PropertyBuzz, your daily dose of property news.
How is financial regulation impacting first home buyers?; The latest in NSWâs mission to reform the strata sector, and auction volumes warm up in anticipation of Spring.
Welcome to Property Buzz! Iâm Juliet Helmke. Today is Saturday, 17 August.
– The Senate has voted to launch an inquiry examining the impact that Australiaâs financial regulation is having on home ownership.
– Senator Andrew Bragg, who leads the Senate economics references committee, said that the inquiry would explore ways to reduce lending costs and improve accessibility for first home buyers in particular, with the probe to focus on âpeople, not institutionsâ.
– Going into the examination, Bragg said he believed the nation could be doing âmore to support the aspiration of first home buyersâ, and noted that âAustralians must be able to have access to a mortgage as a prerequisite for a first homeâ.
– The inquiry intends to report back with options to tilt the scales in favour of first home buyers, through investigating lending practices by banks and private credit, opportunities to drive deregulation, and considering the eligibility barriers to first home finance, such as HECS debt.
– In NSW now, the state has introduced a bill to clamp down on so-called âbad playersâ in the strata sector, with the proposal aiming to restore confidence in strata schemes by making it abundantly clear that strata firms can not take secret kickbacks for sourcing insurance policies, after a major firm was found to be doing just that earlier in the year.
– The new laws will enforce greater conflict-of-interest disclosure and increase penalties for strata management agents found to be doing the wrong thing.
– NSW Fair Trading’s enforcement powers will be strengthened, preventing agents from receiving commissions without finding the best deal for residents.
– The state emphasised that with more and more NSW residents choosing high-density living, it was integral that confidence in the strata sector remained high.
– And looking at auctions this week, volumes continue to rise with just over 2,000 homes scheduled for live sale on the week ending 18 August 2024, up from almost 1,900 the previous week.
– Melbourne remains the busiest auction market with 858 homes heading under the hammer, despite a slight drop from the previous week. Sydney’s volume is expected to increase with 783 properties hitting the block.
– Smaller cities will also see changes: Brisbane’s auctions are set to increase moderately to 159 by the weekâs end, while Adelaide’s volume falls to 143, Canberra’s doubles to 86, and Perth’s rises slightly to 13.
– CoreLogic predicts further increase in auction volumes next week, with around 2,100 homes scheduled for auction across the combined capitals.
Thatâs Property Buzz for today.
Have a great weekend. Weâll see you on Tuesday for your next daily dose of Property Buzz.
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