Experts are struggling to know where the property market in Australia will head in 2010. Like other countries such as the United States, Canada and other European nations some experts predict a drop of more than 20% in property prices, whereas others predict an increase of between 5 and 8%.

The main determining factor that will affect property prices will be unemployment. If the unemployment rate continues to rise then it will be only people with deposits that can afford to buy real estate and new builds and many predict that the unemployment rate will soar to as high as 8%, compared to 2008 when the unemployment rate was 4.5%.

The Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates by a huge 3% back in 2008 which helped many people with mortgage repayments and the new strict lending rules, issued by the Australian Government, cut down the amount of mortgages given to people who would struggle to meet the repayments.

These stricter lending rules have cut down on the amount of repossessions on the market which has enabled the property market to remain fairly stable throughout the last few years.

To help first time buyers get onto the property ladder, the Australian Government now offers first time buyers a grant, however this is only really beneficial if people are able to keep up with their mortgage repayments.

Debt levels are at an all time high in Australia, with more and more people borrowing from banks and credit cards to keep their heads above water. To purchase new properties or new builds will mean taking on extra debt which they obviously can’t.

Many home owners are having a hard time paying their debts and many have lost their full time jobs and are now working only part time. Part time jobs increased by over 40.000 in 2008, whereas full time jobs dropped by 44.000 in the same period.

Another factor that will affect the property market in Australia is the world economy. Countries such as the USA, Japan and other European nations are suffering a recession and even the big player, China is experiencing a slow down. Every country, all over the world will be affected and Australia, unfortunately, will not be spared.

Overall, it will be the unemployment issues that will affect the property market in Australia and although predicted to be generally weak in 2010, it should hold out pretty well for the first 6 months or so but where it heads in the next few years is uncertain.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, February 7th, 2010 at 3:06 am and is filed under BMV, Home Improvements, loans. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.