This is what would have happened if stupid Kevin Dudd and Wayne Goose hadn't interfered and injected money to prop up the bubble. Looks like the so called enviable economy is no different than anywhere else once you strip away all of the hype

Where's badweekend to tell us how we are all wrong LOL

More doom and gloom boo! hoo!

Melbourne house price fall largest since GFC

MELBOURNE house prices have suffered the worst start to 2011 of any city, barring flood-ravaged Brisbane, falling at the fastest rate in two-and-a-half years.

As households struggle with higher interest rates and soaring prices for petrol, groceries and utilities, official data showed yesterday that house prices fell 2.5 per cent in the three months to March compared with the previous three months.

The result is Melbourne's biggest house price decline since the height of the global financial crisis in the 2008 September quarter and matches the 2.5 per cent decline in Brisbane in the aftermath of the floods.

On the eve of the Reserve Bank of Australia's monthly board meeting to discuss interest rates this afternoon, the Australian Bureau of Statistics quarterly house price index also revealed a bigger-than-expected 1.7 per cent drop across Australia's eight capital cities.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/business/drop-in-melbourne-house-prices-biggest-since-gfc/comments-e6frfh4f-1226048679363

Ban the auctioning of homes, for starters. Make them sell for a fixed
price, not to exceed the Valuer-General's figure.

And the 'auctioning' of rental properties should be made ILLEGAL.

As should the endemic discrimination against lower-income
renters, and those on welfare.

There's a good start.

...man, I miss the 70's

yeah! we didn't have much, at least not all the useless crap we have now, but what we had we made good use of.

We had the ideology of peace and love and sustainable communities..........and the bad acid lol

then we got money hungry and selfish and took our kids futures away.

Housing finance falls to 10-year low

THE number of home loans approved in March fell to a 10-year low, dragged down by the Queensland floods and by the November rate hike.

The number of home loans approved in March fell 1.5 per cent, to a seasonally adjusted 44,968, its lowest level since February 2001.

Economists' forecasts had centred on a 2.0 per cent rise in housing finance commitments for the month.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said total housing finance by value fell 0.1 per cent in March, seasonally adjusted, to $19.300 billion.

JP Morgan economist Ben Jarman said the number was soft and the housing sector was weak throughout the March quarter.

"There were a couple of things going on that we can obviously point to in Queensland, so the numbers are fairly soft," he said.

"In January, we had the Queensland floods and pushed down approvals nearly 15 per cent and the numbers have failed to come back from that.

"It does seem the Queensland floods are exhibiting a fairly long-lasting drag on that market."

Mr Jarman said many households also refinanced their home loans at the end of 2010 after the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) raised the cash rate by a quarter of one per cent to 4.75 per cent.

"That rate hike in November was supersized by the banks," he said.

"So you've got a couple of elements that are contributing to the weakness, but even if those factors start to fade, there will still be some pretty intense headwinds for the sector.

"You've got borrowing rates now above average and the prospect of more rates hikes to come. So we expect the housing data to be pretty subdued for some time to come."

Mr Jarman said he expected the RBA to next hike in August.

"This will give RBA officials time to look through the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) report, which we'll get in a couple of weeks, which we expect will be quite soft.

"The RBA will wait a couple of months to look through the GDP data and get one more inflation print just to make sure the last elevated print wasn't an anomaly."

ICAP senior economist Adam Carr expects the RBA will be happy with the weak numbers.

"I think they would want lending to be weak, to be honest, and that's the right way to think," Mr Carr said.

"The last thing we would want with the mining boom is another credit boom, another house price boom and the subsequent bust that that's going to bring."

The RBA's stance on monetary policy would probably not be changed after today's data release, he said.

"Lending is weak and they've known it's weak, notwithstanding the fact that there's some seasonal adjustment problems with the data, Mr Carr said.

"You'd be hard-pressed to argue that rates, where they are, are weighing heavily on the (housing) market and I think think it's more just a consumer choice.

"They don't want to buy houses - they're expensive and house price growth is non-existent. So why would you buy?"

RBC Capital Markets fixed income and currency strategist Michael Turner said the data was soft across all the components of the report.

"Weakness in the housing sector is not new news, with first quarter house prices slipping and building approvals remaining broadly weak," he said.

"These data, however, were weaker than expected and there are only modest signs of stabilisation in demand for housing credit.

"The RBA has proven effective in its quest to shift resources to the mining sector, with today's housing data adding to reasonably glum retail sales data released earlier."

Mr Turner expects the RBA to next lift the cash rate in August as inflation rises above the central bank's two to three per cent target band.

"With the RBA forecasting growth to move to an above-trend four per cent by year-end and underlying inflation to move to an above-target 3.25 per cent by end-2013, it is reasonably clear that rates will need to move higher, he said.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/business/breaking-news/housing-finance-falls-to-10-year-low/story-e6frfkur-1226056716935#ixzz1MTssbjWz

It's a bargain hunters' market as house sales plummet

BARGAIN-hunting home buyers face a bumper two weeks, with 1665 properties going under the hammer.

Auction clearance rates are at lows not seen since the global financial crisis, with vendors shaving prices to get sales.

In Melbourne, Clayton is emerging as a best-buy suburb, with only one in three houses selling at auction.

Real Estate Institute of Victoria spokesman Robert Larocca said a month of Melbourne auction clearance rates below 60 per cent and a lot of properties for sale meant this was likely to be the best two weeks for buyers in a couple of years.

He said last weekend's clearance rate of 53 per cent was Melbourne's lowest since November 2008.

"Many auctions are being negotiated in the kitchen afterwards," he said.

But people remain keen to use the auction system, with 780 properties under the hammer this weekend and 885 next weekend.

Mr Larocca said Clayton had a clearance rate of only 36.4 per cent, making it good for bargain hunters.

"They are likely to face less competition and have a better opportunity for snapping up a bargain," he said.

Century 21 Wilson Pride Clayton director Con Katos said $500,000 could buy a property with enough room to build a separate unit.

He said proximity to Monash Medical Centre and Monash University made Clayton popular with property investors.

"Although the auction clearance rate is low, there are a lot of properties selling afterwards," he said.

Meanwhile, a new RP Data report reveals Melbourne sellers are dropping their prices an average 6.5 per cent to find a buyer.

This means a property advertised for $500,000 could be discounted $32,500.

"For potential buyers, the news is much more positive because buyers now hold the power and can really begin to negotiate and pick up a property at a reduced price," RP Data's Cameron Kusher said.

http://www.news.com.au/money/property/bargains-as-auction-rate-hammered/story-e6frfmd0-1226060130437

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Take out the spruiker drivel, and you get the picture. Property for investment purposes is a no goer.

Property for investment purposes is a no-goer from this point forward, for a long time into the future.

Things change andrei, and your parents era of buying and selling houses for profit is finished, and is no longer relevant.

If you bought a property at the peak of the boom, you stand to lose considerable money, unless you bought it for a home to live in and not for investment, then you will be paying back a mortgage far more than the value of your property.

Come in the bargain hunters.