Where the bargains are: Opportunities remain for first-home buyers
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First-home buyers worried about being shut out of the market by extra competition from a revival in interest by cashed-up investors can take heart from the fact that affordable real estate can still be found in some pockets of Sydney and Melbourne.
While property prices across both major capital cities in general continue to rise, some unit and apartment prices remain steady or, in some cases, are actually falling.
Unit and apartment prices in the Sydney CBD remain steady or, in some cases, are falling.
Battered wives will be handed up to $5000 to flee violent partners, as part of $1.1 billion in extra spending on safe houses, counselling and legal aid to keep women safe. The escape payment for 5000 women will include up to $1500 in immediate cash, plus $3500 in goods or direct payments of rental bonds, school fees or other essential items to start a new life. But domestic violence victims will no longer be able to tap into their superannuation early, amid concern that too many women have drained their retirement savings. Declaring that all Australians have the right to be safe , Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said one in four Australian women suffers violence from a current or former partner.
Q1 real retail sales fall 0.5% vs -0.4% consensus NAB business conditions jump 8 points to +32 Both business conditions, confidence at record highs Still, data shows little signs of inflation in the economy (Adds retail sales data, bullets, analyst comments)
SYDNEY, May 10 (Reuters) - Australian retailers boasted yet another month of solid sales in March while a measure of business conditions surged to all-time highs in April in a sign the economy was coping well with the end of a government support programme for jobs.
Australian retail turnover climbed 1.3% in March from a 1.4% rise in February, largely led by sales at cafes and restaurants hitting a record high, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed on Monday.
Treasury expecting below-average pay increases to continue until at least 2025
Australian wages growth hasn t been above average 3 per cent since early 2013
Budget papers are predicting unemployment falling below 5 per cent by 2022
Lower jobless rate between 2006 and early 2009 coincided with big pay rises
But Treasury not expecting lower unemployment to boost salary levels this time
Australia: Iron-ore exports beat records in March
Australia’s iron-ore exports reached a record A$14-billion in March this year, up from the A$9.2-billion reported in the same period last year, new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics has shown.
Iron-ore exports were worth A$12.4-billion in January this year, up from the A$7.3-billion the year before, and reached A$11.5-billion in February, up from the A$6.5-billion in February last year.
Australian iron-ore revenue is expected to reach a record A$136-billion in 2020/21, on the back of higher iron-ore prices.
The Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) pointed out that company tax payments from mining would help fund better services for the community including mental health, aged care and women’s programmes.