https://propertyplanning.com.au/propertyplannerbuyerprofessor/ In this week's episode #63 of the Property Planner, Buyer and Professor Podcast, the team discuss "Setting yourself up to purchase with confidence and why getting your pre-approval in place is more critical than ever", as Dave, Cate and Pete discuss: Weekly market insights 1. Economic wins driving our recovery Australian Bureau of Statistics data released last week reveals why property values have been taking off since October as the economic & property upturn continues at record pace. ASX 200 gained over 10 per cent in November, (a whopping return of 120% when annualised) and is in the top 10 of monthly returns recorded over the last 40 years. Car sales turned positive for the first time in 2.5 years, with 10,000 cars sold and Iron Ore exports hit a record $13.5 billion, already $13.2 billion ahead of the average, a significant boost to the government's revenue, offsetting some of the stimulus and much of China's tariffs in other areas. 2. Property values on the rise over November Dwelling values rose across every capital city, as Melbourne joins the market rebound. The national index increased by 0.8% over November or 9.6% annualised, double the 0.4% growth recorded for October. Darwin and Canberra were the strongest performers, increasing by 1.9% or a whopping 22% when annualised. Regional areas have been the stand outs with a total return of combined capital growth and rental return of over 10.6% over the last 12 months. Banks and economists re-evaluated their projections to be somewhere between 5 and 9% growth for 2021, but we thing that these could be on the conservative side. 3. Holiday hotspots Whilst Melbourne recorded an increase of 0.7% over November, the Mornington Peninsula broke Vic records with a massive 2.2% capital growth for the month. This location has seen strong capital growth since the gates opened and the extensive lockdowns driving the great lifestyle re-evaluation have made the Peninsula an even more attractive place to purchase. 4. Aussies officially out of recession Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced officially last week that Australia is out of recession. The property market is leading the recovery - as increased values flows into increased confidence and consumer spending. Compared to the recession in the 1990's where unemployment reached 11%, we're looking at revised forecasts of under 8%. Getting your pre-approval in place 1. The current state of the market The Property Planner and Buyer shed light on the flood of enquiries and high levels of interest from prospective purchasers looking to get their ducks in a row to make their next property decision. 2. What's driving the flurry of activity? Affordability is the best it's ever been, interest rates are at an all-time low (and will stay that way for a few years according to RBA Governor Philip Lowe), existing properties have held their value and started to increase, which gives people the confidence to take that next step. 3. How long will it take to get a pre-approval? Trying to get a pre-approval has been difficult since Covid started, banks have had their challenges with an influx of queries from customers looking for repayment pauses, assessment criteria has been stricter than ever before, with new rules implemented for checking (and re-checking) income. The time to have a pre-approval assessed has blown out to 20-30 days with some of the major banks, plus it's worth noting that pre-approvals are the second-class citizen of the finance world. The upshot - it's critical to act now and act...