Australian Housing Prices Forecast To Rise 20 Per Cent

One of Australia’s big four banks is forecasting 20 per cent gains in the housing market over the next two years.

The incredible figure comes out of Westpac’s first Housing Pulse report for 2021 and indicates Australian dwelling prices could be on the brink of a boom.

The banking institution’s chief economist Bill Evans stated in the report, released on Monday, that he was expecting dwelling prices to lift 10 per cent nationally in the next 12 months, with that pace continuing into 2022, citing strong economic growth as the cause.

“The upturn is being supported by record low-interest rates; the confident expectation among borrowers that these rates will remain low for years to come; ample credit supply; and an improving economic backdrop,” Evans said.

In the final quarter of 2020, dwelling approvals surged 22 per cent while lending for dwellings lifted by 16 per cent in the December quarter.

Smaller capital cities and regional towns were likely to capitalise on the forecast increases, however concerns linger around the Sydney and Melbourne high rise markets.

Further, Evans has foreshadowed good news for the labour markets with unemployment rates forecast to decline steadily to 6 per cent by end of 2021, and 5.3 per cent by the end of 2022.

Idaho is not a place that’s often associated with Medieval castles, but a pair have just hit the market for $6.25 million.

The imposing stone structures have towers, turrets, ramparts, arrow-slit windows and even a drawbridge, and might just be the most authentic-looking castles this side of the Atlantic.

“Who expects to see a castle like this in Idaho?” said listing agent Brenda Burk of Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller Realty, who brought the property to the market last week. They are, she said, “extremely unusual.”

Schweitzer Castle and Château de Melusine, as they’re known, stand within Schweitzer Mountain Resort in the Selkirk Mountains and overlook the nearby mountain resort town of Sandpoint. They take in panoramic views of Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho’s largest lake.

The pair of ski-in/ski-out homes each have three bedrooms, two bathrooms and three stories, Burk explained. They are “so authentic,” she said. “Every single stone was handlaid.”

Schweitzer Castle, she said, wasn’t built for “functionality,” but has been modernized and adapted and now has everything a 21st-century residence requires, along with a dungeon, which for some buyers may also be a requisite.

The chateau, meanwhile, has a hot tub room with mountain views, as well as a garage.

The property is being sold furnished, and will come complete with the hand-carved statues, armor, mounted swords, stained-glass windows and a host of antiques dating to the 15th and 16th centuries.

The owner, an antique collector who couldn’t be reached for comment, “is always looking for that hidden jewel and he found that here,” Burk said.

The next custodian is likely to stem from a varied pool of buyers, Burk said, that would include “the trophy-home buyer, someone who can say ‘I own a castle.’”

The property could also appeal to someone looking for a vacation home, or a multi-generational estate, and beyond that “there’s the dreamers,” she said. “We definitely try to market to people who like Medieval history or maybe do Renaissance fairs.”

The seller “really wants it to go to someone with the same passion.”

Australian Housing Prices Forecast To Rise 20 Per Cent

One of Australia’s leading economists predicts the early makings of a property boom.

The imposing stone structures, with towers, turrets and a hot tub room, lord over the landscape near the mountain resort town of Sandpoint.