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The weekly round-up of the biggest news stories from across Momentum Media’s property titles for the week ending 17 July.
Welcome to The Adviser’s weekly round-up of the stories that are getting big reads across Momentum Media’s property titles: The Adviser, Mortgage Business, Real Estate Business, Smart Property Investment and nestegg.
We hope it helps inform you of the biggest issues shaping the mortgage and property markets.
Lender slashes LMI costs for FHBs
Westpac subsidiary St.George Bank has reduced lender’s mortgage insurance (LMI) costs to just $1 for FHBs with a loan-to-value ratio (LVR) of up to 85 per cent.
Jamie McPhee, CEO of ME Bank, has resigned after being at the bank for more than a decade.
Earlier this year, the bank came under fire for its handling of a change to its redraw policy, which saw it reduce the amount borrowers could redraw from specific legacy mortgage products without forewarning customers.
FHB demand soars, bucks credit trend
Aussie Home Loans has reported that home loan enquires from first home buyers surged over the month of June, up 219 per cent from the previous corresponding period.
This is despite a sharp drop-off in demand for housing credit across the broader market, with the latest data from the ABS revealing that the value of home loan approvals plunged 11.6 per cent (seasonally adjusted terms) to $16.4 billion in May – the largest fall in the history of the series.
13 unlicensed advice warnings issued to agents
The corporate regulator has followed up on 124 reports of real estate agents who had advised tenants to apply for early release of super to pay their rent. It said it was forced to take action on 13 occasions by issuing warnings.
According to ASIC executive director for assessment and intelligence Warren Day, “The conduct isn’t continuing, and we’ve seen a huge amount of walk-back from real estate agents.”
The property ‘cliff’: Will property prices fall from September?
The question on everyone’s lips is, “Will house prices fall?” writes Aaron Christie-David.
The best advice at this stage is to not panic and watch the market closely. Should you decide to buy, undertake extensive research into the area and type of property, talk to your mortgage broker about what you can afford and run various scenarios to assess how that decision will affect you in the short, mid and long term.
‘Recipe for disaster’ brewing for Sydney landlords
Sydney vacancies are now sitting at 4.5 per cent – 0.4 per cent higher than vacancy rates in May, and 1.5 per cent higher than what was posted in March.
According to CEO Tim McKibbin, “Sydney’s inner ring experienced the most significant change, rising 0.8 per cent to 5.8 per cent. Last month, vacancies in the inner ring hit an 18-year high at 5.1 per cent – a result that has been exceeded this month. Looking back at more than 20 years of survey results, we’ve not seen vacancy rates this high. It really is staggering.”
5 ways to use COVID-19 to your property-buying advantage
With the recent revelation that Millennials believe the COVID-19 crisis has made their goals of property ownership more likely to be realised, there are a number of ways would-be buyers can take advantage of the less-than-ideal pandemic.
How are real estate agents coping with the crisis?
The mental health outlook of real estate agents has improved since the first few weeks of the pandemic, according to the latest findings from a MyBusiness/Momentum Intelligence survey.
Four in 10 real estate agents reported their mental health state as “very good”, while 36 per cent considered their mental health to be “good”. Just 4 per cent considered their mental health to currently be “poor”, compared with 20 per cent at the beginning of the crisis.
Sydney’s Hills to be serviced by new merged entity
Laing+Simmons Bella Vista | Glenwood will merge the former Laing+Simmons Bella Vista with a local Glenwood real estate business with Sam Dalby and Tony Garay at the helm.
Belle Property confirms latest expansion
Belle Property has bolstered its offering with a new office in Braidwood, NSW, to be headed up by experienced agent and principal Kelly Allen.
It will focus on rural and residential sales and marketing and “will be opening with a close-knit team with Kelly at the helm, alongside business manager Tim Allen and an assistant agent”.
For more analysis and insight into these stories, tune in to Momentum Media’s new live talk show on Facebook, What’s Making Headlines, featuring Momentum Media’s executive editor - real estate, Phillip Tarrant, and business coach and Real Estate Gym trainer Tom Panos. The live stream can be found via The Adviser’s Facebook page every Thursday lunchtime.
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