HOUSING OVERVALUED?

The cooling in the Sydney and Melbourne property markets evident in late 2015 in response to macro prudential tightening deployed by APRA has proved ephemeral.

Price gains have reaccelerated and auction clearance rates & lending to property investors have rebounded.

Over the last five years Sydney dwelling prices have risen a ridiculous 73% and Melbourne prices are up 47%. As a result the Australian housing market continues to cause much angst around poor affordability and high household debt. This note looks at the main issues.  Read more

17/12/15: IS THIS The official end of the GFC?

After much delay and much warning, the Fed has finally raised the Fed Funds rate from a range of 0-0.25% to 0.25%-0.5%. The move signals confidence in the ongoing recovery in the US economy after the crippling effects of the Global Financial Crisis. More importantly, the language of the Fed was sufficiently dovish with regard to future rate hikes.

At the time of writing, the ASX200 has gained almost 100 points, on top of the previous day's 118 point rebound, and BHP shares are up over 5% - a major relief to for investors who watched the local bourse fall in each of its six prior sessions.