Australians coy on property
Last year’s interest rate cuts have done little to inspire Australians to invest in property, as interest rates and housing affordability continue to unsettle potential home buyers, a new survey has found.
“Our survey shows that while interest rates are a key concern for buyers, there are other factors such as household expenses and job security influencing their ability to purchase,” said general manager of realestateVIEW.com.au, Petra Sprekos, in relation to the annual Appetite to Buy survey.
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“Consequently, we’re finding most are adopting a ‘wait and see’ approach. We definitely don’t see this changing anytime soon, especially if the big four break ranks with the RBA again and raise mortgage rates this month.”
The survey, which was commissioned by realestateVIEW.com.au and run in late February 2012, was conducted on 1,475 Australians via an online questionnaire. The breakdown of respondents’ locations were as follows: Victoria (42.4 per cent), NSW (24.6 per cent), QLD (11.7 per cent), SA (8.5 per cent), WA (7.3 per cent), Tasmania (3.5 per cent), ACT (1.2 per cent) and NT (0.7 per cent).
The survey showed 32.7 per cent of 1,475 consumers surveyed were looking to buy this year, down from 43.5 per cent in 2011. It said the main impacts on purchasing intentions included interest rates (48.5 per cent), housing affordability (47.6 per cent) and increasing household expenses (41.6 per cent).
Job security (26.0 per cent) and the European debt crisis (25.5 per cent) were also impacting buyer confidence, the company said, with 78.0 per cent of those looking to buy this year yet to put in an offer.
According to realestateVIEW, Australians are continuing to save, with 20.5 per cent of respondents having saved a deposit greater than 40 per cent. A further 26.6 per cent have saved a deposit between 11-20 per cent.
