Former treasurer says rates, not negative gearing, is driving house prices… Brokers 'fall a long way short', says banking association… Report analyses property for redevelopment...
Costello: Interest rates driving house prices
One of the key architects of the capital gains tax regime that the Reserve Bank now says is fuelling negatively geared property investment has disputed claims the practice is pushing up house prices and warned against making changes to the current system, according to an article in the Business Spectator.
Former federal treasurer Peter Costello, who now chairs the $117 billion Future Fund, has also bought into the debate about the GST, calling for the base of the tax to be broadened but warning that an increase in the rate would only lead to more wasteful government spending.
“Negative gearing isn’t causing property prices to go up; what is causing that is interest rates,” he said during a recent address to a Women in Banking and Finance luncheon.
“When interest rates fall, property prices have to go up ... The quickest way to bring down property prices is to double the interest rate. I don’t think we should change the rule that allows you to deduct borrowing costs for any business, including the business of rentals if you want to go into that business.
“And I don’t think that is the answer to property prices if you think there is a problem.”
Costello was treasurer in the Howard government in 1999 when it decided to halve the rate of capital gains tax for investments held for more than year.
Brokers 'fall a long way short', says banking association
The Customer Owned Banking Association (COBA) has sounded an alarm on mortgage brokers in a submission to the parliamentary inquiry into home ownership.
Despite referring to the recent Observations on mortgage broking report commissioned by the MFAA, which found that consumers generally do feel they receive a superior experience from a broker, the banking association has claimed that brokers may take the hassle out of the mortgage process but “they fall a long way short of delivering the best result for the customer”.
“While mortgage brokers can serve a useful purpose, it is important that consumers are aware of what brokers provide, and more importantly, what they don’t,” the submission states.
“Commonly held misconceptions about the mortgage broking sector mean that consumers are often left with an incomplete understanding of a broker’s limitations.”
Report analyses property for redevelopment
The University of NSW released a report, Renewing the Compact City, that identified 8000 apartment blocks that were commercially feasible to redevelop. The report sparked predictable controversial headlines that people would be forced from their homes, according to a Fifth Estate article.
On Wednesday, the NSW government released the Strata Schemes Development Bill 2015 along with the Strata Schemes Management Bill 2015. In place were 90 mooted changes with pride of place the magic 75 per cent number that the property industry wanted and others feared.
NSW was the place that first crafted strata property laws and exported them to the world.
They provided strong conventional property security for banks, which had been reluctant to advance mortgages based on the less clear-cut company title that was common with flats at the time. Home owners were delighted. They finally had better access to housing even if they could not afford a free-standing Torrens Title house.
Nearly 70 years later the unintended consequences of such strong property law have come back to life.
One of the key architects of the capital gains tax regime that the Reserve Bank now says is fuelling negatively geared property investment has disputed claims the practice is pushing up house prices and warned against making changes to the current system, according to an article in the Business Spectator.
Former federal treasurer Peter Costello, who now chairs the $117 billion Future Fund, has also bought into the debate about the GST, calling for the base of the tax to be broadened but warning that an increase in the rate would only lead to more wasteful government spending.
“Negative gearing isn’t causing property prices to go up; what is causing that is interest rates,” he said during a recent address to a Women in Banking and Finance luncheon.
“When interest rates fall, property prices have to go up ... The quickest way to bring down property prices is to double the interest rate. I don’t think we should change the rule that allows you to deduct borrowing costs for any business, including the business of rentals if you want to go into that business.
“And I don’t think that is the answer to property prices if you think there is a problem.”
Costello was treasurer in the Howard government in 1999 when it decided to halve the rate of capital gains tax for investments held for more than year.
Brokers 'fall a long way short', says banking association
The Customer Owned Banking Association (COBA) has sounded an alarm on mortgage brokers in a submission to the parliamentary inquiry into home ownership.
Despite referring to the recent Observations on mortgage broking report commissioned by the MFAA, which found that consumers generally do feel they receive a superior experience from a broker, the banking association has claimed that brokers may take the hassle out of the mortgage process but “they fall a long way short of delivering the best result for the customer”.
“While mortgage brokers can serve a useful purpose, it is important that consumers are aware of what brokers provide, and more importantly, what they don’t,” the submission states.
“Commonly held misconceptions about the mortgage broking sector mean that consumers are often left with an incomplete understanding of a broker’s limitations.”
Report analyses property for redevelopment
The University of NSW released a report, Renewing the Compact City, that identified 8000 apartment blocks that were commercially feasible to redevelop. The report sparked predictable controversial headlines that people would be forced from their homes, according to a Fifth Estate article.
On Wednesday, the NSW government released the Strata Schemes Development Bill 2015 along with the Strata Schemes Management Bill 2015. In place were 90 mooted changes with pride of place the magic 75 per cent number that the property industry wanted and others feared.
NSW was the place that first crafted strata property laws and exported them to the world.
They provided strong conventional property security for banks, which had been reluctant to advance mortgages based on the less clear-cut company title that was common with flats at the time. Home owners were delighted. They finally had better access to housing even if they could not afford a free-standing Torrens Title house.
Nearly 70 years later the unintended consequences of such strong property law have come back to life.
