Homes feel loved as Valentine’s Day auctions boom
What could be more romantic on Valentine’s Day than buying a new home? Hundreds flocked to the auctions on Saturday looking to fall in love with their dream home and the results show the start of many new relationships. In Sydney the clearance rate was 83 per cent, Melbourne 74 per cent, Brisbane 49 per cent and Adelaide 54 per cent. Nationally the rate was 76 per cent, up from 69 per cent last week.
Source: Australian Property Monitors
 
Number of Aussie real estate millionaires increases
There are an increasing number of property millionaires in Australia as house prices move more people, sometimes unknowingly, into a 7-figure wealth bracket. The Weekend Australian reports that there are almost 800,000 property millionaires now, the majority in Sydney which has 57 per cent of the homes above $1 million; Melbourne has 28 per cent, Perth 8 per cent, Brisbane 5 per cent and Adelaide 2 per cent. According to analysis from CoreLogic RP Data there has been a surge of 111 per cent in the number of homes valued above $1 million since 2009. Head of Research Tim Lawless says that the top 20 per cent of homes across the capital cities have increased in value by 39 per cent over 5 years, compared to the 33 per cent increase at the bottom of the market.
Source: The Weekend Australian

New home construction market is strongest ever
The latest lending figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that the new home construction market is at its strongest ever and is set to continue to grow this year. Lending finance for the construction and purchase of new dwellings increased by 12.6 per cent, mirroring similar growth in the other key indicators of building activity (up 12.4 per cent for the last quarter of 2014 on the same quarter in 2013) and building approvals, which jumped 12.6 per cent to 201,025 last year, the highest on record. A 9 per cent increase in Lending Finance for the construction and purchase of new dwellings was recorded for the month of December in seasonally adjusted terms. Nick Proud from the Property Council of Australia says that home builders are outpacing other parts of the economy: “The recent decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia to cut the official interest rate will likely drive these lending finance figures higher still eclipsing the current record levels. No other sector in Australia’s economy is demonstrating such robust and sustained growth.”
Source: Property Council of Australia
 
 

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