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The calls to financial counsellors began about 18 months ago. Middle-aged, middle-class homeowners in Western Australia who had shifted their retirement nest egg from superannuation to property were suddenly unable to pay their mortgage. It typically started with an investment property, often in the Pilbara mining towns of Karratha, Port Hedland and Newman. Purchased for $750,000 in 2012, when the market was near its peak, the property was now worth $300,000 and falling. The rental return, which had been $1,600 a week, had fallen to $370. Not enough to cover repayments. Then came the...

CENTRAL Melbourne has experienced a boom decade with data revealing that 93,000 jobs have been created, along with 29,000 homes and 800 cafes and restaurants since 2006. A snapshot of the inner-city, released by ­Melbourne City Council this week, reveals strong growth in economic activity, jobs and housing. The city’s economy — or gross local product — is now worth $92.1 billion ­annually, an increase of 42 per cent over 10 years. Apartments in the Melbourne municipality now ­account for four out of every five homes, with 14,200 new dwellings popping up in the CBD and Southbank in the...

Stephen Halmarick says the risks of a residential property crash are being exaggerated. The chief economist at Colonial First State Global Asset Management — Australia’s biggest fund manager — has heard stories of impending doom in the property market for most of his 30-year career, but he does not see any more risk of a crash this time. “I do find myself getting a little bit worked up sometimes when you read in the paper that there will be lots of mortgage stress in Australia if interest rates rise sharply,” Mr Halmarick tells The Australian. “But inflation would have to increase...

The doors to Melbourne’s once-exclusive $1 million club have been blown wide open, as house prices continue to soar across the city. There are now 115 suburbs with a seven-digit median house price, compared to 82 about a year and a half ago, Domain Group data shows. There were 23 entrants over the past six months. Though Seddon and Yarraville have long been hot spots in the inner west, they have officially hit $1 million over the past six months — and Newport is not far away. It is a similar story in the inner north, where Brunswick and Brunswick East are now on the property rich list,...

A TYPICAL young homebuyer who cashed in all their superannuation to buy a house would have less than 20 per cent of the deposit but lose more than $100,000 in retirement. And the move could also end up costing the government up to $1.5 billion in extra pension costs because people would have less retirement savings. That is the damning finding of an analysis by Industry Super Australia, which has found the idea mooted by some within the government to be a lose-lose scenario. Under a range of scenarios, obtained by news.com.au, cashing in super would provide homebuyers only a small...

A handful of once-overlooked Melbourne suburbs — some arguably still under the radar — have been rapidly slipping out of reach for a growing number of home buyers. It now costs $570,000 to buy a typical house in Thomastown, where the median was about $440,000 just a year ago. The northern suburb, 17 kilometres from Melbourne’s CBD, is among the fastest growing suburbs for house prices over the 12 months to March, alongside Brunswick East, West Footscray, Seaford and Highett, Domain Group data shows.  The best suburbs for unit price growth include Noble Park, Altona, Toorak, Blackburn and...

The dream of owning a home is getting more difficult in Melbourne, where the median house price has hit a record high of $826,000. The city-wide median increased 7.6 per cent in the first three months of this year. It is up $55,000 on December's figure, reflecting the strongest quarterly growth since 2013. The Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) said four factors contributed to the record growth: strong buyer demand solid population growth low stock record low interest rates "Melbourne's property market is experiencing a perfect storm," REIV president Joseph Walton said. "To see a...

The average price of a Sydney house sold by private treaty has surpassed the $1 million mark. Figures from the Easter weekend show the median price in Sydney was $1.03 million, up more than 17 per cent from a year ago, property analyst CoreLogic says. It's the first time the private treaty median price has exceeded $1 million, according to the firm's data that spans back to February 2013. In Melbourne, the next most expensive city, the average price was $720,000, over 16 per cent higher than at the same time last year. Private treaty sales represent around 85 per cent of all home sales...

Amy Carlson, 33, moved to Sydney from Melbourne seven years ago. Two weeks ago, after witnessing a massive surge in property prices, she moved back – with her partner Jamie Hodgson and son Olli.  Having rented a three-bedroom house in Randwick for $1000 a week, they realised it would be faster to save for their own house if they moved back to Melbourne, where rent was cheaper. Now they’re in Malvern East, paying $790 for a “massive” three-bedroom-plus-study house. “The prices that we were seeing in Sydney, for the locations we wanted to live in … it just wasn’t going to be what we...

Melbourne investors are muscling in on Bendigo’s real estate rental market and adding to the city’s housing stress, a Victorian-first local council analysis reveals. And hundreds of workers moving to Victoria’s second largest regional city for a major infrastructure project is also increasing pressure on prices and competition. The council’s blueprint into Bendigo’s liveability reveals the areas where residents are under the most financial strain to meet mortgage and lease payments. The City of Greater Bendigo study identified potential sites for affordable housing initiatives and...