PFB220413

Property and Finance Brief 22 April 2013

Home loan rates from 5.32%
MTA Finance currently has access to lending rates from 5.32% no annul fee. Application fee, standard valuation fee and legal fees waived. 100% offset available. Only available for a limited time Conditions apply:

· Principal & Interest loans only

· Loan to be 75% or less of properties value

· Minimum loan amount $150,000

· Subject to property locations

· Offer only available for loans approved before 31 May 2013.

CBA say factors are pointing to solid price growth for 2013 - 2014
At a recent conference I attended CBA provided their economic forecast for next 12 – 24 months which they believe will support property price growth. The key points were as follows:

· Global growth expected to be 3.5% in 2013

· Domestic growth expected to be 3.25%

· CPI expected to remain around 2.2%

· The Australian dollar is expected to stay between US$1.00 – 1.05

· China is expected to have 8% growth per annum and now accounts for 30% of Australia’s exports. Japan and Korea account for a further 30% and the rest of Asia 20%

· Baby boomers are now heading into retirement so over the next 20 years we can expct to see 30% of the workforce retiring.

· To meet Australia’s expected labour market demand we will require 260,000 new workers per annum. Given that the gap can not be filled from internal population growth it is expected that increased migration will be required.

· Based on Australia’s population growth we require approximately 180000 new homes to be built per annum. At present we are building 150000

Gladstone population set to double in less than 20 years

Gladstone’s population is set to double in less than two decades, but Gladstone Regional Council says it can cope with the growth.

During Thursday's annual GAPDL Gladstone Region Future Summit, the council's chief executive, Stuart Randle, said the region could meet the demands of an extra 50,000 residents. "Given that the available land is able to cater for the 2031 projected population comfortably, we are confident that the development industry will be able to meet housing demand," Mr Randle said.

According to the Office of Economic and Statistical Research, medium series projections show Gladstone's population will increase by about 50,000 to 111,690 people by 2031. But as a result of strategic residential planning, Mr Randle said the council could accommodate an increase of 65,000 people by the same year.

The economic and statistical research report also found that population increases were expected to be between 70,959 and 77,629 people by 2016.

Property sentiment boost

The Property Council of Australia-AN Property Industry Confidence Survey for the June quarter revealed a 17-point spike in sentiment in Queensland to 121, compared to 104 in the last quarter.

The survey polled more than 3100 professionals from the property and construction sector across the country.

Housing affordability improves
The impact of lower interest rates on the housing market are "clearly evident", according to Reserve Bank assistant governor Christopher Kent. He told a Bloomberg Australia Economic Summit this should help underpin further moderate growth in dwelling construction. He said the significant easing in monetary policy, starting in late 2011, was having some of the expected effects and that these are likely to have further to run. His speech coincided with a Westpac-Melbourne Institute survey that found more Australians expect home prices to rise in the year ahead than at any time since mid-2010.