Assembling an expert team helps you get the most out of your investment property With interest rates at record lows, an investment property can look like an attractive option to build your wealth and secure your financial future. However, there are a number of things to consider before buy to help ensure you make a sound investment. Buying property is a popular form of long-term investment in Australia, with the perception that real estate feels ‘safe’ over the potential risk and volatility of investing in the share market. While investment properties can provide healthy returns from pas ..read more

Take the stress out of buying a house with these 5 must–know things Buying a house is a big decision, so don’t rush it There’s so much to think about when you’re buying a house. How much do you want to spend? What about finance? It can be overwhelming. Investing a little time before you start can take the stress out of buying your next house and could save you thousands. Do your research first, then dive into the real estate sites and create your home-open shopping list. Here are the top 5 things you need to know before buying your next house. Image by Tierra Mallorca on Unsplash Know yo ..read more

Australian housing values drop by 0.6% in July. The impacts of COVID have continue as July saw the third month of decline, recording a national decrease of 0.6% according to the latest CoreLogic data. Two of the capital cities showed an improvement with Canberra increasing by 0.6% and Adelaide 0.1%. Melbourne suffered the sharpest decline shrinking by 1.2% followed by Sydney 0.9%. The decrease is a slowing from the 0.7% decrease in June. Regional markets managed to remin unchanged.   Locally Perth dropped by 0.6%, leaving the median value down to $439,092. CoreLogic Hedonic Value ..read more

Are you prepared for the unexpected? Life can throw up unexpected surprises and obstacles. Recently the whole word has been impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic and many thousands of people have lost their lives much sooner than they should have done. While in Western Australia with our closed borders we have been very fortunate in managing to restrict the impact and life for many of us has returned almost back to normal. The recent events have definitely taught us that no matter how well we plan our lives the unexpected can pop up and throw a huge spanner in the works. The conversations we ..read more

Scott Morrison announced the details of the anticipated boost to the building industry. A $25,000 grant available to new home builders and renovators. The scheme put in place to save the floundering building industry is expected to release an additional $688 million. Whilst seen as a positive for many first home buyers there will be disappointment that it does not include provision for social housing. Another impact is for those who are permanent residents or New Zealand citizens living permanently in Australia as this along with the first home loan deposit scheme are only available to citizen ..read more

The Federal government’s first home loan deposit scheme places have all been filled for this financial year’s allocation. The good news is if you have missed out then there will be another 10,000 spaces available from 1st July. The scheme launched in January 2020 is to assist Australians in purchasing their first home. With only 10,000 spaces available it was anticipated that the scheme would be fully subscribed within a couple of months. There are around 110,000 first home purchases in Australia, the scheme allows first home buyers to purchase a property with only 5% deposit through a limited ..read more

With big changes in interest rates over the last few months, many people currently on fixed rates may be looking with envy as new fixed rate offers drop into the low 2’s. We’ve received lots of calls and messages recently form borrowers currently locked in to fixed rate contracts to see if there is any option to switch to a new lower fixed rate as the savings can be significant. The recent rate decreases and emergency rate cut due to the RBA’s Covid-19 economic response saw many lenders make significant drops to their fixed rates. Our broker Paul Fox explains “This time last year the lowest th ..read more

The ACCC released it’s 84 page interim report on the Home Loan Price Inquiry. The report which was released at the end of April, focusing on the decision-making behind the interest rates charged to consumers by the main suppliers of home loans in Australia – ANZ, CBA, NAB and Westpac. The interim report focused on the findings of home loan pricing during the period of 1st January 2019 to 31st October 2019. They examined a range of documents and data on the prices paid by consumers. The report explains that the findings reinforce or built on the findings from their previous report. A lack of p ..read more

Covid-19 has had a huge impact on the number of properties sold last month, however the market did not seem to suffer with any significant decrease in values last month. But, predictions are for an inevitable drop. CoreLogic’s Hedonic Value Index showed that nationally the capital cities recorded a modest increase of 0.2%, with only two showing a decrease (Melbourne 0.3% and Hobart 0.1%). The star performer was Darwin which recorded a 1.7% increase. CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless said, “Although housing values were generally slightly positive over the month, the trend has clearly weake ..read more

March saw property prices track upwards by 0.7% nationally and by 0.5% in Perth. The impact of coronavirus is starting to show but most capital cities managed an increase on last month with the exception of Hobart. Nationally the impact of coronavirus seems to have slowed growth with March registering the lowest monthly gain since the market lifted in July last year, property data analysts CoreLogic said. It’s expected that the new social distancing measures, the rise in unemployment and poor consumer confidence will impact values significantly over the next quarter, with some economic c ..read more