Australians’ household debt levels are world leading. We pay about five-six times our household disposable incomes for our average dream home. This won’t end well.
Business / Markets
Aussie bankers doing fee-nominally well
Executives at our biggest banks continue to enjoy a myriad benefits, the Big Four being among the most generous remunerators of executives in business. But lower-paid workers have not been so lucky.
No stamp duty on capital gains equals incompetence
Gavin R. Putland responds to Adam Schwab’s property taxes piece in yesterday’s Crikey. While the states are addicted to the property boom, the more important issue is property turnover.
NAB: Oz economy to keep growing
We can expect accelerating economic growth, falling unemployment, rising interest rates and higher inflation over the coming two years, according to the National Australia Bank.
We were warned: interest rates will rise
When interest rates are raised today, we can’t say that we weren’t warned. RBA chief Glenn Stevens told us last year we had a chance of avoiding it and we muffed it.
Why you should never take stockmarket advice from business journos
Reporters are interesting in generating headlines, not making you money. Mark Gimein explains why good journalists make bad stock predictions.
Australia’s housing bubble: it’s already here
The evidence is in: Australia is right in the middle of an emerging housing bubble. A rate rise of 0.50% can be justified tomorrow from the RBA on house price figures alone, with Melbourne prices soaring nearly 20%.
Nervous bankers produce lending slump
Bank lending perked up in December, but 2009 as a whole saw the lowest growth in 17 years, thanks in part to a sharp slump in lending to business that was driven, ironically, by banks themselves.
Bubble, or no bubble: that is the question
Residential property in Australia is obscenely overpriced. Whether or not this is the result of a price bubble, or the influence of first home buyers and wealthy investors, is yet to be seen.
Government needs to think carefully about RECs
Andrew Richards from Pacific Hydro gives an insider’s perspective on the issue of Renewable Energy Certificates and the problems created by the government’s introduction of the Solar Credits multiplier.
Residential property: bubble, bubble, toil and trouble
Property is a slowly moving beast, but as Japanese and American home owners found it, is can be quite a terrifying one as well.
Dollar’s strength leads to a whiff of disinflation
The cost pressures seen in the September quarter, especially from government cost increases, seemed to vanish from Australian industry in the three months ending December 31.
US economy: let the grubby dash for cash begin
US President Barack Obama’s announcement that he will close loopholes that let finance firms trade risky products will generate an orgy of spending on elections and lobbying from the banks.
China 2: bubble a benchmark in capital spending
While the China bubble could continue for months or years to come — a planned economy not known for human rights and continuing to defy gravity would also need to defy history, writes Adam Schwab.
Consumers shrug off RBA’s rate hikes
Get ready for a rates rise. The level of rising confidence, taken with solid retail sales for November, good car sales, still strong demand for housing finance and surging overseas travel, have increased the odds of the RBA lifting rates.
We’re drunken violent yobbos, no matter the advertising
Getting wasted on Australia Day isn’t some inherent national right that the liquor industry must defend, says Jeremy Bass. The businesses serving the booze — from pubs to supermarket grog shops — need to widen their tunnel vision.
The bottom line is that China simply won’t crash
It’s a big week for China and those who believe in its current policy direction, and equally, for those who think it is flawed and heading for a crunch, writes Glenn Dyer.
OK, so we can’t see the woods for the trees
Looking at the sad stories about the global economy, the only way most baby boomers will leave the workforce voluntarily will be in pine boxes (probably made in China), writes David Hirst.
Housing boom: where the shortage myth is relevant
The days of endless capital growth in housing must come to an end. If rental yields don’t increase substantially, the current level of housing is unsustainable.
US hasn’t dodged the banking bullet … yet
The revolutionary war fought by the Americans was rooted in part in the overthrow of a banking order imposed on the colonies. That war continues to this day, writes David Hirst.
Have some cents: don’t let your house dreams run wild
When it comes to buying a house, although tempting the ‘out-of-my-budget-but-my-favourite’ property, it’s imperative to go with your head not your heart. The repercussions won’t be just financial, says Trent Hamm.
Economy gets a free kick by not holding the bull
It has been a very good year to be a bull, with share markets across the world rebounding with incredible haste. The US market is all the more astonishing when compared to 1982, the last significant economic slump.
Golf courses just waiting for residential development
Christopher Joye tees off with a novel approach to possible new housing venues. Why not convert public golfcourses into public parkland and use a section of the park for housing?
Why the property boom? Simple. We’re borrowing more
Assets prices inflated by excessive leverage are not sustainable, leading to a gross misallocation of scarce resources. It is a lesson that Australian property buyers appear slow to learn.
Irvine: Buying a house just a dream once more
Australian home prices rose 11 percent in the first 11 months of last year. Interest rates are tipped to rise again. A typical first home buyer needs a deposit worth one year of their income. The housing affordability crisis is back, warns Jessica Irvine.
