Housing

Housing
US homebuilder sentiment up as mortgage rates drop
United States homebuilder sentiment rose in October to its highest point since April, amid a decline in mortgage rates. Builders’ confidence in the newly-built housing market was 37 in October, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. This is an increase of five points from the previous month. “While recent declines for mortgage rates are an encouraging sign for affordability conditions, the market remains challenging,” said NAHB Chairman Buddy Hughes. “The housing market has some areas with firm demand, including smaller builders shifting to remodeling and ongoing solid conditions for the luxury market. However, most home buyers are still on the sidelines, waiting for mortgage rates to move lower.” The 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell from around 6.5% at the start of September to 6.3% in early October, surrounding the Federal Reserve’s September interest rate cut. It dropped again to 6.27% last week, slightly above the 2025 low recorded in September. Builder sentiment gained a three-month average of two points across all regions except the Midwest, which remained stable at 42. The Northeast’s sentiment index leads, at 46. All Housing Market Index metrics
Housing
Home loans rise following quarter of decline
Australian home investment loans increased by 3.5% in the June quarter, while new occupier loans rose by 0.9%, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data. ABS Head of Finance Statistics Mish Tan said the June quarter’s overall rise in home loans followed a fall in the March quarter. “Through the year growth was more subdued at around 0.2 per cent. That said, lending activity is still at relatively high levels,” Tan said. “While there were rate cuts in February and May, we will not see the full impact of these on new home lending activity until later in the year.”Credit: ABSLending to owner occupiers In the June quarter 80,929 new owner occupier loans were made, a 0.9% rise from the previous quarter. The total value of the loans rose 2.4% to A$54.7 billion, with the average loan reaching A$678,011. Tan said while the number of occupier loans was slightly lower than the same time last year, they still grew by 7.4%. “The average loan size has grown by 7.5 % since the June quarter 2024,” Tan said. “This was consistent with higher property prices, noting growth has been stronger in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia.” The growth in the number of loans was driven by Queensland, with
Housing
REA Group profit jumps 23% as rate cuts lift market
REA Group (ASX: REA) delivered full-year results on Tuesday, as falling interest rates and a resurgent property market helped lift its earnings and revenues to record levels in FY25. Revenues soared by 15% to A$1.67 billion, compared to $1.45 billion in the previous fiscal year, with the vast majority of this coming from Australia. Its net profit also increased by 23% to A$546 million, and the board will pay a dividend of $1.38 per share, fully franked, which is a 35% jump from last year. REA Group CEO, Owen Wilson, said these “excellent” results were helped along by improvements in the property market and interest rate cuts. “Buyer activity increased during the year, with the first interest rate cuts in four years accelerating enquiries delivered to our customers to a three-year high in the last quarter. Demonstrating the health of the market, listings remained in line with the strong prior year,” he said. In Australia alone, revenue grew by 14% year-over-year to A$1.54 billion. This was mainly driven by residential revenue, which was up 16% to A$1.16 billion. The company also maintained its position as Australia’s number one address in property, according to Wilson. “Australians continually turn to realestat
Housing
Why Gen Z women are falling behind in home ownership
As Gen Z delves further into adulthood, many are looking to enter the home market. However, women of this generation are vastly falling behind their male counterparts. According to CoreLogic’s 2025 Women and Property report, 13.8% of Gen Z men own at least one investment property, compared to 6.4% of women, making them the generation with the biggest discrepancy.Left behind by lower income While older generations have fairly similar homeownership rates, affordability plays a key factor in why Gen Z women are falling behind, with 53.6% of them pointing to prices being a challenge. Property investor and founder of EDA Property, Anissa Cavallo, says Gen Z women are falling behind their male counterparts when it comes to income, making it harder for them to break into the housing market. “Gen Z women earn about A$67,000 a year, compared to $82,000 for men,” Cavallo tells Azzet. “With most properties now requiring $80,000+ income as a minimum to get a loan, Gen Z women haven’t even hit that threshold yet.” Anissa Cavallo. Credit: Chiquita and Co PublicityShe said young women are also finding it harder to obtain home loans due to having more part-time or casual employment. With the lack of funds and ever-growing overcons
Housing
Housing prices continue to rise across Australia
The national Home Value Index recorded a third-straight month of growth in April according to Cotality (formerly known as Core Logic). Dwelling values grew 0.3% to a record high, adding around A$2,720 to the median value of an Australian dwelling over the month. Cotality’s research director, Tim Lawless, said the rise was likely influenced by rate cuts in February and global tariff uncertainty. “Household confidence slipped in April, with the US’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariff announcements and the upcoming federal election causing uncertainty,” he said. “It is likely this may be causing some buyers and sellers to delay their decisions.” All capital cities saw increases, with the highest rises in Darwin (up 1.1%) and Hobart (up 0.9%). Despite steady growth across the country, it has eased from the 0.4% rise in March, with sentiment and auction clearance rates slumping throughout the month. Melbourne and Sydney recorded the lowest growth, only rising 0.2%. Regional cities also outpaced capitals overall, with a 0.6% increase. Related contentNational house prices lift in April and expected to keep rising amid rate cuts

Housing
Nation's top 40 suburbs by popularity: InfoTrack
The nation’s top 40 suburbs by popularity for buyers and sellers have been revealed, in new research from InfoTrack. Brisbane CBD, Coffs Harbour, and Melbourne City topped the latest Property Market Update list, with the three areas seeing the most sales so far in 2025. Brisbane City came in at number one for units and townhouses, beating top performing suburbs including Surfers Paradise, Broadbeach, and Southport, as well as officially taking over from the Gold Coast to become Queensland’s top unit-selling suburb. InfoTrack’s Head of Property Australia, Lee Bailie, said the move from the coast to the city was driven by growing investor activity, urban migration, and an increase in apartment stock. “While we have seen the Gold Coast dominate the unit market for such a long time, Brisbane was always in close second place,” Bailie said. “In the past calendar year, Brisbane City came in second place in Q2 and Q3 of 2024, dropping to fourth position last quarter, but a surge in popularity has seen it take the crown for the start of 2025,” Bailie said. For house sales in the Sunshine State, Caboolture took that prize for the second quarter running. Heading down to New South Wales, regional suburbs have made their

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Housing

US homebuilder sentiment up as mortgage rates drop

Home loans rise following quarter of decline

REA Group profit jumps 23% as rate cuts lift market

Why Gen Z women are falling behind in home ownership

Housing prices continue to rise across Australia

Nation's top 40 suburbs by popularity: InfoTrack

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