NEWS
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By Anita Marshall
September 1, 2009
Anita Well - it must be the month of nominations for awards for AFS. Firstly the most exciting is for Jacqui. Jacqui has been nominated and also made it into the finalists of "Young Gun of The Year" in the Australian Mortgage Awards. This is a huge honour. Jacqui was nominated for the award by Chris Slater who is the state manager for AFG (our aggregator who represents over 2500 brokers). Jacqui has been given 2 tickets to attend the awards night by Westpac Bank and will be attending the Westin Hotel in Sydney towards the end of September - we wish her all the very best for the night. I have also been nominated by a client in the Telstra Business Woman of the Year awards and AFS has been nominated by a client in the AMI Awards for Marketing excellence. What an honour for us to be nominated by our own clients -greatly appreciated too. Wish us luck! Just a reminder that I will be in Victoria this Sunday for a few days - if you would like to catch up with me while I am down there (Benalla / Melbourne) please let me know - I still have a few appointment times available! Enjoy Spring Anita Jacqui Hi everyone. As forecast.... "Clear Weather Agead!" One of the largest banks in America, Goldman Sachs, announced a first quarter profit of $3.2billion, which means that, incredibly, they have been able to repay $10billion to the American taxpayer. This compares to the bloodshed of losses the banks experienced in 2008. Our prediction from November 2008 stands correct and now the tide has turned and normal bank profit is starting to be seen. Now, here's the proof! Now we must watch what happens as the system is flourishing with cash, which will be lent on so banks can again make their money. Cash rich buyers will then go looking for property. As we've been predicting when there are too few bananas in the store - buyers will push up the price. Remember Cyclone Larry and its devastating effect on the agriculture in the area? Banana prices were pushed up from $2.00 per kilo to $17.00 per kilo. The following year saw the normal supply of bananas come into the market and re-establish the normal price. It won't be quite as radical with property however. We know it takes two to three years to build that rapid growth. We also know that no-one has started building yet to allow a growth spike to start. With no giant influx of property for these buyers we are going to see the biggest jump in property prices that Australia has ever seen in its long history. But be careful, there are many mistakes to be made for the innocent investor. For example, some investors have been influenced by the recent current affairs shows that highlight ‘the areas of great growth'. These prices have been forced up by the first home buyer buying the wrong type of property in the wrong location based on what they believe is all they can afford. Don't be fooled into buying in these areas based on media commentary. We are still rejecting My prediction on the growth of these "cherry-picked" Club properties? Sydney - over the next three years shou Melbourne - a 40% price increase and similar in Brisbane. We are still recommending Darwin, Newcastle and the Gold Coast area but our researchers will have to come up with a much better rent return to compete with Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Normally, it would be very confusing in the marketplace to determine which alternative to take, but the Club has software to help you. You can compare all properties with our CAP (Cash-flow Analysis Program) which gives you an indication of what your property will cost you weekly and FIDO (Financial Independence Date Organiser) software which gives you an indication on when you will be financially independent as per your individual circumstances. These tools are available to you, as Club Members, completely free of charge. What a great time to be in property. The Investors Club has seen four consecutive months of our best sales ever. We find our informed Club members are always six to twelve months ahead of the market. We get in and scoop the bargains and then we see the herd come in later and push up the prices of lesser properties thus elevating our buyers to huge price growth. Soon this surge in buyers will be reported in the media and panic will set in as buyers emerge from their winter sleep and chase ever diminishing "for sale" signs. So go make money! Use CAP and FIDO and lock in the right choice.
Broker Mortgage Trends and Statistics:- 51% of borrowers have used a broker SA is the most broker-friendly state, with 61% of SA borrowers having used a broker before compared to the national average of 51%. TAS and VIC borrowers were least likely to have used a mortgage broker before, with 44% and 41% stating this respectively. Younger borrowers are more open to using brokers, with 58% of Gen Y borrowers having used a broker in the past compared to 54% of Gen X and 46% of Baby Boomers. Gen Y borrowers are also more likely to approach a broker for a future loan, with 59% stating this compared to 57% of Gen X and 50% of Baby Boomers. Significantly, the proportion of non-property owners who would not consider using a broker fell from 26% in 2008 to just 3% in 2009. This indicates that the large majority of non-property owners are willing to consider using a broker, driven largely by their belief that brokers can get them a better deal and that their advice would be valuable. Major banks accounted for 61% of the brokers' share of recommendations WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? Clearly we are a much sought after commodity with a growing number of Australians preferring to use a broker for general advice and recommendations The above information was obtained from the Genworth Financial Mortgage Trends Report July 2009. Westpac CEO says Australian economy improving The head of the nation's biggest bank by market value says problems in the economy, including bad debt, still had to be worked through and funding costs for the bank are continuing to rise. "There's no question we're seeing an improved economic environment," Mrs Kelly said in a presentation for the bank's third-quarter update on Friday. "A key factor domestically has been the much improved consumer and business confidence and the stronger than expected economic recovery in China is also welcome. Mrs Kelly said the bad debt cycle was working its way through the economy and it was still difficult to predict when impairments would peak. Westpac said impairment charges for the three months to June 30 increased to $865 million from $811 million in the preceding quarter. "I certainly hope to be in a better position to talk to this at our full year results in November, when we have a few more months under the belt," Mrs Kelly said. The commercial sector, particularly smaller businesses that couldn't access equity or credit markets, was finding it hardest to service debts, she said. However, consumer bad debt had declined slightly, and Mrs Kelly said consumer spending may underpin the economic recovery. Demand for fixed rate homeloans increases More borrowers have locked in interest rates amid speculation that the official cash rate already has bottomed.There are also widespread concerns that local banks will continue to raise their mortgage rates independent of whether the Reserve Bank raises cash rates. Meanwhile, investment bank JP Morgan says home loan demand will ease in the second half of 2009. Kevans believes "inflated house prices eventually correct" themselves and "the wealth destruction that would occur in the highly leveraged household sector will be painful".
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