New Home Owners Gain $180,000 In Six Months
Savers in the meantime are losing out.
2 min
Homeowners who purchased property six months ago are up to $180,000 better off than if they had invested their savings elsewhere, a new analysis by Canstar reveals.
The research shows that if a Sydneysider bought a house for the median price of 1,112 671 in March with a 20% deposit of 222,534 the value of their property would have risen by 16.3% by last month. In dollar terms that equals a massive $181, 365 by last month.
The same 20% deposit invested in a six-month term deposit at the highest interest rate of the time – 0.99% — would have just earned $2203 in comparison. A stark difference.
Alternatively, if the same amount was investing in the Australian sharemarket, shares would have grown by 10.02% — a robust difference over the savings account yet nothing when compared to the increases in property investment.
It’s not only a Sydney story either. In Melbourne where a homeowner who invested in a house with a 20% deposit of $171,819 based on the median price of $859,097 back in March would have gained a 10% rise of $85,910 by September.
In a term deposit savers would have only earned $1701 and in the sharemarket a comparatively low $17,216.
According to Canstar’s finance expert Steve Mickenbecker, it’s apples and oranges when comparing the value found in housing and term deposits.
“Housing and term deposits are chalk and cheese when it comes to investing surplus savings. Both can form part of an investment portfolio but they perform different functions,” says Mickenbecker.
Yet there are pros and cons to both forms of investment.
“Term deposits are low risk, with a government guarantee for a total up to $250,000 with any one bank, while house prices can fall,” he said.
“Housing as an investment lacks the flexibility of cash in the bank. You can’t cash in $30,000 of the house to cover living expenses, and the sale of the property can become protracted.’
Consumers are going to gravitate toward applications powered by the buzzy new technology, analyst Michael Wolf predicts
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
Ray White’s chief economist outlines her predictions for housing market trends in 2024
2 min
Ray White’s chief economist, Nerida Conisbee says property price growth will continue next year and mortgage holders will need to “survive until 2025” amid expectations of higher interest rates for longer.
Ms Conisbee said strong population growth and a housing supply shortage combatted the impact of rising interest rates in 2023, leading to unusually strong price growth during a rate hiking cycle. The latest CoreLogic data shows home values have increased by more than 10 percent in the year to date in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth. Among the regional markets, price growth has been strongest in regional South Australia with 8.6 percent growth and regional Queensland at 6.9 percent growth.
“As interest rates head close to peak, it is expected that price growth will continue. At this point, housing supply remains extremely low and many people that would be new home buyers are being pushed into the established market,” Ms Conisbee said. “Big jumps in rents are pushing more first home buyers into the market and population growth is continuing to be strong.”
Ms Conisbee said interest rates will be higher for longer due to sticky inflation. “… we are unlikely to see a rate cut until late 2024 or early 2025. This means mortgage holders need to survive until 2025, paying far more on their home loans than they did two years ago.”
Buyers in coastal areas currently have a window of opportunity to take advantage of softer prices, Ms Conisbee said. “Look out for beach house bargains over summer but you need to move quick. In many beachside holiday destinations, we saw a sharp rise in properties for sale and a corresponding fall in prices. This was driven by many pandemic driven holiday home purchases coming back on to the market.”
3 key housing market trends for 2024
Here are three of Ms Conisbee’s predictions for the key housing market trends of 2024.
Luxury apartment market to soar
Ms Conisbee said the types of apartments being built have changed dramatically amid more people choosing to live in apartments longer-term and Australia’s ageing population downsizing. “Demand is increasing for much larger, higher quality, more expensive developments. This has resulted in the most expensive apartments in Australia seeing price increases more than double those of an average priced apartment. This year, fewer apartments being built, growing population and a desire to live in some of Australia’s most sought-after inner urban areas will lead to a boom in luxury apartment demand.”
Homes to become even greener
The rising costs of energy and the health impacts of heat are two new factors driving interest in green homes, Ms Conisbee said. “Having a greener home utilising solar and batteries makes it cheaper to run air conditioning, heaters and pool pumps. We are heading into a particularly hot summer and having homes that are difficult to cool down makes them far more dangerous for the elderly and very young.”
More people living alone
For some time now, long-term social changes such as delayed marriage and an ageing population have led to more people living alone. However, Ms Conisbee points out that the pandemic also showed that many people prefer to live alone for lifestyle reasons. “Shorter term, the pandemic has shown that given the chance, many people prefer to live alone with a record increase in single-person households during the time. This trend may influence housing preferences, with a potential rise in demand for smaller dwellings and properties catering to individuals rather than traditional family units.”
Consumers are going to gravitate toward applications powered by the buzzy new technology, analyst Michael Wolf predicts
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
