The government regulator APRA are making a proactive effort to slow down the market, which is a sensible move to ensure we have a ‘soft landing’ after such rapid & dramatic price growth. The alternative would be the market ‘falling off a cliff’ like we have seen post previous booms.
The good news is that when the correction comes, it will be in the single digits, which compared to the peak being now, all property owners will still be 15-20% in front from where they were 14-16 months ago.
In saying that, there is no need to wait to come onto the market any longer. Open for inspections & on-site auctions are back and buyers with existing loan pre-approvals urgently need to buy prior to their approvals expiring.
Upon expiration, the buyer will need to re-apply based on the new assessment rate where APRA have increased the minimum interest rate buffer on home loan applications from 2.5 to 3 percentage points. It estimates the increase will reduce maximum borrowing capacity for the typical borrower by around 5 per cent.
There is no better time than now to come to market.