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08 31st, 2009| 
HOMEOWNERS should brace themselves for a jump in the mortgage repayments of more $5,000 a year over the next 18 months, a mortgage broker has warned.
While economists expect the Reserve Bank of Australia...
Aug
31
Aug
31
NEW benign inflation data suggests the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) can wait for some time before raising the cash rate from its current 49-year low, an economist says.
The TD Securities-Melbourne Institute monthly inflation gauge was unchanged in August after rising 0.9 per cent in July.
The annual rate of the gauge was 1.7 per cent, the fourth consecutive month the inflation rate has been below the RBA’s two to three per cent inflation target.
The central bank holds its monthly board meeting tomorrow.
Economists widely expect the cash rate to be left unchanged at 3 per cent, although some expect it to hint that an increase is not far away given the strength of recent economic data.
Aug
13
Homes are becoming more expensive, with a measure of house-price affordability showing it was harder to pay for a house in the three months to June than it was just a few months earlier.
The Housing Industry Association-Commonwealth Bank First Housing Affordability Index slid more than 5 per cent in the June quarter to 152.5 index points from 161 index points in the March quarter.
The median home price rose to $419,900 in the June quarter, from $386,400 in the March quarter, taking the median monthly mortgage repayment payment to $1983, up from $1843 over the same period. That marks a 7.6 per cent rise.
Over that period, average mortgage rates fell by about 10 basis points, or a tenth of a percentage point, on a typical home loan.
HIA chief economist Harley Dale blamed a rise in demand, ahead of an increase in available supply, for the lower overall affordability.
“The lift in established house...
Aug
13
First time home buyers were again at the forefront of demand for new home loans in June, taking advantage of both low mortgage rates and a more generous federal grant.
New official data released on Monday showed first home buyers made up 27.1 per cent in June, just shy of a revised 28.5 per cent record in May.
Overall demand for mortgages rose by a seasonally adjusted 1.1 per cent in June for owner-occupiers over the previous month to 65,151 loans, Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed.
This was the ninth monthly consecutive increase and compared with economists’ forecasts that had centred on a 1.8 per cent rise in June.
However, economists expect the stimulatory boost from low rates and a large grant will fade in the second half of the year.
The federal government’s increased first home owners grant provides $14,000 for the purchase of an established home and $21,000 for a new property,...