First Home Buyers
04 August 2010
Step 1 - The First Homeowners Grant Step 2 - State Benefits Step 3 - First Home Saver Accounts Home ownership is the Great Australian Dream and buying your first home is very exciting! There are a range of government benefits available to help you make your goal a little bit more affordable. Step 1 – The First Homeowners Grant In 2000... read news item »
Reserve Bank's official interest rate kept on hold at 4.5 per cent
06 July 2010
BORROWERS receive a reprieve from a further squeeze on their budgets for at least another month after the Reserve Bank left the cash interest rate unchanged. The central bank left the cash rate at 4.5 per cent for a second straight month today, as expected. "The current setting of monetary policy is resulting in interest rates to borrowers around their average levels of the past ... read news item »
Reserve Bank keeps interest rates steady at 4.5pc
03 June 2010
THE Reserve Bank has left the official cash rate steady at 4.5 per cent. The decision to pause on rates comes after six interest rate rises in a row since last October. Many economists correctly tipped rates would stay on hold, and the cash rate is expected to rise to between 4.75 and 5.25 per cent by the end of the year. RBA Governor Glenn Stevens said interest rates are at &ldq... read news item »
Property buyers hit with new sales tax
13 May 2010
TENS of thousands of NSW home buyers a year are set to be hit with a new tax that will cash in on the improving property market and boost state government coffers by an estimated $90 million annually. Quietly released by the Minister for Lands, Tony Kelly, amid the wash-up of the federal budget, the new land transfer charge will be imposed on the sale of residential and commercial property... read news item »
Reserve Bank increases its official cash rate to 4.5pc
04 May 2010
HOMEOWNERS will pay about $50 a month more on their mortgages after the Reserve Bank hiked its cash rate for the third time in a row. A 25 basis point increase to the official rate adds about $50 a month to a $300,000, 25-year home loan, according to research company Canstar Cannex. Economists had been tipping the rate rise, with the market pricing in a 69 per cent chance that the Res... read news item »
Australian Federal Government gets tough on foreign ownership rules
27 April 2010
Government cracks down on homebuyers Foreigners will have to sell as they leave Hotline set up to 'dob in' rule breachers FOREIGN students and temporary residents will face tough new rules when buying a house and will have to sell on leaving Australia. The Federal Government's crackdown, to be announced today, reverses its December 2008 decisi... read news item »
Rising interest rates to hit renters hard
26 April 2010
Landlords to pass on higher mortgage costs Shortage of rentals, rising population push up rents "Perfect storm" leading to higher rents INTEREST rate rises during the next two years is going to hit tenants hard as the cost of escalating mortgage payments is passed on to tennants. TENANTS can expect to pay out an extra $5 billion or m... read news item »
Rates jump - again
06 April 2010
Borrowers will be stung again after the Reserve Bank raised its key interest rate by another 25 basis points. The central bank today lifted the cash rate - banks’ starting point when calculating mortgage rates - by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.25 per cent, up from the 4 per cent level that has been in place since last month’s 25-basis-point rise. Today’s r... read news item »
Don't get caught chasing an escalating market
30 March 2010
The Sydney property market's median price is set to double in the next 10 years, recent reports suggest, and while that appears to be good news for investors who are already in the market, it is a concern for those still trying to get a foothold. As the property market continues to grow it is important investors understand how to value property to increase their chance of success. Many peopl... read news item »
Property's sleeping beauties
10 March 2010
PORTFOLIO POINT: Hot spots might offer short-term gains, but undervalued areas offer more attractive returns to investors. Investors looking for investment opportunities in a property market rising as strongly as it is right now are understandably frustrated. Talk of price bubbles and tipsters espousing cheap and cheerful “hot spots” are enough to drive any sane property owne... read news item »