Australian Economy

As part of the “winding back” of the housing stimulus measures, Housing Minister Tanya Plibersek has announced there will be caps on the amount first home buyers can spend on their first pad while still being eligible for the $7,000 first home buyers grant (FHBG). From the 31st of December, …

The Sunday Telegraph reports banks are urging first home buyers to take out mortgage applications prior to the Melbourne Cup rate rise next week, so they can secure the biggest possible loans. A mortgage advisor at NAB’s Surry Hills branch told a Sunday Telegraph Journalist “you will need to hurry …

The Australian housing bubble, one of the last in the world to pop is bucking world trends to hit new heights. Today, The Sydney Daily Telegraph reports data from Residex suggesting Sydney’s median house price is now $610,500 in September, up $11,000 for the month after breaking through the $600,000 …

Unemployment in Australia has bucked the trend, coming in at a better than expected 5.7%. The Aggregate monthly hours worked increased 13.4 million hours to 1,522.4 million hours, after 13 months of declines. The strength of jobs, comes just days after the RBA increased the official cash rate to 3.25%. …

The RBA today has increased the official cash rate by 25 basis points to 3.25% on the back of a strong Australian economy. Interest rates have been at emergency 3.00% levels since April. Today’s rise makes Australia the first developed nation to increase rates since the start of the GFC.

ABC Radio program PM reveals the house price con. Housing prices are no real benefit to homeowners. To listen to the story, or read the transcript, click here » PM with Mark Colvin, ABC Radio 29th September 2009.

In a talk to the CEDA Housing Forum today, Tony Richards, Head of Economic Analysis Depart at the Reserve Bank of Australia said : It is looking increasingly clear that Australia has avoided the large falls in housing prices seen in some other countries over the past two years or …

You can’t get safer than Bricks and Mortar, unless of course, Bricks and Mortar is caught up in one massive asset bubble. Then, it’s no different than any other investment – it can go up, and it can go down – big time. WA Today reports of the disaster in …

On Thursday the ABS released another set of rosy employment figures. Once again the unemployment rate in Australia is steady at 5.8%, despite the lost of 30,000 full time jobs. The number of part time jobs increased 3,800 positions further supporting the case that the trend among employers is to …

The worst reporting season has closed with 14 ASX listed companies reporting loses over $1 billion dollars. Contrary to the saying, Safe as houses, 10 of those 14 companies had a core business of . . you guessed it – property. Centro Properties Group: $3.54 billion Centro Retail: $2.68 billion …

This week saw GDP figures released showing the Australian economy is the fourth-best performing in the world behind China, India and Korea according to analysis by Royal Bank of Scotland. But is the Australian economy just extremely resilient, or have we not begun to see the start of the crisis …

Exclusive : The Rudd government will tomorrow announce the spending of 200 million dollars over two years on the development a world first money tree. The grant will see the CSIRO expand its Clayton R&D labs in Victoria and the appointment of 100 new scientists. In a leaked press release, …

Australia’s largest mortgage insurer, Genworth, says it will raise prices on Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI) by 20% this quarter on increased risk due to rising unemployment. “There is economic uncertainty and unemployment is expected to rise and with that one expects to see some increases in people not being able …

On Sunday, Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan indicated the federal government had no intention of pulling the first home owners grant after suggestion it was fueling a new bubble. “To pull that stimulus out now would be to pull the rug from underneath recovery,” said Wayne Swan. Today, the Reserve Bank …

The warning tone has been sounding since 2002. Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep. In an interview titled “Mixed feeling on the real estate bubble” featured on Inside Business in October 2002, reporter Zoe Daniel said “Residential property, the most lucrative asset market in Australia worth a trillion dollars – and rising and ringing warning …

While on informal leave at Kirribilli House last week, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd crafted his essay titled “The Building Decade: The Long, Hard Road to Sustainable Economic Recovery” due to be published in the Herald today. While it impressively demonstrates a solid understanding of the causes, it does raise some …

Last night, any hope of a recovery was dashed in the U.S. with the latest release of unemployment data. June saw 467,000 jobs axed and the unemployment rate hitting 9.5%. The New York Times wrote it was “a sobering indication that the longest recession since the 1930s had yet to …

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Index show house prices in the U.S. are continuing to fall. Prices for the 12 months to April ’09 fell 18.1%, only slightly slower than the 18.7% year on year fall to March ’09. From the dizzy peak three years ago, U.S. house prices …

AUSTRALIAN households have lost an extraordinary 36 per cent of their financial wealth since the economic crisis began. Estimates from the Australian Bureau of Statistics put combined household wealth at just short of $787 billion at the end of March, down from a peak of $1246 billion in September 2007. …

AUSTRALIA’S sharemarket will halve in value, house prices will slump as much as 40 per cent and unemployment will climb to 10 per cent. That’s the bold prediction from economic forecaster Harry Dent, who says a bigger crash is ahead for the global economy within the next two years. » …