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, January 9, 2012

December home loan volumes up 5.4% on December 2010

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

"AFG Mortgage Index shows the proportion of fixed rate loans rise to 19.2% in December, up from 17.2% the month before, as more borrowers chose to lock in rates. This figures is not far off the high of 20.4% for fixed rate loans recorded in October...

Compared to December 2010, sales volumes were up by 5.4% nationally. Across Australia, NSW’s December sales volume increased on December 2010 by 15.6%, QLD 7.7%, and South Australia a very strong 44.8%, with contractions recorded for WA (3.9%) and VIC (8.9%)."
at 2:19 PM