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Australian Economy

Rates on hold

In a surprise move today, the Reserve Bank of Australia has decided to keep interest rates on hold for February. The ASX Target Rate Tracker had the chance of the official cash rate being decreased to 4.00 percent, at 100% yesterday. Even I was 100% certain rates would be cut

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ABS House Price Indices

One down, ten to fifteen to go . . .

The latest installment of the official House Price Index from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) was released today showing Australian house prices continued to fall in the December 2011 quarter. The weighted average of the eight capital cities fell 1.0 percent in December, ending a year where house prices

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Australian Economy

Jordan Wirsz: Bloodbath to hit Australian real estate

More doom and gloom headlines circulate Australian media today with comments from an United States based property analyst suggesting Australian property could crash by more than 60 percent. At the same time, Australian experts counteract the argument saying it can’t happen in Australia, in fact – some say we have

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Australian Economy

Real Estate Investment by Foreign Residents : Top Secret

It was December 2008. Three months earlier Lehman Brothers had collapsed – credit markets have frozen over. Two months earlier, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announces the First Home Owners’ Boost, designed to save the housing market, or at least temporary, by encouraging first home buyers to bring forward their purchases

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Australian Economy

NSW repossessions rise 22.5% in 2011.

When the BBC last Thursday warned international markets about a 22.5 percent rise in mortgage repossessions down under in NSW, we thought the Australian media had swept this news under the carpet. Under the headlines of “Fears mount over health of Australia’s housing market”, the BBC reported on what is

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Australian Economy

House prices up in November

Real Estate Agents and Property Lobbyists have opened their new years’ bottles of Champagne early today as figures from the RP Data-Rismark home value index show house prices rose just 0.1 percent (noise) in November after the worst year for Australian real estate in more than a decade. Home price

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Australian Economy

More Stress Testing . . .

The Australian Banking Regulator has given Australian banks one week to stress test their resilience to the unemployment rate rising sharply to 12 percent, a 30 percent decline in residential house prices, a 40 percent decline in commercial property values and a contraction of GDP. It is believed APRA want

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Australian Economy

Negative gearing: time to rethink your approach

We have often warned that negative gearing is really only good when house prices are rising. Now the mainstream media is ringing the same bells. The Sydney Morning Herald writes: In a rising property market, negative gearing can be a good strategy to build wealth – but watch out when

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Australian Economy

RBA drops rates for the second month

Australia’s Central Bank has today cut the official cash rate by 25 basis points to 4.25 percent, effective tomorrow. This cut follows a 25 basis point cut last month and could suggest the economy is not as robust as initially thought, having been bash about by the Eurozone crisis. The

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Australian Economy

Building approvals record double digit falls

Melbourne may need more than an endangered frog to stir up pent up demand if last months’ building approvals are anything to go by. Home approvals fell 10.7 percent in the month of October contributing to a 29.8 percent fall for the year. Apartments and units have lead the falls,

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Australian Economy

Sunrise : Top tips on real estate future

SQM’s Louis Christopher and Kochie featured on Sunrise today to talk about the future of Real Estate in Australia. Louis Christopher explained how auction clearance rates are actually calculated, while Kochie talked viewers through the credit crunch and how Australia has the most expensive property in the world. The video