15
March 2008
Mortgage Crisis
Boosts Housing Faults
Australia's mortgage crisis will fuel the number of houses with faults coming onto the market Archicentre, the building advisory service of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects said today.
Archicentre said that with a record number of properties for auction this weekend around Australia and the lack of housing affordability, there is also likely to be a record number of properties remaining unsold, creating a buyer's market.
|
|
Robert Caulfield, Managing Director of Archicentre said, the increased housing faults flow from the growing number of home owners being forced to sell their homes due to mortgage stress. In normal circumstances these home owners may spend the necessary funds to repair the property to get higher prices. "With many investors and home owners facing financial difficulty in the current market, the QUICKIE makeover is a popular strategy for a quick sale where expensive structural, wiring or plumbing faults may be superficially covered up adding risk for home buyers entering into a sale without a property inspection." Mr Caulfield said the usual safety net of home buyers being able to add the cost of repairs or renovations onto their mortgage has disappeared as interest rate rises and family budgets have come under increasing pressure with rising costs of petrol, food, and energy and water services. |
"The fact that we have 300,000 families likely to lose their homes this year because of interest rate rises and 750,000 families coming under extreme mortgage pressure*, home buyers are increasingly becoming aware of the dangers of purchasing a property with faults. *Source: JP Morgan and Fujitsu Consulting
"In the current climate of interest rate rises there is no margin for error for home buyers.
"Archicentre is receiving an increase in calls from concerned home buyers after they have already signed the contract of sale. A conditional offer on a property can be a way of ensuring that you are made aware of building faults before the sale contract becomes binding."
Mr Caulfield said that in the current property market an Archicentre pre-purchase property inspection can be a valuable tool for buyers identifying to negotiate a price taking the faults of the property into account.
Archicentre's pre-purchase property inspection figures show that at least one in three homes sold have a range of problems that could add thousands of dollars to the cost of a property, especially if the faults discovered involved structural, plumbing, electrical, termites or illegal building.
www.archicentre.com.au
Commercial Inspections; Building Status Reports; House Inspections; New Homes
Design Reports; New Housing Reports;
Pest Inspections; Pre-Purchase Inspections; Building Progress Reports; House
Cracking