New buyers eyeing the market
Since the Reserve Bank (RBA) cut the official cash rate in May and kept it steady this month, one mortgage finding service has found that 52 per cent of loan enquiries have come from first home buyers.
This comes even as recent Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data for March 2013 show that first home buyers resulted in just 14.1 per cent of loans – the lowest since March 2009.
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“Loan enquiries in general jumped 42 per cent during May compared to April 2013, also partly bolstered by the lowest fixed rate options we have had in market for some time,” said John Ewens, national sales manager at eChoice.
“The bulk of the remaining enquiries during May, 41 per cent, were from existing homeowners. Within this group 83 per cent were homeowners and 17 per cent investors.”
In May and June this year, data saw that 21 per cent of buyers were between 18 to 29 years of age, with 22 per cent in their thirties, eChoice recorded.
After the recent on-hold rate decision, new buyers may be even more encouraged to get into property, as the market starts to see signs of a pick up.
AMP Capital’s Shane Oliver expects there to be another cut in the following months, recently noting that “We continue to see further interest rate cuts from the RBA with the next move likely in the next month or so, although the RBA may decide to wait until the August meeting, after which it will get a look at the June quarter inflation figures”.
