Property Investors waiting

One rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia is not enough to drag potential home buyers back to the market.  The Commonwealth Bank/Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia Home Finance Index for September found the ratio of respondents planning to buy property in the next 12 months had fallen to 16.9 per cent, down from 19.1 per cent in May and 21.6 per cent in January.

Reticence about buying property seems linked to the perceived state of the economy, not to the personal financial state of consumers.

Buyer reluctance is reflected in price expectations, with 46.4 per cent of the Home Finance Index respondents predicting lower house prices next quarter, more than double the 20.9 per cent recorded nine months ago.