Banks chase developer for $100m after bankruptcy ruling

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Sydney Real Estate set for Growth in 2012 | Suite101.com

As the end of 2011 approaches Sydneysiders can thank their lucky stars that, of all Australian capital cities, theirs has withstood the economic forces that have devalued home prices elsewhere.

One reason is the rush to beat the end of stamp duty concessions. From the start of 2012 most first-home buyers will have to pay full stamp duty on their NSW housing purchases. As a result, the property market is booming.

Next year the stamp-duty savings will apply only to new homes, including those bought off the plan. This is why in September the number of loans for first-home buyers in NSW leapt by 15.9% compared with October.

The action’s pretty hot at Sydney property auctions as well. Auctioneer Peter Baldwin estimates the number of registered bidders at auctions is up by 20% with the number of buyers even higher in the private treaty market. “We're hearing they're paying whatever the asking price is,” he told Domain.com.

Interest Rate Cut Boosts Real Estate Loans

Sydney Morning Herald writer Chris Zappone noted that data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that the number of seasonally adjusted finance commitments for owner-occupied home loans rose by 3.9% over the month of September.

“The number of home loans rose for the sixth straight month in September, with more gains expected to flow through following the recent cut to interest rates.”

As the market had expected, the Reserve Bank cut the cash rate to 4.5% at its Melbourne Cup Day meeting, down from 4.75% where it had rested since November 2010.

Westpac senior economist Matthew Hassan told Chris Zappone that, although the shift by households to pay down debt rather than to gear up further may limit the expansion in the housing sector, there were other factors to consider: "These forces are offsetting the positives of rising household incomes, relatively low unemployment and a shortage of housing stock," said Mr Hassan.

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