Realestateads.com.au

Money talks: Banks offering cash to entice customers

SuperUser — Wed, 05 Mar 2014 07:26:00 GMT

Banks are increasingly offering borrowers cold hard cash in an attempt to sign them up as mortgage customers.

As lenders jostle to expand their share of the home loan market, all big four banks are now trying to lure new customers with types of cash rebates, and one non-bank lender is even offering fuel vouchers.

Locals priced out by $24b Chinese property splurge

SuperUser — Wed, 05 Mar 2014 06:48:00 GMT

‘‘A generation of Australians are being priced out of the property market. Many face a life time of renting,’’ Credit Suisse analysts Hasan Tevfik and Damien Boey said.

Wealthy Chinese buyers have purchased $24 billion of Australia housing in the past seven years, and over the next seven years an additional $44 billion will be spent on residential property.

Investors strong in NSW, but not elsewhere

SuperUser — Thu, 09 May 2013 01:21:00 GMT

This week's surprise decision by the Reserve Bank to cut interest rates will fuel investor interest in residential property.

Australians are passionate about investing in bricks and mortar and the combination of lower mortgage rates, rising property prices will be irresistible for many.

Big banks in little hurry to pass on rate cut

SuperUser — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 03:35:00 GMT

The big four banks will pass along most of the Reserve Bank's rate cut to mortgage holders, analysts believe - but the wait may drag on until next week.

The major banks took an average of 10.6 days to pass along rate cuts following RBA reductions beginning in November 2011, according to calculations from Fairfax.

Public housing high-rises keep prices down

SuperUser — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 02:29:00 GMT

The inner-city set may claim there is no stigma attached to living near public housing but property prices expose a more tawdry truth.

The closer you live to public housing estates such as Richmond's towering commission flats, the lower property values become. Data supports what is often an unspoken assumption among home buyers - namely, that properties farther from public housing estates generally sell for more than those close to them.

Sydney house prices on the rise, data shows

SuperUser — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 02:23:00 GMT

Sydney homeowners preparing for spring sales campaigns have been given some encouraging news with three sets of data now showing price growth.

Independent analysts RP Data-Rismark today released its July results, which showed Sydney dwelling prices were up 1.2 per cent over the month. House prices went up 1.4 per cent while apartment prices were flat.

Brisbane booming in the middle and round the edges

SuperUser — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 02:03:00 GMT

Brisbane is the place to be, but people aren't living where you may think, new population figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveal.

The data, which captures a decade of change to 2011, reveals the Greater Brisbane Region, which excludes the Gold and Sunshine coasts, increased by 25 per cent (432,300 people) and was just behind Greater Perth (26 per cent) as the second-fastest growing capital city in Australia.

Auctions indicate it's still a buyers' environment

SuperUser — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 01:48:00 GMT

With more than a month behind us since the auction season opened up again, it is worth taking a snapshot of the market by looking at how the auction clearance rates have been performing, plus considering the supply of listings.

ACT named as hot investment spot

SuperUser — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 01:39:00 GMT

Two ACT suburbs have been named in the top investment areas across NSW and the territory by McGrath Estate Agents.

In his autumn market review, McGrath real estate chief executive John McGrath listed Dickson and Kambah amongst the best buy suburbs outside Sydney for future growth.

Housing market steady despite the dark clouds

SuperUser — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 02:17:00 GMT

The weekend's damp weather made for some challenging auctions held among crowds of umbrellas and pouring rain but another clearance rate above the 60 per cent mark delivered relief to agents and buyer advocates.

Best streets: Balwyn North

SuperUser — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 01:52:00 GMT

Part of the Riverside Estate bordered by Doncaster, Bulleen and Burke Roads, Walbundry Avenue is just one of several leafy streets blessed with an abundance of original between-the-wars houses. The Riverside Estate has a quiet, restrained elegance that, although only a 10-minute (off-peak) freeway drive from inner-city Melbourne, feels a world away.

Material wealth

SuperUser — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 01:10:00 GMT

Is a house made out of brick worth more than a weatherboard house? That depends on where it is.

As the three little pigs found out, building a house with brick has its advantages.

They are long-lasting (able to withstand plenty of huff and puff), well insulated, easy to build on and good-looking. For these reasons, agents say, brick is the material of choice for many Sydney house buyers.

Researcher: bigger homes are a waste of space

SuperUser — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 00:50:00 GMT

The Perth's love of big houses was bad for the environment according to Masters of Environmental Design researcher Dirima Cuthbert from the University of Western Australia.

Ms Cuthbert said many Perth houses were not energy efficient and building regulations did not encourage home builders to change their ways.

Fewer suburbs looking like a million dollars

SuperUser — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 00:37:00 GMT

Sydney had 92 suburbs with a median house price of more than $1 million for the last six months of 2011. This compares with 17 in Melbourne, 14 in Perth, two in Brisbane, four in Adelaide and one in Canberra.

Banks may raise rates despite RBA hold

SuperUser — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:20:00 GMT

Denied an interest rate cut, mortgage holders may soon be hit by a rate rise as the ANZ Bank prepares to announce an interest rate move independent of the Reserve Bank.

5800 more people, still no facilities

SuperUser — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:09:00 GMT

Traffic gridlock, crowded schools and poor infrastructure are causing a backlash against government plans to speed up land releases in Melbourne's fastest growing suburbs.

Developer plans $20m Toorak pad

SuperUser — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:30:00 GMT

BUILDING will start this month in Melbourne's blue-chip suburb of Toorak on one of the state's largest and most expensive new homes.

Borrowers now have the edge

SuperUser — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 01:42:00 GMT

Australia is entering a new low-interest-rate environment and smart borrowers should seize the opportunity to sift through the competitive loans on offer.

The Reserve Bank's decision in December to cut the cash rate by 25 basis points for the second month in a row is positive news for buyers and borrowers.

Housing recovery driven by first home buyers

SuperUser — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 08:51:00 GMT

After two years of abstinence, home-buyers have been seen taking a sip from the debt bottle. Just a little one. First home buyers accounted for 20 per cent of total housing finance commitments taken out in November last year, data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Monday showed.

Banks face home loan suit

SuperUser — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 08:32:00 GMT

AUSTRALIA'S banks could be facing a massive new class action over allegations that their mortgage lending practices have put thousands of families in severe financial stress or at risk of losing their homes.

Organisers estimate that up to 300,000 mortgage holders would be eligible to participate in the action, which is expected to focus on first home buyers and lower-income households who received loans since the onset of the global financial crisis.

Opposition: Come clean on Phillip Island zoning

SuperUser — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 08:10:00 GMT

Premier Ted Baillieu must explain his role in the dispute at Phillip Island involving his planning minister Matthew Guy, the opposition says.

Mr Guy is being sued over claims he failed to follow proper planning processes and succumbed to backroom pressure from Liberal heavyweights when he backflipped over a contentious rezoning of Phillip Island farmland last year.

Time to fight the financial system and set your own standard

SuperUser — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 19:17:00 GMT

It's certainly not what you should be paying. So yesterday all four of the big banks finally passed on the quarter of a per cent Reserve Bank rate cut. Big deal - or not such a big deal, as the case may be.

Capital city home values up for the 1st time in 2011

SuperUser — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:42:00 GMT

Homeowners have received a bout of good news at year's end, with a private survey showing the first rise in capital city home values in eleven months.

Capital city home values lifted 0.1 per cent in November - the first increase since December 2010, according to the RP Data-Rismark Home Value Index on Friday.

The heart is where the home is

SuperUser — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:30:00 GMT

A SMALL pocket of 1950s real estate on a sharp bend of the Maribyrnong River is the state's most tightly held suburb.

Home owners in Essendon West stay in the ubiquitous weatherboard Californian bungalows that line the suburb's leafy streets on average nearly 19 years, according to property research group RP Data.

Battlefield looms on coastal playground

SuperUser — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:23:00 GMT

A NEW suburban frontier is set to engulf once-sleepy holiday towns on the Bellarine coast.

In rezoned farm paddocks on the road to Torquay, a transformation is under way that began late in 2008 when the first section of Geelong's ring road was unveiled.