The peak body of the house building industry, the Housing Industry Association (HIA), is now aggressively lobbying with all its power to have the agenda of the federal election widened from what it describes as far too narrow a current debate. The HIA is pushing its concerns that far too few houses and apartments are being built and the continued shortage will retain the pressure on pricing. The body is disgusted the situation has so far been ignored in the election campaign.

Respected analyst BIS Schrapnel has come out in the media insisting it represents the vast majority of economists who are disappointed with the lack of serious home building program by both major political policies. The company says unless big federal backing is quickly given to the industry, domestic construction will slow over the next few years.

Economics forecaster BIS Schrapnel is convinced the normal time-lag of rents not keeping pace with property price rises, is about to be completed with rent levels tipped to lift in both commercial and residential markets. The company’s Chief Economist insists yields will begin to improve after a long period of low returns on investments.

The news that city house prices fell for the first time in 18 months has been widely welcomed by the wider business sectors. Most see it as overdue as previous rates of increases were unsustainable and unless checked could have resulted in a much featured prices bubble burst. Certainly, retail groups have long been complaining how huge mortgages were substantially reducing consumer spending.

The Reserve Bank of Australia again held the official cash rate at 4.5 percent. This has been for the third consecutive time giving homeowners much needed reprieve. The reason for the Reserve Bank’s decision was based on growth and inflation continuing to be close to target, as well as the uncertainty in the global outlook. It is uncertain as to when the next interest rate rise will be, but economists are expecting that another one will occur before the end of this year.

As we have entered a new fiscal year you may find that you are left with a bigger than expected tax bill. As such, purchasing the equipment you require for your business may not be a possibility at the moment. Fortunately, at Madison Finance, we have a solution for you. We understand that purchasing equipment for businesses is a costly expense and one that may not always be practical, even though the equipment is required to continue to run your business efficiently.

Equipment rental is a new product that we are happy to offer our customers as a solution to enable them to grow their business without the financial pressures. By renting your business equipment you will have the opportunity to use the equipment you require immediately without using your valuable cash resources. You can rent the equipment over a specific rental period with a view to purchase it at a later date, return or upgrade it or continue to rent. If you choose the purchase the equipment, the rental you have paid over your rental term reduces the purchase price as you receive a rental rebate.

The jobs market is continuing to have a boom. An always reassuring set of numbers is the way the various new jobs surveys keep pointing to the regular improvement. The latest put last months number of new jobs advertised at around 3 percent better than the previous month, which also recorded a 3 percent lift. One interesting statistic is that new jobs in Australia are being created at the rate of one every 30 seconds. Unemployment has now dropped to just over 5 percent.

Retail sales continue to expand with the latest monthly figures showing a lift of under one percent over the previous month. This was the third increase in three months and comes at a time when consumer confidence is said to be declining due to higher interest rates. It means the total monthly retail market now exceeds $20 billion.

The vital building industry maintains its healthy overall picture with the Australian Industry Group and Housing Industry Association saying its members are still expanding their work and enjoying healthy growth.

Australia is the fourth fastest growing property market in the developed world due to an average 20 percent increase in the past year. This puts us right up there behind the Asian tiger economies like China and Hong Kong.

Australia’s big debt is again becoming a problem. International financiers are signalling their worry about sufficient funds coming into Australia as our debts continue to mount. The biggest single worry is whether house prices will keep rising. Currently, RBA data shows overseas investors hold around $650 billion in our wholesale debt and our banks are getting around 30 percent of their funding from global markets.

This year’s KPMG Annual Private Companies Survey shows a big lift in confidence over 12 months ago. The research indicates that nearly 80 percent of businesses surveyed are preparing to expand, a huge increase over last year.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has held the cash rate at 4.5 percent for the second month running. It is believed this decision was made as a result of high inflation figures and volatility in overseas markets. This RBA is playing it safe by maintaining the currrent cash rate. This will prove favourable to those paying off a mortgage.

One of the members of the RBA Board, Jillian Broadbent, has stated in a speech to a stockbrokers conference that the outlook for our domestic economy is positive mainly due to the benefits from a boom in commodity exports. She criticised the way the overall benefits of our mineral exports are being down-played in many areas and said the RBA expects Australia’s terms of trade to improve around 20 percent this year.