Bleak Outlook for Tenants in Australian Rental market
A CRITICAL shortage of vacant properties has led to sharply rising rents with no relief in sight for tenants this year.
Escalating median rents in the March quarter point to sustained hikes throughout the year, according to Australian Property Monitors’ Rental Price Series Quarterly Report.
A shortage of rental properties coupled with landlords passing on last year’s successive rate rises will continue to put the squeeze on tenants across the country in 2011.
Property Dive after Disasters
HOMEBUYERS are deserting the property market in the wake of recent natural disasters with latest figures showing the biggest monthly slide on record.
The weather crises in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria in December and January have kept home buyers sidelined, with property values slipping across the nation.
Home lenders with best deals
* Best deals? Not the Big Four
* “Don’t overlook small lenders”
* Homeowners: Unsure of what rate they pay
MORTGAGE holders are being told they are the big winners in the price war between the Big Four banks but just how much of the latest marketing spin translates into better deals for customers?
Homebuyers oblivious to interest rates
* Rates major concern for first homebuyers
* But many don’t know what rate they pay
* One in five racked up extra debt
BIG banks’ aggressive campaign to woo homebuyers may largely be a waste of their time with many Australians unaware of what interest rate they even pay.
Rents lagging behind interest rates
HARD times lie ahead for landlords as rent returns take a hit, writes Anthony Keane.
Property investors are in line for more cash flow pain this year as improving rental incomes fail to keep up with rising interest rates.
Melbourne, Sydney house price gains
Update Melbourne and Sydney led house price gains across the country last year although the pace of the increase tapered off towards the end of the year, a real estate research group says.
Among the major cities, Melbourne’s median house prices rose 8.4 per cent in 2010 and 1.1 per cent, seasonally adjusted, in the final three months of the year, to $505,000, RP Data/Rismark said.
Housing Market Conditions Expected to Worsen
HOUSING market conditions are expected to worsen over the next 12 months, following last year’s interest rate rises and ongoing tight credit conditions.
The National Australia Bank Residential Property Index for December fell to 27 points, down from 44 points in November. It was still above the zero level that separates growth from contraction.
Chasing the Best Rate
REFINANCING your home loan can lead to greater happiness and a better quality of life, a recent survey shows. The survey of 1000 people was undertaken by Woolcott Research for non-bank lender RAMS Home Loans.
Yet a poll by rival ING DIRECT over the same period found mortgage exit fees were the greatest deterrent to refinancing for a significant number.
Floods Expected to Cause Negative Impact
House prices in Queensland may sink as the financial effects of state’s devastating floods strain household budgets and dent banks’ willingness to lend, a ratings agency has warned.
Credit ratings agency Fitch said today that while the full impact of the Queensland floods is impossible to gauge at this point, they are expected to have a negative impact on house prices, borrowers and banks.
Surprising Rate Rise
Mortgage holders will have to dig deeper after the Reserve Bank decided this afternoon to lift interest rates by 0.25 per cent. It was a surprise move. Inflation figures out last week were lower than expected and most economists were predicting rates would remain on hold. Read more