in housing prices throughout 2021 hasn’t affected RBA’s stand on the cash rates. The bank held the cash rates at 0.1 per cent in June and is adamant that it will keep the cash rates low until at least 2023. This has helped in creating a property boom...
Read morefolderCategory: Mortgage News
bookmarkTags: Investment lending, property prices, RBA cash rates