___________________________________________
Indications of stabilisation in the Australian residential housing market as strong. The first quarter of 2009 saw Australian home prices increase. This is exciting news for the property market, which is buckling the dramatic downward trend seen i
n many overseas markets. An April report release by RPDATA ( http://www.rpdata.com.au/ ) saw house and flat prices rise by 1.6 percent in the March quarter, with the growth occuring in February at 0.9 percent and March at 0.6 percent.
The positive outcome followed modest 3 percent falls in value of capitial city homes during 2008. largely due to mortgage rates peaking at 9.6 percent in August.
Improved housing affordability has been the main driver behind the price increases. According to the RP Data's director of Research, Tim Lawless, while the boost to the First Home Owner Grant (FHOG) certainly sparked demand , and the supply of available properties has been low, the dramatic drop in interest rates has been the key factor.
The first homebuyer sector represents less than 30 percent of all property sales, while the 3 percent interest rate as at May 2009 is the lowest offical cash rate seen for 49 years. As a result, the ratio of total household interest payments to disposable income has fallen rapidaly from 15 percent to 10 percent according to Christopher Joye, Managing Director of Rismark International.
Both Sydney and Melbourne achieved growth of 2.4 percent in Median house prices, while Darwin home values grew by 2.8 percent. Sydney's median rose to $514,695 while Melbourne's rose to $426,423.
Melbourne also recorded the shortest average time on the market for houses, with the average home selling in 41 Days, 14 Days less than the national average of 55 Days. Brisbane enjoyed modest growth in the first three months of the year, with Median house values up by 1.4 percent.
The figures highlight the importance of keeping a close eye on the facts and maintaining an objective and balanced perspective amdist the deluge of negativity that is bombarding are airwaves.
