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The federal government’s Home Guarantee Scheme (HGS) has now helped 100,000 people buy or build their own home since being launched in 2020. The National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation, which administers the HGS, said 34% of the 100,000 people who’d been supported had been regional Australians, while 20% had been key workers such as … Read more
One of the most crucial property indicators is days on market, or the average time it takes properties to sell, and the way this indicator has bounced around over the past year reflects the ups and downs of the housing market. As noted by Ray White Group Chief Economist Nerida Conisbee, days on market across … Read more
Australia needs to increase its electric vehicle (EV) charging stock to prepare for an expected influx of EVs in coming years, according to new research from property group CBRE. To gauge infrastructure readiness, CBRE conducted a stocktake of EV charging stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth by analysing: 80 major premium office buildings with … Read more
This afternoon the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) chose to move the cash rate to 4.10%. With the cash rate increasing by 4 percentage points since the start of 2022, many households have felt the pinch of rising interest rates. On top of that, many fixed-rate loans are due to expire in the second half … Read more
Small businesses are suffering harm from Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media platforms, according to a new report from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC). The report, which examined how consumers and businesses interact with social media services, found evidence of: Excessive data collection practices. Widespread scam activity. Lack of effective dispute resolution options. … Read more
The federal government delivered a range of small business-friendly programs and incentives in its recent budget. Under the Energy Bill Relief Fund, eligible small businesses will receive up to $650 in electricity bill relief. Under the Small Business Energy Incentive, businesses with aggregated annual turnover of less than $50 million will be able to deduct … Read more
Commercial vendors and buyers have become more cautious as interest rates have been rising. Nevertheless, there were still more than $17 billion worth of sub-$5 million transactions conducted during the year to May 2023, according to Ray White Commercial Head of Research Vanessa Rader. The asset types that attracted the most activity were: Retail shops … Read more
Scamwatch has urged businesses and consumers to be on the lookout for increased scam activity and to take steps to protect themselves. Criminals use data breaches, such as the 2022 Optus data breach, to target people through phishing emails, phone calls, and SMS or social media messages, according to Scamwatch. To protect yourself, don’t click … Read more
Refinancing cashback deals may become a thing of the past, after several big banks and smaller lenders, including Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Bankwest, announced they planned to phase out the incentive. Now that some institutions have made the first move, it wouldn’t be surprising if other lenders followed suit, because cashback deals can have more … Read more
This is a pretty good time to be a first-home buyer, according to one of Australia’s leading property economists. Ray White Group Chief Economist Nerida Conisbee said there are four things in favour of first-home buyers right now: Property prices are lower than this time last year. Owning has become more appealing because rents are … Read more
