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With the NSW recently announcing that from the first of January next year, it will abolish stamp duty concessions for first home buyers buying new homes, it’s been reported this week that there is now more activity in the property market from first home buyers keen to see if they can get in before that deadline.
So if you’re a first home buyer and you feel like you’re ready, here is a suggested list you may want to check off before you decide to pounce: (more…)
Thanks to a 24 hour news cycle, we now have rolling updates on everything from around the world, if we choose to keep glued to our TV and computer screens.
And for some it’s quite addictive. Because just as reality TV has capitalised on people’s fixation to watch the good, the bad and the ugly of people’s everyday lives - so too has society’s appetite grown for watching global events unfold before our very eyes.
If we need a recent example, who can ever forget the Japanese tsunami?
But this has had more serious implications on matters of economic importance such as what might happen to official interest rates, because expert’s predictions can now change from da- to- day.
Just take the events of the last few weeks…
In early August analysts were tipping rates to rise because of higher than expected inflation figures for the June quarter. And then… as global sharemarkets all took a huge tumble thanks a still tenuous US economy and the economic situation in Europe, a rate cut was then being more widely predicted.
And most recently, RBA Governor Glenn Stevens last week told a parliamentary committee, that Australia is well positioned to tackle any further weakening of international conditions and that inflation data is “still concerning,” easing speculation they will cut interest rates.
It’s a bit like watching a tennis match, with volleys going back and forth. When really, all consumers want is some semblance of stability - which is difficult to attain in an information rich world where everyone can so easily promote their opinion.
So for borrowers, this abundance of information can be overwhelming and needs to be balanced out by starting to think about their goals again so that no matter what happens, you have a clear path to follow.
Keep your eyes on the prize, but remember that too much information can sometimes be a dangerous thing. And perspective is a wonderful bedfellow.
With global markets still in turmoil from events emanating from the US and news reports suggesting this is the beginning of the end, it’s easy for property investors and borrowers to panic.
But that’s the last thing you should be doing.
If – and I use the term ‘if’ – the current slide in our sharemarket and currency puts our economy in the doldrums for any amount of time, as a property owner, one of the last things you would want to do now is panic and sell.
Why?
A buyer can spot a nervous seller at 100 feet and is likely to result in you getting far less than you would if you bunkered down to ride out the storm.
No one is really prepared to say exactly how this current turn of events will manifest over the short to medium term for Australia but there is now certainly more talk that official interest rates may indeed be cut in September.
So that being said, if your repayments are likely to decrease, it makes sense to hold onto that property the loan is against because it’s now costing you less – and wait for things to calm down.
And that’s because the property market – like interest rates – is cyclical by nature.
An opportunity may even exist for some borrowers to keep their repayments at the same level they are currently at now (if rates do go down) and take the opportunity to pay more off their mortgage while they can.
Rather than being convinced it’s all doom and gloom, there may be some silver lining in that cloud.
Regardless of whether you own or rent your property, running a home can be a costly exercise.
Notwithstanding the rising costs of energy over the last few years which has put a dent in many household budgets, there are all the other associated costs to run a house, which in combination, can keep you emptying your pockets – unless you look at ways in which you can cut down. (more…)
With yesterday’s latest unemployment figure of five percent being the lowest in two years, it would seem at the moment there’s jobs for the boys – and girls! (more…)
A rising rate climate, changes in lending criteria and a tight rental market will all continue to play their part in contributing to new borrowing patterns in the year ahead and defining what’s hot and what’s not in the mortgage market. (more…)
Working out exactly when the right time is to sell, is a little like working out the right time to fix a loan. In other words, it’s a tough one to call.
And at the moment (notwithstanding we’re coming into the Christmas season), it’s a challenging period to try and choose the right time to sell if that’s part of your game plan. (more…)