March Market Update
Last month’s interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank ended the brief dip in the median property price as the upward march continued last month. The national median house price is now $820,000 or a 0.4 per cent rise.
CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless said that the positive direction was more about confidence than any real material change in loan serviceability or borrowing capacity – two factors that underpin price growth.
Lawless says that the next few months have thrown up some uncertainty with global trade wars and conflict. All eyes will be on the RBA for their reaction. Meanwhile, PropTrack economists believe that the modest cut in rates will attract first home buyers back into the market.
Federal Government Help to Buy scheme expanded
The federal budget contained some goodies for home buyers struggling to get into the market with the extension of their Help to Buy scheme by raising price caps and income eligibility.
The program is designed to help 40,000 low-income earners and essential workers into the property market over the next four years in a shared equity scheme. The scheme means that the Federal government will take a 40% in new builds and a 30% stake in existing houses.
The program is designed to help essential workers like teachers and nurses shave years of saving for a deposit by letting the Federal government take a slice of the home and eliminate the need for lenders mortgage insurance.
Prefabricated homes to take away housing pinch?
Could the IKEA of housing put a dent in the housing crisis in Australia? The Federal government hopes so.
In a $54 million commitment to the housing market, the Federal government is hoping that prefabricated homes can relieve some of the pressure of home building. It is estimated that prefabricated and modular homes can be built in about half the time of traditional bricks and mortar homes. That will go towards putting a debt in the government’s ambitious target of 240,000 homes.
The Hawks clinch a second championship
Bartlett and Co. Property were ringside at an historic Hawks win last month as Illawarra’s basketball team clinched their second national trophy in the best of five against the Melbourne United.
The tightly fought series came down to the final came in front of a raucous Wollongong crowd at the WIN Entertainment Centre. It’s the second championship and first since 2001 for the Hawks and Tim and the team at Bartlett and Co. congratulate the Hawks on a great season.
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