Sunday, April 28, 2024

Saturday, April 27, 2024

Rents are skyrocketing, with tenants struggling to find accommodation



If you want to understand just how much property investors are controlling the rental market right now, consider this stat: during the month of March, only 1 out of every 100 rental properties across Australia was vacant, according to SQM Research.

 

While the national vacancy rate was 1.0%, it was even lower in some capital cities:

 

● Perth = 0.5%
● Adelaide = 0.5%
● Brisbane = 1.0%
● Sydney = 1.1%
● Melbourne = 1.1%
● Hobart = 1.3%
● Darwin = 1.4%
● Canberra = 1.6%

 

To put that into perspective, a rental market is considered favourable to investors when the vacancy rate is below 2%; favourable to tenants when it’s above 3%; and neutral when it’s between those two benchmarks.

 

[Click here to book an appointment with Ivan Kaye]

 

And vacancy rates show no sign of increasing, because the population is growing strongly while the amount of rental housing is growing only modestly. In other words, demand is outstripping supply.

 

As a result, rental listings are attracting lots of tenant enquiries, and investors are finding it easy to fill their properties and justify rent increases. Rents across the country have jumped 9.4% over the past year, according to SQM.

 

Rents are likely to keep increasing while vacancy rates remain at such incredibly low levels.

 

Want to buy an investment property ? Click here to book an appointment with Ivan Kaye.


Click here to book an appointment with Ivan Kaye.

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

Growth gaining momentum for more affordable homes



An interesting article in the AFR on April 2 - saying units are rising at a faster rate than houses! 


The growth rate for units and lower value houses have gathered momentum in the past three months, with values in the lower end jumping by 3.1 per cent, nearly five times faster than the upper end.


A main reason is that more downsizers seeking to reduce their mortgage are joining the buying frenzy! Says Ivan Kaye of BSI Finsnce.


A number of our clients are downsizing to reduce their debt due to increased interest rates .


Speaking to a financial adviser at Ark was a gamechanger for Jane (name and suburbs changed) 


Jane , who was planning to retire in 8 years had built large equity in her home but was struggling with cash flow. She sold her  large family home to relieve financial pressure.


“I just wanted to get rid of my mortgage and buy something smaller but comfortable and be able to sleep at night.”  said Jane 


Jane sold her house for  $2.5 million, bought a unit for $1.5 million in Leichardt and put the money in Super - enabling her to be able to retire comfortably! 


Tim Lawless - Research Director of Corelogic has said that demand for affordable homes has started outperforming the top end from last year - in each of the major capitals.


“With housing affordability becoming more challenging and borrowing capacity lower than a year ago, it’s no surprise to see demand being skewed towards the middle-to-lower end of the value spectrum,” Mr Lawless said.


“Originally, it was mostly investors and first-home buyers competing for those stock, but anecdotally at least, people are looking to reduce their debt, and maybe take advantage of the strong capital gains and cash out, downsize or move to a cheaper location where they can reduce their leverage.”


In Brisbane, house prices rose by an average of 7.4 per cent in Kingston, Riverview, Logan Central and Leichhardt in the Ipswich and Logan districts, where median values remained below $600,000.


Those were in stark contrast to the weaker performance in Brisbane’s upper end suburbs such as Hamilton and Ascot, where median prices reached $2.3 million and $2.5 million respectively. In the past three months, house values dropped by 3.7 per cent and 2 per cent respectively.


“A lot of downsizers are cashed up, so they can bid up and drive values higher in that segment of the market,”


“Depending on the suburb, big townhouses, a three-bedroom semi-detached house or apartments are highly sought-after by downsizers, making it harder for investors and first-home buyers to compete.”


Let me know if you are interested to buy or refinance your property by clicking here and contacting me at bsi finance 

Source - Australian financial review   And CoreLogic 


Let me know if you are interested to buy or refinance your property by clicking here and contacting me at bsi finance 

Sunday, April 7, 2024

What’s the next Driver of First Home Property Buyers?



Over the past two decades, the quarterly count of first homebuyers has typically oscillated between 20,000 and 30,000. 


Except for 2 periods


  1. The immediate aftermath of the GFC in 2009, and
  2. The COVID-19 lockdowns spanning 2020 and 2021.


Why? 


  • A dramatic reduction in interest rates? No. 
  • A withdrawal of property investors from the market? No.
  • A willingness to take on high LVR lending? Definitely not.


The answer is Savings says Robbie Baskin from Frontya 


Six months before these two distinct periods, a dramatic escalation in the savings rate was observed. The typical consumer was able to bring forward their ability to enter into the market with an adequate deposit. Once the savings rate stabilised, the number of first homebuyers went back to normal.


Household savings is clearly down and according to APRA, high LVR lending is down and property investor participation is up. 


A 'deposit gap' is emerging - which will bring company’s like  FrontYa to the fore - who will be able to help lower the 'deposit gap' through  alternative funding schemes.


The new driver that seems to be emerging is the State and federal shared equity schemes .


Looking forward to see how this will change the landscape - enabling frontline workers to own their own homes by partnering with the government !