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$15,000 HomeBuilder grant deadline fast approaching

Thinking of building, buying a new home or renovating? The HomeBuilder scheme ends on March 31, which means you’ve got less than two weeks to take advantage of the $15,000 grant. The Australian government scheme, which was initially due to end in December but was extended to 31 March, has led to a big spike in new home sales in recent months. And experts are tipping HomeBuilder applications will continue to rise before the impending cut-off date. “We expect a…...
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Boom time: Australian home values surging at fastest pace in 17 years

It’s official: Australia’s housing market is in the midst of a broad-based boom, with the national home value surging 2.1% higher in February; the largest month-on-month change since 2003. We haven’t seen this kind of fast-paced growth since Guy Sebastian robbed Nollsie to win Australian Idol, Roger Federer won his first of 20 grand slams (against the Scud at Wimbledon), and people primarily used their mobile phones to make calls (well, and play Snake). The February surge, which was recorded…...
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SME credit demand improves, lenders begin next phase of COVID-19 support

Things are starting to look better for small business owners across the country with just 5% of deferred business loans yet to resume repayments. Meanwhile, there are signs that business credit demand is improving, especially when it comes to asset finance. The first bit of data comes from the Australian Banking Association (ABA), which shows just 11,263 business loans across the country are yet to resume repayments. That’s a huge drop from the height of the pandemic back in June…...
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“On the cusp of a boom”: CBA’s assessment of the housing market

Australia’s housing market is on the “cusp of a boom”, with house prices set to leap 16% over the next two years, according to the Commonwealth Bank (CBA). The head of economics at Australia’s biggest bank, Gareth Aird, predicts national house prices will surge 9% in 2021 and a further 7% in 2022. Apartment prices meanwhile are predicted to rise 5% in 2021 and 4% in 2022. "The negative impact that COVID-19 had on Australian property prices turned out to…...
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CoreLogic’s Home Value Index in 2021 shows Australian housing values reached a new record high in January.

Housing values continued to rise through the first month of 2021 with CoreLogic’s national home value index up 0.9% over the month. The January movement takes Australian home values to a fresh record high.Housing values have surpassed pre-COVID levels by 1.0%, and the index is 0.7% higher than the previous September 2017 peak. Every capital city and broad rest-of-state region recorded a rise in housing values over the month, ranging from a 2.3% surge across Darwin to a relatively mild 0.4% rise in Sydney and…...
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How did your suburb fare during the COVID-19 crisis?

When coronavirus broke out across Australia, doomsday reports tipped the property market could fall as far as 30% across the country. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case. Here’s how to find out how your suburb actually fared. A realestate.com.au analysis shows that property prices actually grew in most Australian suburbs throughout 2020. Yep, that’s right. Despite prolonged lockdowns in some parts of the country (especially Melbourne), most suburbs experienced year-on-year growth in 2020. Go and have a look for yourself using…...
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Still haven’t found what you’re looking for? Listings to pick up soon

While you were kicking your feet up over the festive season, did you flick open your phone and scroll through real estate listings in your dream location? If so, you might’ve noticed there were fewer properties listed for sale than usual. Here’s why. If you couldn’t find exactly what you were looking for, don’t stress - it’s actually much harder to find ‘the one’ at this time of year. That’s because property listings traditionally drop in December, with 2020 no…...
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New year, new you: 3 quick and easy finance resolutions

Whenever we think of New Year’s resolutions, the first thing that comes to mind is a health kick. But here are three (easy) New Year’s resolutions that’ll help improve your financial wellbeing in 2021. Below we’ll run you through three straightforward, and most importantly, achievable New Year’s resolutions to set yourself this year (and not a diet or boot camp in sight!). 1. Get a home loan health check Quick question (no judgement): do you know the interest rate on…...
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Happy New Year! Here’s to a prosperous 2021!

Well, that was a year for the history books. Time to start looking forward, we reckon! And the good news is 2021 offers plenty of promise. So what’s your New Year’s resolution? While we saw the national housing market dip throughout the middle of 2020, it's already started to recover, and many experts predict it'll rebound even stronger in 2021 as the COVID-19 vaccination is rolled out across the country. With that optimistic outlook in mind, now’s a great time…...
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Season’s Greetings! Bring on 2021!

To all our wonderful clients: this has been a year like no other, so we can only hope that you’re treated to a relaxing time with family and friends this festive season. We want to say a huge thank you for your support over these past twelve months. It’s fair to say it’s been an incredibly challenging year for households and businesses alike. That said, it’s been an absolute pleasure and an honour working with you towards your lifestyle and…...
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