“At Laing Real Estate we believe that all Australians have the capacity to become homeowners in any market. All you need is to focus on being positive about your dreams, which include owning your own home.” Vicki Laing Oct 2018
Every time you open the newspaper, switch on the news or read an article online, it’s starting to feel like we’re on the precipice to something terrible in the housing market. A crash to end all crashes. If you tuned into 60 mins two weeks ago, they were predicting a 40% drop. None of this is a good vote of confidence if you’re looking to buy your own home – especially if it’s your first.
At Laing Real Estate we believe that anyone has the capacity to become homeowners in any market. At the moment, there’s so much negative talk around, it can be very easy to get stunned into fear. Instead, you need to re-focus on the positives of why you should buy now and in the future. And also remind yourself why you’re buying in the first place. If you’re looking for a home to live now is still a good time to buy. The interest rates are still low and even if the market does fall a little, it will always come back up again.
Vicki Laing thinks “there is so much negative talk and my take is we need to re-focus on the positives of why you should buy now and in the future”. In fact, she’s given five great reasons why now is still a good time to buy your own home:
- How much rent are you paying at the moment? When you’re a homeowner you’ll be paying a mortgage in a time where interest rates are at their lowest. Not paying someone else’s.
- Inflation rates are the lowest and steadiest in history. Low-interest rates mean more affordability, which leads to more demand.
- Unemployment rates are at an all-time low in Australia which means our economy is strong. If the property market crashes in the way the press has us believe it’s going to, we’ll be heading into a recession.
- The press is in the business of selling news so want to create reactions where they can. By conducting your own research, you might find a different story. Also, if you’re buying a home to live in for years to come, if the market suddenly drops just after you’ve purchased have you really lost money? Only if your plan was to “flip it” as soon as you bought it.
- The population is forecast to grow by between 3 and 4 million people over the next 10 years. Which means more demand for housing. And demand will keep the prices from falling or crashing completely.
Of course, if you are thinking about buying now, it’s important to consider what monthly repayments you can afford. When shopping for mortgages, over-estimate the interest rates to allow for some movement over the next few years. That way, you won’t be overstretching yourself when it comes to affordability.
If you are purchasing an investment property, think location, location, location. You don’t necessarily have to love it like you would your own home. Think about whether it’s close to a major city and all the amenities that has to offer. Something that would be attractive to renters.
Now all you need to do is overcome your fear and take the leap. After all, how will you ever get ahead if you just keep waiting for the market to reach the bottom – a) how will you know it has until it’s too late and b) you could be letting those killer opportunities pass you by.
The Laing Real Estate Team