Aussie John rejects housing bubble talk
A mortgage broking head has rubbished the idea that Australia is in a housing bubble.
A mortgage broking head has rubbished the idea that Australia is in a housing bubble.Aussie Home Loans chairman John Symond has claimed the housing market has the potential for 10-15% growth over the next three years, should employment remain steady, the Australian Financial Review has reported.
Speaking at the Balmain opening of the mortgage broking franchise’s 200th store yesterday, Symond said the housing market appeared healthy.
“Some regions are still impacted, like WA, Darwin and parts of Queensland, but overall the health of the housing market is heading to a more healthy state than two years ago,” Symond told the AFR.
Symond did concede, however, that some areas faced a risk of apartment oversupply. He predicted that Sydney suburbs Alexandria and Waterloo, Sydney’s west and Melbourne’s Docklands could see oversupply and price falls for apartments.
"In the Docklands price falls happened twice with a 15-25% drop, and the same will happen here. Prices will drop from what the developers' expectations are,” he told the paper.
Symond predicted that interest rates would remain low for “a decade-plus”, and said mortgages were performing well.
"People are still making the same repayment when interest rates were 8%. The average mortgage holder is two years in front. I'm not saying WA, but the eastern seaboard, particularly those who have bought property five years ago. We took a survey and the net asset value of all the areas where we have loans [and] there was a 40% equity. In NSW [it was] 50%,” Symond told the AFR.
