Housing market healthy, but stabilising
 The
June quarter (suburb by suburb)
median house price
figures are in this issue of the Property News Report.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has increased the
official interest rate to
5.5%.
The Prime Minister, John Howard, fired a
warning shot at the Reserve Bank on
future interest rate rises
yesterday, as the bank prepared borrowers for
back-to-back rises
South Australia's Rann Government has offered the first
cut to spiralling land
taxes in more than 10 years, in a move that will
save 120,000 landowners $245million over four years.
Eyre Peninsula bushfire
victims will have fees and stamp duty charges waived
when financing or refinancing loans.
The Adelaide
rental
market tightened during February with the vacancy
rate dropping to 2%.
South Australian Housing Trust
tenants owe more than $10
million in rent and bills, with almost one-third of
residents carrying a bad debt.
First Home Owner Grant
applicants
must now occupy their home as their principal place
of residence for a continuous period of at least six
months.
Mortgage interest rates are going up and
you need to act now to
contain the impact that will have on your finances.
The Federal Treasurer, Peter Costello recently highlighted that
State Governments around the country were receiving
significant windfalls from the introduction of the GST
and it was now
time to
consider the abolition of some state taxes such as
stamp duty on non-residential conveyances and stamp duty
on mortgages.
Residential
property council rates have exploded at more than double the
inflation rate across the Adelaide metropolitan area in only
five years, delivering councils an extra $147 million each year
from ratepayers.
One of the many recommendations to come from the Government’s
Productivity Commission investigation into First Home Ownership is the concept of
equity
sharing between home owners and institutional investors.
Whilst Queensland has for a long time been home to many of
Australia’s premier holiday or “sea change” destinations, where are the new
“hot spots” attracting the investor with a sea
change in mind?
Most
home owners understand how important home and contents
insurance is in protecting their property, but many
people who rent never arrange insurance and therefore
leave themselves open to potential losses of hundreds or
even thousands of dollars.
Insurance is a must for tenants.
These days the Australian population is more aware than ever about the
importance of sustainable building practices. 90% of homes in Australia are now
recycling. Here are 15 simple
recycling measures we can implement in our homes to make them even “greener”.
Check the index
for more of What's in this issue... and don't
forget to have a look at
our
archive for historical property sales data and news
from past issues.
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