With peak property season in full swing, both buyers and property professionals are being urged to stay alert after an alarming rise in transaction scams. Recently, several scams have been reported, including a family from Melbourne that lost $500,000 after their conveyancer’s email was hacked, while a New South Wales couple lost $49,000 in settlement funds.
Alex Antal, Head of Securexchange, advises heightened caution during this busy period as people may feel pressure to act quickly to secure a sale. He said, “Cybercriminals have their sights set on property transactions because not only are deposits in the tens of thousands and upwards, copies of passports and driver licences are exchanged to verify ID, potentially exposing buyers to identity theft and fraud.”
As buying a property can be a stressful and complex procedure, buyers may lean heavily on their real estate agent for guidance. Alex added, “throw in a quick decision-making process and a high-stress environment, and buyers may not necessarily be as alert to scams as they normally would be.”
According to Elite Agent, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that 25% of real estate businesses have experienced cyber security incidents, and 1 in 6 have been impacted by scams or fraud. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) ScamWatch recently published their Targeting Scams Report, which identified that payment redirection scams are in the top 5 scams by loss (combined data), totalling $91.6 million.
Payment redirection scams are particularly common in property transactions, with cybercriminals becoming increasingly sophisticated at intercepting email chains of property professionals and posing as them to mislead clients.
“Our advice is to ask your lawyer, conveyancer and real estate agent how they plan on sharing sensitive and confidential information and insist they use a secure platform to protect your money,” Alex elaborated.
“Don’t send back account details via email. All communication related to the transaction should be secure, taking away the opportunity for scammers to hack into emails and contact buyers.”
Securexchange was launched in 2019, and in the last financial year has protected more than 38,831 property fund requests, safeguarding more than $6.2 billion in real estate assets from cyber threats.
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The Real Estate Institute of Australia’s (REIA) Housing Affordability Report for the June 2024 quarter has revealed that housing affordability across the nation has fallen to its lowest level since 1996.
The latest data shows that the average loan repayment amounts to 48.1% of the median family income, marking a 1.3% increase from the previous quarter.
REIA President, Leanne Pilkington said, “this report highlights the impact interest rate increases and rising inflation have had on Australians in regards to both rent and home ownership.”
The report found slight affordability improvement in Victoria, Australian Capital Territory and the North Territory, however all other states saw declines.
Ms Pilkington acknowledged “declines ranged from 0.1 percentage points in Tasmania, to 1.8 percentage points in South Australia. Rental affordability also declined over the quarter.”
Nationally, 24.6% of income is now required to cover median rents, an increase of 0.2%. Rental affordability was a mixed result across different states and territories, with improvement only seen in New South Wales, Tasmania, and the Australian Capital Territory.
Positive news from the report is that the number of first home buyers has surged by 18.6% to 30,636 in the last quarter. This is also a 7.2% increase compared to the same period in 2023.
“First home buyers now make up 36.6% of the owner occupier dwelling commitments, a decrease of 0.1 percentage points over the quarter but an increase of 0.1 percentage points over the year,” Ms Pilkington said.
First home buyer activity grew in all states and territories over the June quarter, with the Northern Territory seeing the largest increase (39.3%) and South Australia seeing the smallest growth (9.2%). The Northern Territory remains the smallest market with just 290 loans to first home buyers.
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House prices are surging in inland New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria as more property buyers move away from popular coastal areas.
According to Ray White Group Chief Economist Nerida Conisbee, a revolution is taking place after some of Australia’s coastal regions have long dominated the market.
Ms Conisbee said, “Over the past decade, the Gold Coast has been the strongest regional growth area in Australia, with all top performing areas being located in either the Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast,”
“However, there are many inland areas that have more than doubled in prices, and the majority of them are in regional inland New South Wales and Victoria.”
Ray White’s data highlights the top non-coastal growth suburbs in regional Australia over the last 10 years, with the following leading the way:
At the top of list, Bowral has seen a remarkable $1 million growth in the last 10 years, with prices growing from $719,438 in 2004 to $1,719,471 in 2024.
Ms Conisbee said, “Bowral tops the list with an increase of $1 million over the last decade.”
“The Victorian spa country also features with Woodend and Daylesford seeing increases in excess of $460,000.”
In the last 12 months, Queensland has emerged as the dominant inland state, with the following non-coastal suburbs leading growth:
Middle Ridge in Queensland recorded the highest growth, with property values increasing over $100,000, from $819,889 to $921,127 between June 2023 and June 2024.
Several factors have contributed to the inland boom, with Ms Conisbee explaining that “Overwhelmingly, the top inland performers are relatively close to capital cities. This makes it possible to commute to a larger city for work if required.”
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