The strong level of pre-listing activity across the real estate market has continued again during the most recent week with the Market Activity Index once again eclipsing its previous record high during the previous week. The Index now sits at 134.1 points which is 39% higher than at the same time last year. This high volume of pre-listing activity is likely to continue translating into a high volume of new listings during the coming weeks.
National Home Value Index Release RP Data - Rismark International
Australia’s residential property market begins 2010 in the black Australian home values are up 2.4 per cent over the three months ending January
Based on the RP Data-Rismark Hedonic Home Value Index, Australia’s housing market started 2010 with a resilient showing, registering a solid 1.8 per cent capital gain in the month of January based on the indicative index results. This, however, employed a small sample of sales due to the seasonal summer slowdown (the volumes recorded in January were around half the sales in a typical month). The indicative December 2009 estimate, which was -0.3 per cent, has revised only very slightly to -0.4 per cent.
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Industry Market Wrap
The Housing Industry Association and the Commonwealth Bank released their Housing Affordability Index this week which showed that housing affordability fell during the December 2009 quarter by 18.4%. In comparison to the December 2008 quarter, home loan affordability was 22.3% lower. The results were due to the halving of the First Home Owners Grant Boost at the beginning of the quarter, three successive interest rate increases by the Reserve Bank between October and December and residential housing values increasing by 11.1% during 2009. The report highlights that affordability levels are now similar to those recorded during 2008 at a time when interest rates were significantly greater than current levels. Today RP Data and Rismark International will release their January National Home Value Results. It will be interesting to see how the market has performed during the typically quiet January period given that home values fell by -0.3% during December 2009. Despite the fact that values fell last December, key market indicators such as the Market Activity Index and listings data shows that there has been an above average level of real estate activity during early 2010.
As pre-listing activity continued to ramp up, the number of new listings this week actually fell slightly from its very high levels of a week ago. The total number of listings also eased during the week thanks to an obviously active market where available stock is quickly being consumed. In each state the number of new listings is currently is greater than at the same time last year whilst the two territories are seeing a slightly lower volume of listings than at the same time last year.
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Auction markets are continuing to see activity levels grow with more than 1,400 capital city auctions held last week, The weighted clearance rate across the combined markets increased again this week from 67% to 74%. Melbourne’s auction clearance rate was recorded at a healthy 81.6% and Sydney recorded 71.4%. This was the first time that Melbourne’s clearance rate climbed above 80% this year.
Want to know the auction results for your local area? Log into rpdata.com and go the Auction Results panel on the top right corner of the home page.
The number of new rental listings advertised during the most recent week actually fell by -8%. The fall in new listings also resulted in a fall in the total number of properties being advertised for rent which eased by -1.3% during the week. We expect that the number of new and total rental listings will continue to ease in coming weeks given that a large amount of rental accommodation generally becomes available during the first few months of each year.
The rural wrap
This week’s Property Pulse takes a look at how property markets performed during 2009 in some of Australia’s larger rural areas.
The 2009 property market was characterised by strong growth in values within capital city markets accompanied by weakness in coastal and lifestyle areas but the performance of Australia’s rural markets has largely gone under the radar. These regions are mainly supported by agriculture and mining. Many also act as service centres for the surrounding regions.
In this week’s Property Pulse we take a look at some of the larger rural areas of the country and how median prices and rental rates have performed in recent times.
Whilst median house prices throughout our capital cities sit at $485,000 and median unit prices are recorded at $400,000, property in rural Australia is much more affordable.
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Blog: If you want to own a property, get a significant other first
We constantly hear different numbers thrown around about how much it costs to purchase a home compared to incomes, this week we’re going to put some simple science behind it. The table below details the average weekly earnings of a person in each state as at November 2009 based on data released this week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. We have also annualised the results to show how much that equates to over a year.
Three industrial properties in Sumner, Queensland, have been sold by agents of Jones Lang LaSalle
.
The properties at 17 Spine Street, 81 Wolston Road sold to neighbouring owner-occupiers and a vacant industrial block was also sold.
Jones Lang LaSalle agent, Chris Cash, negotiated the sales for $1.825 million, $1.2 million and $1.47 million respectively.
At 17 Spine Street, the 2060 sqm office and warehouse facility on a 4049 sqm site was sold on behalf of Judco Pty Ltd an to Finlayson’s, which owns neighbouring properties.
At 81 Wolston Road a 3991 sqm vacant General Industry-zoned block of land with development approval in place for a seven-unit industrial strata-titled complex was sold to Plummers Industries to accommodate expansion.
According to Mr Cash, the sales correlate with Jones Lang LaSalle’s recently released Q4 Industrial Research which showed an increase in average sale prices and increased investor confidence in the industrial sector going into 2010.
“There is definitely a positive shift in sentiment by tenants, investors and developers already this year and we expect to see greater activity levels in the industrial sector in 2010,” said Mr Cash.
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