Posted by Rob Honeycombe on 13 May 2009
first home buying
Good news for those first home buyers still saving up their pennies, with last night’s Budget extending the current Boost to the First Home Owners Grant. Eligible buyers get $14,000 toward their purchase ($21,000 for new property) and that incentive’s now been extended to September 30th 2009.
From October 1st to december 31st it’ll drop back to $10,500 and $14,000 respectively, then from Jan 1st 2010 we’re back to the long-running Grant of $7,000 only.
There’s been a real run of first home buyer sales recently and this extension will give them more time, taking some of the pressure off their decision-making.
With such a strong ‘pull-forward’ of demand having already occurred it’s fair to ask how many first time buyers are left? And more importantly, how many that can get a loan in the new credit world we live in?
Tags: first home buyers, First Home Owners Boost
Posted in property taxes and rates etc, trends in Brisbane property | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 15 April 2009
Here’s a copy of the media release we’ve just sent out:
New statistics released today show the pressure’s coming off tenants in Brisbane’s inner city as the rental housing market finally grows.
According to Bees Nees Research the March quarter saw the supply of accommodation growing strongly, with 338 homes added to the rental pool.
Managing Director Rob Honeycombe says many of these are owners-residents who’ve been unable to sell and have instead rented their property.
“This increase isn’t due to lots of new property been built – construction of new investment properties is still very low. But with some owners unable to sell it’s no surprise those who have to move city for example are often choosing to rent their home”, Mr Honeycombe said.
Mr Honeycombe said the total bonds held by the Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA) for inner city properties had finally risen.
“The increase in the March quarter was the largest since early 2007 and the inner suburbs really needed it. We’ve had an acute undersupply for some time”, Mr Honeycombe said.
“Rents have naturally started to flatten as tenants have more to choose from and across the inner city have actually dropped slightly (a 2bedroom apartment dropped from $430 to $420/week). House rents are similar.”
In the CBD rents were up $10 to $520/week but areas like Kangaroo Point and East Brisbane dropped $40.
Mr Honeycombe says the lower stockmarket and superannuation returns may also be helping tenants. “We have a client who recently chose to rent spare bedrooms in her own home to provide a new income stream. Her investments aren’t providing a high enough return. We expect there’s many more stories like this out there.”
“With the flurry of first home buyers expected to slow after June and without new construction of any volume, we do expect the rental market to tighten once again. For the time being at least there’s more rental homes and that’s a breath of fresh air for tenants.”
If you’d like a suburb by suburb guide to median rents go to www.WhatRentMyHome.com.au for all the latest stats.
Tags: Brisbane rents, East Brisbane, first home buyers, Kangaroo Point Brisbane, Residential Tenancies Authority, superannuation
Posted in Brisbane CBD, Brisbane landlords, Brisbane's rental market | No Comments »
Posted by Rob Honeycombe on 8 April 2009
So the Reserve Bank dropped official rates yesterday and we now have a cash rate of 3%, the lowest since 1960. What’s next from the government for property? We all know confidence remains low but (while not wanting to talk things up) the worst may be over for real estate. In March the major property web portals had another big jump in traffic. Almost 5 million visitors went to realestate.com.au, up 11% on the same time last year.
Some markets (but not all) are witnessing more sales. In making the rate cut announcement the Reserve Bank’s Governor confirmed there’s been more activity. “Demand for credit is weak overall, though credit for owner‑occupied housing is picking up”, he said. The chatter about the market right now is getting more positive. The big surge of course has been from first home buyers, keen to take up the $7000 boost to the usual grants. In the last quarter of 2008 the govt handed out 7,659 FHOG giftbags, up a whopping 39% on the previous 3 months. And we can’t help wondering if Swan and Rudd will feel that when the boost offer expires on June 30th it’ll be time to shift their support to another market.
Reserve Bank deputy Ric Battellino might agree. He last week told a Brisbane seminar the grant’s benefits could quickly be eroded. “By all accounts the bottom end of the housing market has picked up a lot in recent times and it doesn’t take long for the average house price to increase by $20,000 and leave the homebuyers no better off than they were before.” Market analyst Michael Matusik is opposed to the grant. “The FHOG is inflationary, distorts the normal cycle and creates few new homes over the longer term.” He argues in a time of undersupply we should have incentives to build new housing.
Some commentators worry that removing the first home boost will punish the lower end of the market. But our view is there’s a whole bunch of forgotten buyers on the sidelines getting closer to acting. Investors might just be the next busy audience as they recognise the opportunities on offer.
How should the government support the housing market? We’d love to hear your comments…
Tags: Brisbane home prices, Brisbane housing supply, first home buyers, interest rates, Michael Matusik, Reserve Bank, www.realestate.com.au
Posted in Brisbane's sales market, property taxes and rates etc, trends in Brisbane property | 1 Comment »
Posted by Rob Honeycombe on 29 May 2008
The term’s been used so much lately you could be forgiven for switching off when you hear it – “housing affordability crisis”. But for those feeling like a home purchase is slipping from their grasp, all news on the topic is welcome. And buying that first home might now be a little easier for some, with the Federal Budget’s fine-tuning of the new First Home Saver accounts, now due to kick off in October. Designed to encourage a savings habit Mr Swan will tip in 17% of what you deposit to a max $850 each year, and the earnings of your account will be taxed at just 15%. With that lower earnings tax this might be a good way for family to help you on your way – plenty of parents with 20-somethings still living at home will think it’s a great deal! There’s a bunch of rules (you don’t get govt pennies without them). Your minimum annual deposit is $1000 and max $10,000, and you can’t withdraw anything to buy that home until you’ve had 4 years of deposits. You’ll still qualify for the first home owner grant on top.
Will there be plenty of takers? We hope so, but the four year minimum doesn’t fit the ‘want it now’ approach of today. Recent non-government schemes like “Option 2 Buy” weren’t successful either mind you and they offered an instant solution. Under that now-dead format you got the company to buy your choice of home, you lived in it and made payments to them, and had an option to buy it yourself at a pre-agreed price within 5-7 years. “Option2Buy” went into liquidation earlier this year after a massive advertising campaign and plenty of attention. We read that when they went under the authorities rushed to check the impact on customers – but discovered there were none. Zero!
There’s still others out there offering similar rent-buy plans including one that tempts by offering the customer all capital gains while they “rent” the home. The rent though is apparently somewhat higher than market…
On the ground we’re witnessing more of the group-purchases, with siblings and even friends getting together to buy property. Not our position to advise or warn people but there’s some obvious risks when life takes each of the buyers in different directions. But with prices still rising we’d expect to see more of this. No doubt there’s some parents back home encouraging them too!
Tags: Brisbane housing affordability, first home buyers
Posted in Brisbane's sales market | No Comments »
