Australia will help lead the world out of recession, as the local economy rebounds strongly off the back of rising consumer confidence, a survey has found.
In the “first glimmer of hope” for the global economy, an Ipsos Reuters poll of 23,000 people across the globe has found that confidence is beginning to stabilise after eighteen months of decline.
The upbeat analysis follows yesterday’s surprise revelation that Australia has dodged a technical recession.
>>> Australia to lead world out of recession | ninemsn
Larry’s barn burned down and his wife, Susan, called the insurance company. Susan told the insurance company, “We had that barn insured for fifty thousand and I want my money.”
The agent replied, “Whoa there, just a minute, Susan. Insurance doesn’t work quite like that. We will ascertain the value of what was insured and provide you with a new one, practically identical, of comparable worth.”
There was a long pause before Susan replied:
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Home buyers are flocking back into variable rate mortgages, which now account for 91 per cent of the residential lending market, their highest proportion in four months, a leading mortgage broker says.
Mortgage broker Mortgage Choice reported on Tuesday that in April basic variable mortgages accounted for 48.15 per cent of all home loans approved – up nearly one per cent from March, while standard variable mortgages comprised 42.77 per cent of the market, down 1.47 per cent from March.
Basic variable loans generally have fewer loan features than a standard variable loan, Mortgage Choice says.
Fixed rate loans accounted for four per cent of all approvals, up one percentage point from a month earlier.
“Basic variable loans have been the most popular loan type for four months now, after overtaking standard variable for the first time on our records in January 2009,” Mortgage Choice senior corporate affairs manager Kristy Sheppard said in a statement.
Rates charged on variable home loans move in line with interest rates as set by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), which has successively cut its overnight cash rate since September last year to a 49-year low
>>> Many flock to variable mortgage rates|Sydney Morning Herald
We have had a fantastic response from last week to part 1 of “The Secret To Becoming A Property Millionaire; Effortlessly”. Today, in Part 2, I use specific examples to demonstrate exactly how leveraging and compounding work and how you can harness these very powerful forces so as to make your dreams your reality.
In case you missed part 1, check it out here
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I honestly believe that “The Financial Downturn Will Be As Bad As People Expect It To Be”. It is a matter of “consumer confidence”. If people expect that the economy will fail they will “make it fail”. A self fulfilling prophesy. If people believe money is scarce then they will not spend as much, reducing the amount of money flowing through the economy and turning their belief into a reality. Recession or no recession, is it in our pockets or in our minds?
At last we are seeing some reports in the media other than the “doom and gloom” that has prevailed for the past few months. Sure there is a global financial crisis and companies are suffering so jobs will suffer but don’t let that blind you to the good news starting to appear.
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A guy is in the hospital with two broken legs. The nurse comes in and tells him that there’s good news and bad news.
The guy asks for the bad news first.
The nurse says, “We’re going to have to remove your legs.”
Then the guy asks for the good news.
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Australia is an island of calm amid the global economic storm despite pessimistic government and media responses, an international global business confidence survey shows.
One in five international businesspeople cited Australia as the country best surviving the recession in a survey of 7,500 people in more than 24 nations.
Australia placed first in the survey, ahead of China, with India and Singapore in equal third place. New Zealand also fared well, ranked ninth.
The survey conducted in April was aimed at gauging business sentiment and what impact the economic downturn has had on businesses globally.
Australian businesspeople appeared relatively unaffected, according to the poll conducted for Servcorp, a provider of virtual and serviced offices that operates in 61 nations.
“In my experience working with international businesses around the world, especially during the last six months, I’ve noticed how relatively unaffected (are) Australian businesses and… business persons’ attitude by the economic downturn,” Servcorp executive director Taine Moufarrige said.
“Over 71 per cent of Australian businesspeople believe we are the lucky country, and it’s interesting to see that the rest of the world agrees.”
>>> Australia ‘doing best’ in recession | The Age
A RECOVERY in the housing sector is expected in the second half of 2009, thanks to low interest rates and government stimulus spending.
The Housing Industry Association’s (HIA) quarterly national outlook forecasts new home starts will fall by 17 per cent to a total of 132,000 for the year to June 30.
However, the report, released today, predicts a rise of 11 per cent in housing starts for the following 12 months.
The HIA expected 129,500 dwellings to be completed in fiscal 2009 compared with 141,100 in 2008 and says it will take until 2011 before the 2008 level is reached again.
HIA chief economist Harley Dale said nation building efforts by the federal government, coupled with low mortgage rates, would lead the resurgence in housing.
>>> HIA says recovery on the way for housing | Herald Sun.
Property prices surged in the first part of 2009, erasing last year’s losses and bucking the global trend.
According to the RP Data/Rismark Australian Home Value Index, which covers all dwelling types, prices rose by 2.8 percent in the first four months of 2009, with every mainland capital city except Perth registering gains.
Darwin was the top performer, with values up 5.3 percent in the four months to April, while Sydney and Melbourne property snared gains of 3.9 and 4.5 percent respectively.
Economists said a variety of factors were behind the rise.
>>> Property values surge in 2009.
