Investor beats first home buyers, upgraders for $2.26m North Strathfield house By Tawar Razaghi April 20, 2024 https://www.smh.com.au/property/new...n-of-235-000-in-one-year-20240418-p5fktv.html A North Strathfield house a stone’s throw away from multibillion-dollar infrastructure projects, has sold to an investor from the suburb for $2.26 million. The three-bedroom home at 16 Princess Avenue had a price guide of $1.7 million throughout the campaign. The WestConnex tunnel, the existing train line and the future Metro West Project run within metres of the 335-square-metre block. It was not enough to deter eight parties, a mix of upgraders, first timers and investors, from registering to bid. The auction took some minutes to start but eventually opened bang on the guide. Five bidders cautiously raised the price in slow and steady increments of $50,000 bids with smaller amounts towards the end. It eventually sold to the North Strathfield investor for $2.26 million. The reserve was $1.8 million. The North Strathfield home sold to an investor at auction.Credit: Nikki Short The home was one of 528 homes scheduled to go under the hammer in Sydney on Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 62.5 per cent from 328 reported results, while 80 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate. Selling agent Dib Chidiac of the eponymous agency said the property sold above its price guide and reserve as buyers felt confident in the property’s future capital growth. “Investors and owner occupiers feel comfortable that, whether they land bank, purchase for themselves or invest and rent, they’ll continue to see further capital growth [in the house],” Chidiac said. He said the house was a relatively affordable entry point into the neighbourhood and had many drawcards, including the Metro West Project in the pipeline and government changes that will allow duplexes to be built on blocks with smaller frontages. “Traditionally, properties in neighbouring suburbs such as Concord, you’re purchasing in the mid to high $2 million if not higher,” Chidiac said. “You’re footsteps away from these suburbs.” The home last sold for $700,000 in 2009, according to the sellers.
Posting just to mention that these arent 'nice' areas.Not beach suburbs or harbour front etc. Strathfield is a semi major rail stop and one of the postcodes that Middle to Upper class Asian families have made their own. This purchase would be said Asian investor,overpaying to be nearby the Asian hub.
The three cities tipped to lead house price gains this year Nick Lenaghan Property editor Apr 21, 2024 https://www.afr.com/property/reside...d-house-price-gains-this-year-20240419-p5fl5w Perth is tipped to post house price gains of up to 16 per cent this year – with Brisbane and Adelaide not far behind – as the surging demand for housing in more affordable cities outstrips the supply of homes, according to The Australian Financial Review’s quarterly property survey. Across the nation, the housing rebound is proving resilient despite higher borrowing costs, and a panel of 10 experts tips median growth of 5 per cent nationally. The price gains are expected to be more subdued in Sydney (between 4.5 per cent and 9 per cent) and in Melbourne (from flat to 4 per cent). The endurance of the rebound is remarkable, amid receding hopes for interest rate relief this year as the Reserve Bank maintains the fight against sticky inflation with tight monetary policy. “House prices have proven to be remarkably resilient in the face of a rapid and large tightening cycle,” Barrenjoey chief economist Jo Masters said. “Indeed, the long-held relationship between borrowing capacity and house prices has broken, as high interest rates have reduced borrowing capacity, but house prices have continued to rise.” resilience is especially apparent in Perth, where strong migration, both foreign and interstate, coupled with a very affordable market, is fuelling the price gains. As in the other capital city markets, the limited supply of new and existing housing underpins that growth. Nerida Conisbee, chief economist at Ray White, said “significant wealth creation” was driving up prices in Perth’s most expensive suburbs while in the more affordable suburbs, it was “cheaper to buy than build”. “Perth’s outer suburbs were incredibly cheap and a lot of it had to do with high levels of building over a prolonged period. This building isn’t taking place [now] and the ones that are being built are costing a lot more,” she said. The inflation threat The panel of property analysts and economists expects gains of up to 10 per cent or more this year in Adelaide and Brisbane. “Prices in the fastest growing markets, Perth and Adelaide, remain well below other cities and look to have further upside in the near term.” Knight Frank chief economist Ben Burston said. “The exact timing of rate cuts is less important than the perception that they will occur at some point by mid-2025, but if confidence in this outlook is undermined by ongoing high inflation, then the pace of growth will slow significantly.” The price gains have been solid this year, up 1.6 per cent for the March quarter nationally, according to CoreLogic. In Perth, prices have risen 5.6 per cent in the first three months, and in Sydney, they are up 0.9 per cent. So what is driving the market? Ms Masters said housing finance figures showed the type of buyer in the market was shifting in favour of higher quality borrowers, who were purchasing on relatively low loan-to-value and debt-to-income ratios. They were buying in a market where total listings were below the five-year average, especially in Brisbane. Australian National University associate professor Ben Phillips said upgraders and investors were facing less competition from first home buyers. “Short-term lack of new supply in the market and a strong rental market are pushing up prices while elevated interest rates take some pressure off the market,” he said. Upgraders and downgraders constituted the second and fourth-largest segment of the market, CBRE’s research head, Sameer Chopra, said. Eleanor Creagh, a senior economist at PropTrack, said existing homeowners were benefitting from years of strong price growth, accumulating equity gains on their homes. “This has insulated them from the higher interest rate environment with many using equity gains to upgrade. Purchasing activity from these existing owners is one factor that has aided the resilience of home buying demand over the past year, despite affordability having significantly deteriorated.” Several panellists polled by the Financial Review noted the constraint on price growth wrought by affordability problems. Supply shortfall Domain research chief Nicola Powell – who expects Sydney house prices to gain between 7 per cent and 9 per cent – said the supply shortfall was putting upward pressure on the housing market. “However, stretched affordability will limit the pace of price growth. That is until we see improved borrowing capacity and lower debt costs, which could lead to greater price momentum,” Dr Powell said. Jarden senior economist Carlos Cacho said that affordability, especially in Sydney, was becoming “a major inhibitor to material price growth, particularly for middle to lower-income buyers”. Maree Kilroy, a senior economist in Oxford Economics Australia’s property and building forecasting team, expected prices to rise 4.8 per cent in Sydney, 12.7 per cent in Perth and 2.2 per cent in Melbourne. She said affordability had deteriorated, which would restrict the pace of growth, especially for houses. “In response, we expect price momentum to fade modestly mid-2024, but only temporarily,” she said. Last month, Fitch Ratings reported that mortgage arrears were rising, caused by a combination of high rates and the dwindling buffer provided by household savings. That pressure on borrowers prompted warnings from SQM Research founder Louis Christopher and AMP chief economist Shane Oliver about the prospects of distressed selling. “Distressed selling is likely to rise over the next six months as saving buffers built up through the pandemic are run down, a slowdown in the jobs market makes it harder for stretched homeowners to boost their income by working extra hours and as opportunities to further cut discretionary spending are exhausted,” Dr Oliver said.
Sheeple are fooled into believing they're getting richer with RE prices increasing. The only ones getting richer is the government and the banks. The rest are becoming more and more enslaved to a crooked government.
WA house price boom not just about migrants – another population’s exploding By Sarah Brookes April 22, 2024 https://www.watoday.com.au/national...ten-fold-in-a-generation-20240417-p5fkm5.html There are now a record 642 centenarians in Western Australia compared to just 67 in 1993 – a tenfold increase. The latest population figures, taken last year, show that across the country there are 6192 people aged over 100 in Australia compared to fewer than 200 in 1983. Property Club president Kevin Young said the growing number of older Australians meant people would need homes for much longer than previous generations, which would add a new dimension to the housing crisis gripping Western Australia. Young said Australia would soon be hit by a tsunami of people that lived much longer into old age who would be unable to find affordable rental accommodation. “Improving health care means Australians are living longer and therefore need housing for a much longer period of time than previous generations,” he said. “It is the cruel secret that the government is hiding as they struggle to find the money to fund the surging cost of the aged pension and social housing due to our population living much longer.” Young blamed the housing shortage on a series of anti-property investment policies pursued at all levels of government over many years targeting mum and dad investors. “And this government-induced housing crisis in Australia means that a growing number of older Australians will not afford to rent a home because of rising rental costs,” he said. “For example, the weekly rent in Australia is now around $620, which is now higher than for someone living on the government pension. “Even more sobering, during the past year median rental costs have increased at more than five times the increase in the aged pension. “It is no wonder an increasing number of older Australians are relying on charities for food.” Young said mum and dad investors provided more than 90 per cent of rental accommodation and negative government policies had resulted in a 30 per cent increase in the number of ex-rental properties being listed on the real estate market. Almost 12,000 ex-rental properties were put on the market nationally in the year ending January 2024. “Recent regulations introduced by a number of state governments mean that rights of tenants are now starting to supersede those of landlords while soaring taxes on investment properties are financially making it much harder for mum and dad investors to hold onto their rental properties on top of 13 recent interest rate rises,” Young said. “At a federal level, the decision by APRA to limit the period of interest only loans have seen thousands of mum and dad investors sell their properties as they could not afford the principal payments. “At the same time interest bans have been allowed to charge higher interest rates for investment loans compared to owner residential loans. “On top of that changes to tax concessions relating to second hand rental properties have been removed meaning the supply of these cheaper rental homes has dried up.” Young said Australia should follow the lead of New Zealand and ditch capital gains tax on investment properties. Housing Minister John Carey declined to comment other than to say the greatest demand for social housing in Western Australia was and always has been for seniors. The state government reached a grim milestone last week with a record 20,000 applications now on the public housing waitlist. Shadow Housing Minister Steve Martin said the shameful figures, revealed in Parliament, were compounded by Carey’s continuing refusal to answer questions about how many new social homes are being completed each month. “The waitlist of 20,132 applicants represents 35,924 vulnerable Western Australians waiting for a house to live in,” he said. “With housing supply still chronically low, an 18 per cent increase in Perth house prices over the past year and a rental vacancy rate of 0.4 per cent, this record can’t possibly have come as a surprise to the Cook Government.” On Wednesday the state government approved stronger regulation of short-term rental accommodation in WA including the introduction of a $10,000 incentive for property owners to return their properties to the rental market.
exclusive Collier Homes: ASIC reveals one of Perth’s most well-known builders has gone bust Kim MacdonaldThe West Australian Tue, 23 April 2024 https://thewest.com.au/business/col...-well-known-builders-has-gone-bust-c-14416552 One of WA’s biggest and best-known residential building companies has collapsed. Collier Homes went into liquidation after more than 60 years in business, with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission revealing on Tuesday that the company would be wound up. Robert Conry Brauer and Linda Methven Smith from McGrath Nicol have been appointed as liquidators. Collier’s owner Dario Amara yesterday declined to comment on the demise of his award-winning company. But a notice on the company website, either posted or updated this month, pointed to industry challenges since the pandemic hit. “We try hard to please our customers during these challenging times,” it said. “The post-Covid stimuli were well-intentioned, however they created massive supply chain shortages, delays and labour constraints all translating to unpredictable cost escalation. The website went on to quote a report released this month. “CoreLogic economist Kaytlin Ezzy, in her 10 April 2024 report, mentioned that “current building costs are still 27.6 per cent higher than at the start of the pandemic, which is putting significant pressure on builder’s profit margins.” Mr Amara is a second-generation builder with more than forty years of experience. His company built an award-winning home, North Perth House which was featured on the Grand Designs series. The Home Builders Action Group said it was a difficult time for the industry. “The collapse of Collier Homes is a tragedy,” said chairman Jason Janssen. “Collier has built quality homes for West Australian families for decades. “The Home Builders Action Group [HBAG] has been sounding the alarm for many months now, and to witness the end of an industry stalwart is upsetting for everyone. “The No Interest Loans Scheme announced in January has still not made a single loan, and unless the Government realises and acts to combat the difficulty confronting small to medium builders as a result of well-intentioned but wrong-headed stimulus grants, HBAG fears there will be many more collapses impacting many more families.”
Why doesn't the Australian government just fess up. They are TOTALLY CLUELESS when it comes to improving the current dire housing situation.
A Tale Of Two Cities. The have will not complain. My guess is the have is still a majority. You must be one of them.
Imo, the government have manipulated housing and destroyed its meaning. Once it was about shelter, now its about business, sharks, flipping, tax manipulation, power/control. Housing has become a money sink/hole and a millstone around many necks, a bit like owning a boat which has many hidden costs.