Owner-occupier home loans are up, but fewer of them are first-home buyers.
The number of owner-occupiers taking out home loans jumped 1.5 per cent in July, but fewer of them were first-home buyers.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows the number of first-home buyers remains low and decreased by 4.4 per cent during July. The proportion of first-time buyers in the market is now the lowest for more than six years. Continue reading First-time buyers are a disappearing breed
Have you attended an open house and wondered what style of house it is? Edwardian? Victorian? Modern? Continue reading House style help just a click away
AUSTRALIA’S love of huge houses with extra bedrooms, a study, media or family room may be coming to an end but our homes are still the biggest in the world.
The latest figures show the average new home built in Australia is still 10 per cent bigger than its counterpart in the United States and 9 per cent bigger than in New Zealand.
The average floor area of a new free-standing house in Australia is 243 square metres. Continue reading Australia still has the world’s biggest homes
TV celebrity and interior designer Shaynna Blaze-Vaughan shares her top tips to get your house looking fabulous for the spring selling season.
There is something exciting about seeing the first blossoms of spring, so with that excitement in mind take a fresh look at your home and see what you can do to bring an extra touch of pizzazz to your interior. Continue reading 10 Steps to put some spring into your interior
Now we know the starting price on carbon – $23 – a clearer picture is starting to form as to its impact on the property industry. Will it have a negative impact? That all depends on who you talk to.
The Housing Industry Association – a body that represents builders and the makers and suppliers of building products – remains opposed to a carbon pricing plan, arguing it will add $5000 to $6000 to the cost of a new house and land package – taking into account everything from the price of developing the land to fitting a kitchen cupboard handle. Continue reading Carbon tax on housing
The Australian housing market has a bright future, and Gen Ys will be the ones to lead it there, a social demographer has claimed.
In spite of growing pessimism surrounding the economy, KPMG partner Bernard Salt has told Australian BrokerNews he expects economic conditions to pick up within the next few years. Salt claimed much of the economic pessimism in the housing market is merely reverberations from the GFC. Continue reading Gen Ys will lead housing revival
The Aussie dollar reached parity with the US greenback in October 2010 and has maintained its strength since. But how much longer can this run last?
“What goes up must come down” might be an essential feature of gravity, but many others believe the Aussie dollar is held to the same principal. The dollar reached parity with the US greenback last October – the first time since it was floated in 1983. Since then, the dollar has inched upwards nudging $US1.10 in early May. Continue reading Which way for the Aussie dollar?
In many new areas, powerlines are going underground. But if you live in an older area, would you fork out for the privilege?
A paper released last year by the Crawford School of Economics and Government at the Australian National University found that underground powerlines could increase a home’s value by 3 per cent. That doesn’t sound much, but on a $500,000 property, it equates to $15,000. Continue reading The great power burial