3 February 2009

Canberra house prices up during December quarter

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Based on the latest ABS stats, it seems house prices rose on average during the December quarter, although the yearly average was down about 4%.

Will be interesting to see where this goes.

How are people finding things out there?

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VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy said :

Tightening lending by banks makes me certain that prices will drop.

Except they aren’t tightening much. Sub prime loans represented less than 5% of the total home loan market even during the peak (and it would be less in ACT).

I was referring to the tightening of mainstream lending, which is now well underway.

According to Allhomes (http://www.allhomes.com.au/ah/ah0052?st=y) median house prices have been sliding steadily over the last 6 months for a drop of 9.6% from July to December ($470,000 down to $425,000)and a drop of 11.7% from the peak in February ($480,000)…

I have heard that banks are tightening up their requirements for those who have not had large loans before.

I don’t think prices are going to plummet this year. Canberra is still short of homes, and many people will just take their place off the market and rent it out instead, as rents are supposed to be holding steady.

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy9:14 am 04 Feb 09

Tightening lending by banks makes me certain that prices will drop.

Except they aren’t tightening much. Sub prime loans represented less than 5% of the total home loan market even during the peak (and it would be less in ACT). Banks are begging to give money away at the moment. I got a loan late last year (prime) without providing any original documents for over 100% of the value of the property.

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy said :

What makes you think it’s going to get measurably cheaper? Compared to many places in terms of income to median house price, Australia isn’t so bad. Try buying in the centre of the capital city of another wealthy country.

Tightening lending by banks makes me certain that prices will drop. Easy credit was the single biggest contributor to the housing asset bubble and with most lenders no longer offering 100% loans and many requiring mortgage insurance for any borrowings over 60% of the purchase price, people won’t have as much to spend…meaning that prices will drop.

Also, vendors will eventually have to drop their prices. We’ve looked closely at about 100 houses over the past year or so, and at least 30 of those were taken off the market by vendors who couldn’t sell at the price they were asking. But, in a falling market, it’s better to take a 10% hit now than a 20% hit in twelve months time.

As r1 says, anyone who is thinking of buying a house and not in a hurry should wait.

Wanon said :

I can’t wait for the arse to fall out of the housing market!

I dream of a day where a single guy on an average income can afford to buy and live in Canberra!

It might happen if unemployment goes through the roof. But then you probably won’t have a job.

I bought a 1br apartment about 3 years ago in turner, … and has gone up in price by 100k in that time, and bought it on one income, so yes it can be done, .. and I cannot see the value of it dropping below what i paid for it.

From my observations the middle – top end of the market has dropped a little/plateau’d at best ….. but seriously look how many one bedroom apartments have come onto the market lately on allhomes? … sweet F A, and thats the segment of the market that is remaining rather steady, and also high in demand for rental too.

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy9:17 pm 03 Feb 09

What makes you think it’s going to get measurably cheaper? Compared to many places in terms of income to median house price, Australia isn’t so bad. Try buying in the centre of the capital city of another wealthy country.

I can’t wait for the arse to fall out of the housing market!

I dream of a day where a single guy on an average income can afford to buy and live in Canberra!

They are massively overinflated as is and it’s growing more and more that way for years. Australia has some of the most hyperinflated housing prices in the world.

Felix the Cat9:04 pm 03 Feb 09

neanderthalsis said :

With AWOTE being around $1100, then you’d be on around $1300 a week, say $900 after tax? If you’re paying half that for a 1 bedroom place, you’re being ripped (unless it’s brand new and overlooks a nudist colony for 18yo penthouse pets in training).

Mmmmm…I’m thinking of moving, a bit bored with my current location, where did you say this place is? Got any pics?

If your a first home buyer just do a bit of research into whats happening in the world right now , and wait.

Or you could do what the nice realestate agent says , and buy before you miss out forever

The national median weekly rent for public housing? $90

Even with your rough numbers, $400+ per week is about half most people’s AOWTE. There is always the share house in O’Connor with four bong heads I suppose…

For a housing industry that has grown roughly 20% a year over the past six year, mainly built upon hot air lifting the price of houses and real estate organisations PR’n the media over any little figure, even if the figure is taken out of context to try and keep the figure high. What do you think is going to happen? Dropped 4% last year, but increase in December, by how much did it increase by 0.1% upon the previous month. What about January figures, did they also increase or decrease? I feel sorry for anyone that has bought a house over the last three years since I feel the housing market is still going to drop a further 20%, because people are going to wake up to the PR Campaigns of the housing agencies.

neanderthalsis2:38 pm 03 Feb 09

PantsMan said :

Can this stupid Global Financial Crisis hurry the f#!k up and distroy the Australian Prroperty market already. Sure, some people will be unhappy, but one day I’ll be able to pay less than 50% of my 30% above Australian average disposable income on renting a one bedroom in Canberra.

With AWOTE being around $1100, then you’d be on around $1300 a week, say $900 after tax? If you’re paying half that for a 1 bedroom place, you’re being ripped (unless it’s brand new and overlooks a nudist colony for 18yo penthouse pets in training).

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy2:18 pm 03 Feb 09

Sure, some people will be unhappy, but one day I’ll be able to pay less than 50% of my 30% above Australian average disposable income on renting a one bedroom in Canberra.

Not until your income increases a bit more.

Can this stupid Global Financial Crisis hurry the f#!k up and distroy the Australian Prroperty market already. Sure, some people will be unhappy, but one day I’ll be able to pay less than 50% of my 30% above Australian average disposable income on renting a one bedroom in Canberra.

Holden Caulfield1:53 pm 03 Feb 09

Yeah, the agents I have spoken to reckon that there are buyers out there, but too many unrealistic vendors holding out for too much money.

A couple of places near our place have recently sold for prices that I think, under current circumstances, are fair and reasonable. But in both instances they are quite a lot under the original asking prices and subsequently the houses took quite a few months to sell.

My anecdote is that there are a lot of people looking because of low interest rates and the First Home Owners Grant increase, but not a lot of people actually buying.
If you look at the stats on Allhomes, 2008 had the lowest number of sales on their medium term records, slightly lower than the mid-90s

Holden Caulfield12:42 pm 03 Feb 09

We’re putting a house on the market in the next week or so, and so far our own evidence from attending a few open houses in the same area and anecdotally from a number of agents there seem to be a lot of people out there house hunting across Canberra.

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