Australians have a strong homeownership culture, with Australians on average turning over property every eight years. The strong ownership culture combined with the non-deductibility of interest payments means that Australians are eager to build equity in their property. We’re not like the Swiss, for example, who keep renting whilst investing in other forms of wealth.

Combine this with the fact that there is no capital gains tax on owner-occupied property, super funds can borrow to buy property, and capital gains are generally taxed at the concessional rate of 15%, real estate, particularly the family home, becomes the primary investment vehicle for most Australians.

The rental market simply isn’t keeping pace with the population demand. Whilst property owners complain that their net returns are fairly low – around 3 to 4 per cent net on the market value of their homes – and that most if not all of this goes in repayments and rates – they forget that property has been a much lower risk investment than the share market over time. When the share market lost two thirds of its value in the 2007-8 crash, and prominent banks and finance companies with exposure to the US market failed, the Australian property market retreated to its 2005 value – which was still a fairly good increase over its 2000 value.

The typical Australian borrower earns approximately $49,000 per year. Dual-income households earn about $76,000 and the average mortgage size is $225,000. Over 68% of the population owns their own homes. Of these, about 60% live in the capital cities. That means that 40% of those living in capital cities are renting, and this combined with schemes encouraging inner-urban development and a population increase through immigration of over 115,000 people per year means that there is continued pressure on the Australian housing market.

As long as home-ownership is such an elusive goal for Australians, people wanting strong fixed-interest returns will invest in mortgages and there will be independent sources of funds available for borrowers.

There are plenty of people who invest in mortgage funds, whether the traditional solicitors’ mortgage funds or the finance companies owned predominantly by law firms. Whilst these firms charge higher rates of interest to borrowers, the fact that they are owned or managed by lawyers means that there is a better class of risk management which ensures safety for investors despite the fact that borrowers paying higher interest rates usually do so because their risk profile does not allow them to borrow at lower rates.

This is now being supported by Government policy in Australia. According to Treasurer Swann’s speech, recent Government initiative has helped five non-major Australian banks, four building societies and credit unions, and four non-ADI lenders to raise over $10.4 billion in funding. This supported competition in the mortgage sector at a time when the private securitisation market had collapsed and the global financial crisis brought banking systems around the world to their knees.

The Government’s investments in Residential Mortgage Backed Securities has enabled smaller lenders to lend at competitive rates of interest and maintain a higher level of lending and market share than would otherwise have been possible. Recently, ME Bank and Suncorp-Metway raised over $2.5 billion from private investors. These amounts are now available for borrowing by homebuyers and others seeking mortgages.

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Category: Finances
Keywords: mortgage brokers, mortgage broker