Real Estate

Here's an update on Australian real estate. The "Australian Mortgage Industry Report", a joint research whitepaper by JPMorgan and Fujitsu Consulting, due to be published next month, makes the prediction that some 750,000 Australian homeowners will be subjected to "mortgage stress" in the coming months - which means more than 35 per cent of their income will be allocated to home-loan repayments alone.

It truly is a buyers market out there with house prices falling in Sydney. Competitive house prices and a steady interest rate have probably spurred this new spending with official statistics release by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) yesterday on Friday revealed that the proportion of loans going to first home buyers was 18.7 per cent in December, up from 18.3 per cent in November and the highest level since May 2002.

Sydney real estate property prices have fallen 10 per cent since the boom ended in late 2003 - and by 2.3 per cent in the last quarter - a Bureau of Statistics survey has revealed, suggesting the market slump is deeper, more protracted and from a lower peak than previously thought.

The downturn is creating opportunities for potential first-home buyers and bargain hunters, but a seller who bought a property in the past three years is likely to lose money if forced to sell, after stamp duty and real estate costs.