Launch Home Loans

22/05/2023

Balance of power shifting towards sellers

Vendor discounting – which captures the difference between the price at which a vendor lists their property for sale and the price they ultimately accept – is a good proxy for the state of the market. There’s less discounting in a stronger market and more in a weaker one.

That’s what makes the latest vendor discounting stats from CoreLogic so interesting.

Focusing just on the capital cities, we can see:

* Discounting has significantly increased over the past year – from a median of 3.2% in the April 2022 quarter to 3.9% in April 2023
* But discounting has noticeably decreased since September – when it reached 4.4%

In other words, the combined capital cities property market experienced a sharp downturn in the early to middle stages of 2022, before starting to recover towards the end of last year.

Not coincidentally, as property prices have been rising, vendor discounting has been falling.

Buyers take note: if prices continue rising, vendor discounting is likely to continue falling.

Mortgage Brokers

18/05/2023

🚨Attention Property Investors🚨 The ATO is cracking down on tax returns and aiming to recover $1.3 billion in missing taxes! Make sure your tax affairs are in order to avoid any penalties. 💰💼🏠🔍📝

read more https://www.launchhomeloans.com.au/bank-to-provide-data-on-property-investors-to-ato/

13/05/2023

More buyers have entered the market

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has provided another data point that suggests the housing market may be heating up.

The amount of new home loan commitments in March ($24.0 billion) was higher than the month before ($22.8 billion) – which was the first monthly increase since January 2022.

So after falling for more than a year, home loans activity has rebounded, suggesting more buyers have entered the market.

It’s much too early to tell whether this increase in mortgage volumes is a false dawn or the start of a trend. But it’s worth pointing out that CoreLogic previously reported that property prices also increased in March, after 10 months of consecutive falls, and then in April as well.

Mortgage Brokers

11/05/2023

🏠📈 The home loan refinancing boom is still going strong after two years, and it's hitting record levels! 🎉💰 If you haven't already, now is the time to consider refinancing your home loan. 🏡💸

10/05/2023

Budget at a glance

Here are five highlights from the federal budget:

1. Australia will post a $4 billion budget surplus in the 2022-23 financial year – the first surplus in 15 years

2. Economic growth is forecast to slow from 3.25% in 2022-23 to 1.5% in 2023-24 before rising to 2.25% in 2024-25 (see graph)

3. More than five million households will receive up to $500 in electricity bill relief in the next financial year

4. To stimulate the construction of new build-to-rent projects, and put downward pressure on property prices and rents, the managed investment trust withholding tax will be reduced from 30% to 15%

5. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme will be expanded from new homes only to existing dwellings as well, so homeowners can get an energy rating for their property and decide how to make it more energy-efficient

10/05/2023

April Property Market Update
🏠💰🏠💰🏠💰🏠💰🏠💰

Australian property prices rose 0.6% in March, according to CoreLogic – the first monthly increase since April 2022.

Read more https://www.launchhomeloans.com.au/april-property-market-update/

03/03/2023

After careful consideration, I have compiled a list of 7 tips that will help property investors when starting out. Head over to www.launchhomeloans.com.au and download your copy.

Brett, Mortgage Broker

03/03/2023

How to buy your first home in 2023

First home buyer activity has been trending down for almost two years, according to home loans data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

A total of 8,576 owner-occupier home loans were issued to first home buyers in October 2022, compared to the recent peak of 16,187 in January 2021 (see graph).

If you’re a first home buyer and you’d like to buy a property in 2023, here are five tips that might help you achieve your goal:

1. Speak to a mortgage broker, who will give you expert guidance

2. See if you can save a higher percentage of your income

3. Increase your borrowing capacity by reducing the limit on your credit card

4. Investigate whether you're eligible for the First Home Guarantee, a federal government scheme that lets eligible buyers purchase a property with just a 5% deposit without having to pay lender's mortgage insurance

5. Ask your parents if they’ll go guarantor on your home loan – this is another way to reduce the size of the deposit you need

01/03/2023

Property market update

Australia’s median property price fell just 0.1% in February, according to CoreLogic, marking a sharp reduction in the rate of decline.

By way of comparison, in the six months between August and January, prices fell 1.6%, 1.4%, 1.2%, 1.0%, 1.1% and 1.0%.

Sydney’s median property price actually increased during February.

And in every other capital city except Darwin, the rate of decline in February was lower than the month before.

That said, it’s too early to call an end to the housing downturn – the coming months will tell us whether February was an irregular result or the start of a trend.

10/02/2023

Let Launch Home Loans help make it happen! With over 20 years of experience in helping people fund their home and investment properties, we've got you covered 🙌
Call us on 07 3192 1100 for a free 15-minute consultation.

08/02/2023

RBA increases cash rate

The Reserve Bank of Australia has made another increase to the cash rate, taking it from 3.10% to 3.35% at its latest monthly board meeting.

The reason the RBA is increasing the cash rate is to reduce spending by consumers and businesses, and therefore reduce inflation from its current mark of 7.8% to between 2-3%.

We can expect the cash rate to rise further.

The RBA board, in announcing the cash rate decision, said it “expects that further increases in interest rates will be needed over the months ahead to ensure that inflation returns to target and that this period of high inflation is only temporary”.

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