Driven by ultra-low interest rates and government support measures, first home buyers are flocking back to the real estate market, and Australia’s two largest mortgage brokerage firms have reported a surge in loan applications from young home buyers. AFG said that in the most recent quarter, its total housing loan applications increased by 30% year-on-year,…
Under the Morrison government’s HomeBuilder plan and the proposal to relax responsible lending, the rapid growth of new home sales has made economists more optimistic about the price, construction activity, and GDP forecasts of detached houses. Economists also predict that the central bank will not extend the A$100 billion quantitative easing (QE) program in April.…
Australia’s largest bank will stop automatically offering mortgage holidays to homeowners who are struggling due to the new crown virus pandemic, and major lending institutions have begun contacting tens of thousands of customers who have not yet begun repayment to collect debts. At the height of the new crown epidemic last year, hundreds of thousands…
Although the surge in new crown cases in December caused consumer confidence to frustrate, expectations for housing prices rose again. The Westpac Melbourne Institute’s index of house price expectations rose 1.1% in January—and usually, this is a month of quieter real estate activity. Before price expectations rose, the index surged 9.4% last month to 143.7…
Recently, the Australian Department of Law released a report on the review of the Australian intelligence legislation framework-the “Richardson Review”, which for the first time extensively reviewed many national security laws passed in Australia after the “911” terrorist attacks. It is reported that the review recommends that the government merge the existing “Telecommunications (Interception and…
Preface In the last election debate of the Rooty Hill RSL club, both leaders were asked about foreign investment in Australian agricultural land. Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said that he is “not as free as Abbott’s market”. When he owns agricultural land, he prefers joint ventures between foreign companies and Australian companies. Kevin Rudd…
Preface Economic freedom measures rank countries based on the rule of law, government size, regulatory efficiency, and (most relevant to this discussion) market openness. This includes freedom of trade, investment freedom and financial freedom. In terms of overall economic freedom, Australia ranked fifth after Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand and Switzerland in the 2016 ranking.…
The Australian Small Business Commissioner Kate Carnell warned that due to the further reduction in the subsidy amount of the Australian government’s JobKeeper program, many small business employees have been lost and employers are unable to recruit new employees. According to the Australian government’s plan, the amount of the “Retention Subsidy” will be reduced from…
New home sales almost doubled in December, and home buyers scrambled to buy before the deadline for HomeBuilder subsidies. Buyers hoping to buy houses before the end of the HomeBuilder subsidy began to act, and the number of new house contracts almost doubled in December. The HIA (Housing Industry Association, Housing Industry Association) latest new…
Employment in the December quarter returned to pre-covid-19 levels, indicating that the official employment situation has further improved, and GDP is stronger than expected. The Reserve Bank of Australia may reduce its quantitative easing program as early as April. Bjorn Jarvis, Director of the Bureau of Labor Statistics of ABS, said: “From early December to…