Latest news with #CameronKusher
The Guardian
10 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Australian property investors squeezing out first-time buyers as record borrowing and rate cuts drive purchases
Property investors borrowed a record sum, nearly $130bn, to buy homes over the year to June, supported by interest rate cuts but squeezing out first-time buyers. Banks made almost 200,000 new loans to landlords over the year, the most since 2022, while the number of new first-home mortgages slipped to 116,000. Cameron Kusher, an independent property expert, said falling interest rates have made borrowing easier for mortgage-holding homeowners and investors than for first home buyers. 'They're going to get relief on those mortgages in terms of their repayments, and they're going to be the ones that are probably going to capitalise on this most,' Kusher said. More than $340bn was lent for new home loans in the year to June, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data, released Wednesday. Annual lending flows have risen $70bn since June 2023, more than half from new investor loans. Property investors borrowed $33bn in the June quarter, while first-time buyers borrowed less than half that much. Sign up: AU Breaking News email Pressure on first-time buyers has heightened as investors target lower-priced homes and more affordable regions. The average new investor loan was $100,000 smaller in June than in March, at under $640,000. Landlord borrowing grew steadily in Tasmania and the Northern Territory. Interest rate cuts have boosted incomes and wealth for landlords and existing homeowners by lowering their mortgage repayments and driving up their property prices, Kusher said. 'It's increasingly getting harder for first-time buyers to compete with investors and non-first home buyers [who] have already got equity … as opposed to a first-time buyer, who's been out of the market and is paying a lot more for rent,' he said. A rise in competition and prices has resulted in the number and value of new first-time buyer loans plateauing in recent years. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Credit bureau Equifax in July found first home buyers' mortgage demand had slumped over the previous 12 months and would not recover by December. Richard Brown, a Sydney mortgage broker, said some of his renter clients were waiting until 2026 to try to buy a home, after the Albanese government announced in April it would broaden access to its mortgage guarantee. 'They were gearing towards purchase, but now, since that announcement, they may delay for six months,' he said. Investor clients were buying much faster, seeking income boosts as rent prices continued to rise and loan repayments fell, Brown said. The Reserve Bank of Australia's rate cuts have also helped owner-occupiers take out increasingly expensive loans, though the number of new borrowers hardly budged, as house prices raced upwards. Accelerating increases in property values and expectations for more interest rate cuts have led to growing number of analysts hike their price predictions, with ANZ in August calling a 5% rise nationwide in 2025 and nearly 6% in 2026.
News.com.au
18-07-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Leaked document confirmed what we already knew. The housing accord is dead
ANALYSIS Talk about worst kept secrets. Earlier this week, federal treasury accidentally let slip what should have been a doozy … the much spoken of housing accord was on track to fail. That key Labor policy of delivering 1.2 million homes over five years was going to fall short. 'Stop press and clear the front page!' Said no one. This kind of leak is like me accidentally revealing I'm not on track to qualify for the 100 metre sprint at the next Olympics. Treasurer Jim Chalmers didn't seem too worried about it. Although he did concede 'more effort' would be required to make the target. The housing accord covers a period from 1 July, 2024, until end of June 2029. So, it's just completed its first year. Each year, 240,000 homes need to be completed in order to be on track for the target. In the first year, around 170,000 homes were completed. If this pace continues, we'll end the five years 350,000 homes behind target. Let's break it down to quarters, because all the economics boffins love quarterly data. We need 60,000 homes completed each quarter. In the first two quarters of the financial year, there were about 45,000 completions each. That then dropped to 43,500 in the third quarter. Completion data for the most recent quarter is yet to be released, but the ABS reported just over 42,000 building commencements, so we're getting further away. Meanwhile, building, borrowing and earning conditions aren't really getting any better. Economist Cameron Kusher from Oz Property Insights commented on the Australian Bureau of Statistics' Building Activity Data this week, noting 'While apartments are typically more expensive to build than houses, the average build cost of a new house in Australia has increased by almost $100,000 in the most recent two years'. When you consider the national house median price is at $888,000 according to recent PropTrack data, that's an increase of more than 10 per cent of the overall value in just two years. Then there are the shortages of skilled workers in the construction industry, the struggle that borrowers are facing as the RBA drags the chain on lowering interest rates and the fact that wages are moving about as slowly as the continents are drifting apart. And finally, what for many is the biggest hurdle of all, comes the last layer of government involved in the process: your local council. Because housing is a case of big picture to backyard. The Federal Government announces an initiative and invests some money in incentives, then it's over to the state governments to put in place their own policies and investments, including infrastructure that needs to be built around new housing. And if you are lucky enough to endure all of this and still be ready to invest in a new build, it's over to the local council for approval, but not before they ask residents if it's OK with them if something is built nearby that may create an inconvenience for them. And wouldn't you know it, those residents are often a fair bit more worried about what is happening in their own street than whether the nation is reaching its overarching housing targets. The housing accord should not be an impossible target, but it is. It won't be achieved and it never was going to be achieved. And as a result, housing will keep getting further out of reach for future generations of Australians.
ABC News
15-07-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Is Australia's love for large homes fuelling the housing crisis?
Housing research and property economist Cameron Kusher says Australia might need to rethink its love affair with larger homes and go back to the way houses were built 30-40 years ago to reduce construction costs and boost building productivity.
News.com.au
25-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
‘Slippery slope': Low FHB deposits spark NINJA loan fears
First homebuyers are getting on the property ladder using increasingly smaller deposits, with new data showing they're only stumping up 8 per cent of the loan upfront as governments offer more incentives. Research by Great Southern Bank reveals government assistance and financial help from family are making it easier than ever for first-time home seekers to buy a home. The bank found the average first homebuyer — a third of whom were aged 35 and over — had secured a home loan with a deposit of between 7.7 per cent and 8.9 per cent in the past 12 months. In Queensland, the government has announced a new Boost to Buy scheme allowing those earning $150,000 or less the ability to buy a home valued up to $1m with just a 2 per cent deposit. Independent housing researcher, Cameron Kusher of Kusher Consulting, said governments' involvement in the housing market by way of incentives risked pushing up prices further. In a post on his LinkedIn account, Mr Kusher said: 'I get that we want more people in homes, but 2 per cent deposits for $1 million homes? I fear it is only a few years until governments here in Australia are supporting NINJA loans and 100 per cent LVR mortgages. Superannuation vs. property returns: What's the winner? 'It seems like a slippery slope to me, one that both sides of politics continue to dabble in. 'Not to mention the more that the government is involved in housing, via underwriting LMI, the more incentive they have for higher prices and thus the less incentive for lower prices.' Maria McQullian, a broker of 25 years and owner of Concinnate Financial Services, said the majority of first homebuyers were securing their properties with a 5 to 15 per cent deposit. 'The First Home Guarantee (FHBG), Family Home Guarantee (FHG), family guarantor and lenders' mortgage insurance (LMI) discounts are all beneficial in situations where it might take years to save a 20 per cent deposit and could mean missing out on the opportunity to buy at current prices,' she said. 'Lenders can waive your LMI if you apply for a home loan through the Australian government's Home Guarantee Scheme (HGS). 'It allows eligible home buyers to get on the property market with a deposit as little as 2-5 per cent and Housing Australia guarantees the rest. 'The re-elected Albanese government has also promised first home buyers there'll be no LMI to pay so long as you have a 5 per cent deposit and meet eligibility criteria.' Great Southern Bank's 'No Place Like Home Report' also revealed 43 per cent would look at government schemes for financial help, while about a quarter would ask their family for help or buy with a friend or sibling. Great Southern Bank chief customer officer Rolf Stromsoe said customers were finding a variety of pathways to home ownership. 'These pathways play a crucial role in getting Australians on the property ladder sooner, and with a smaller deposit,' he said. 'Aspirational buyers should strongly consider talking to a home loan expert or broker about their support options — they may need less than they think.'
