Home loan approvals up in October as first home buyers weigh in
The lending patterns over the month follow on from the RBA’s decision to pause rates in October
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Lending for housing is on the rise, new data from the ABS reveals. Statistics released today show lending for housing rose 5.4 percent seasonally adjusted in October, up from an increase of 0.6 percent in September.
Owner occupiers saw the highest increase over the month, up 5.6 percent compared with loan commitments for investors at 5 percent. The stronger results may reflect the pause in interest rates over October.
The RBA declined to increase the cash rate at its board meeting in October, giving those entering the market confidence that rates may have peaked. However, at its November meeting, the board announced interest rates would increase a further 0.25 percent, bringing the rate up to 4.35 percent.
The number of first home buyers gaining approval for new loans was up 6.2 percent in October, compared with 5.0 percent for investors, seasonally adjusted.
In terms of the differences between owner occupiers and investors, there’s a clearer contrast over the past 12 months, with loan commitments for investors up 12.1 percent compared with a much more modest 1.4 percent for owner occupiers. Among owner occupiers, the value of new home loans commitments by first home buyers rose 11.8 percent over the 12 months.
Construction of new dwellings was up 9.1 percent over the month, although it is still -19.5 percent down over the 12 months to October 2023. Purchase of newly erected dwellings was up 1.7 percent, compared with -5.3 percent over 12 months and purchase of existing dwellings
Australian shares fell on Thursday as Wall Street weakness, rising oil and persistent rate concerns weighed on most of the market. The S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.72 per cent to 8,702. The All Ordinaries lost 0.66 per cent to finish at 8,897. Mining stocks were hit particularly hard, while real estate also dragged on the index. …
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Borrowers cannot control the Reserve Bank, but they can control how exposed their household budget is to its next decision. The RBA meets on 29 September with inflation concerns still elevated and major-bank economists increasingly bringing forward their rate-rise calls. Fixed mortgage rates have also been moving, reducing the value of waiting for perfect certainty. …
Continue reading “What mortgage holders should do before the next RBA decision”
A five-bedroom Palo Alto home designed by Steven Ehrlich is listed for $44 million, making it the city’s most expensive listing. Built around a dramatic concrete spine, the home features four courtyards and a pool.
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For years, tech entrepreneur Asher Waldfogel and his wife, Helyn MacLean, dreamed of building a modern house in Palo Alto, Calif.
The couple, however, worried about clashing with the Mediterranean-style architecture typically associated with their neighborhood of Old Palo Alto.
So they tapped architect Steven Ehrlich to create a design that paid homage to its surroundings with stucco, mahogany and titanium zinc cladding. They spent $20 million over several years building the house, completed in 2005.
Now looking to be closer to their adult daughter on the East Coast, they are putting the five-bedroom home on the market for $44 million—the most expensive listing in Palo Alto.
Waldfogel is an angel investor who co-founded Redback Networks, a telecommunications-equipment company. MacLean previously had a career in fundraising.
The couple purchased the roughly 0.4-acre site for $7.1 million in 2000 and demolished a circa-1930s Spanish Colonial home. The house they built pinwheels around a central staircase. It has 7,900 square feet of livable space, with four distinct courtyards and a pool.
A key feature of the home is a cast-in-place concrete wall, or spine, that is two stories high and about 80 feet long. “There’s a little bit of controlled chaos in what comes out of the form,” unlike a perfectly uniform surface, Waldfogel said. “If you want that, you do it in plastic.”
Waldfogel said he and his wife are thinking about the next phase of life now that their daughter is grown, although they have not decided where they will move. They also have a home in Sun Valley, Idaho.
“Right now we’re just trying to emotionally let go and decide what to do next,” he said.
Palo Alto, an epicenter of venture capital and tech startups in Silicon Valley, is home to some of the country’s biggest tech titans. Sales volume and prices are rising, with a median sale price of $3.5 million for the three months ending in August, up 5.8% year-over-year, according to real-estate brokerage Redfin.
Arthur Sharif of Sotheby’s International Realty—San Francisco Brokerage has the listing.
Mirzaian is a senior director within CBRE’s Development NSW business, operating across the company’s Western Sydney and North Sydney offices
A&K Sanctuary unveils Kitirua Plains Lodge, a sustainability-focused luxury property shaped by landscape, local craft and contemporary safari architecture.
