REINSW: The Real Week Ahead
- Written by Tim McKibbin
The Reserve Bank meets this week and it appears rates are set to go up again. There remains a desire among consumers for greater certainty around the current rate rise cycle.
First home buyer activity appears to be declining, according to ABS data released last week, and the recent rate increases are being blamed.
The various first home buyer schemes and incentives do not appear to be stacking up against the impact of lower borrowing limits and higher repayment costs.
This turns attention back to the part of the solution with the most obvious potential to improve affordability: supply.
Elsewhere in the market, actual transaction activity continues to contrast the doom and gloom headlines.
Revenue NSW figures show there were over 19,000 transactions in July, from which the NSW Government collected over $981 million in stamp duty.
The number of transactions was slightly down on the July 2021 figure and slightly above the July 2020 figure.
REINSW members report a similar number of genuine and prepared buyers in the market as this time last year. The buyer frenzy has obviously calmed, but the prices vendors are receiving are typically still well above pre-COVID levels.
Should rates go up again as seems likely, it will be more of the same in the weeks ahead: strong deals still getting done, accompanied by select commentators declaring a catastrophe.
