The author has been described by News Ltd as an "iconoclast", "Svengali", a pollie's "economist muse", and "pungently accurate". Fairfax says he is a "Renaissance man" and "one of Australia’s most respected analysts." Stephen Koukoulas concludes that he is "85% right", and "would make a great Opposition leader." Terry McCrann claims the author thinks "‘nuance’ is a trendy village in the south of France", but can be "scintillating" when he thinks "clearly". The ACTU reckons he’s "an enigma wrapped in a Bloomberg terminal, wrapped in some apparently well-honed abs."

Monday, October 3, 2011

First home buyers storm back into housing market (as does rate of fixing)

From Australia's biggest mortgage broker, AFG, today:

"Fixed rate home loans rose sharply in popularity in September, as first home buyers returned strongly to the market, especially in New South Wales and Western Australia. The AFG Mortgage Index, published today by AFG, Australia’s largest mortgage broker, shows that 16.6% of all new home loans processed in September were fixed rate loans, compared to 9.4% the month before, and even lower figures for most of 2011. The last time fixed rate loans were so popular was in April 2008 when they comprised 18.4% of the product mix. AFG Mortgage Index also shows a strong return of first home buyers in New South Wales, Western Australia and to an extent Queensland during September. While the national figure of 15.7% of first home buyers is in line with the long term average, in NSW first home buyers accounted for 18.9% of the market, in WA 17.4% and in QLD 15.8%. First home buying activity was more subdued in VIC (13.3%) and SA (10.0%)."
at 12:44 PM