Thousands of Victorian buyers who bought off-the-plan apartments due to be completed this year could struggle to finance their purchases and face losing their deposits because of new minimum design standards requiring more space.
New standards that come into effect in March set out minimum access to daylight, functional space and natural ventilation. They are meant to reverse the trend of smaller or micro apartments that have seen homes as small as 11.2 square metres, smaller than the smallest new Jayco caravan in size.
The median size of a new one-bedder in inner Melbourne dropped from 55 square metres in 2013 to 44 square metres in 2016, according to Oliver Hume Real Estate Group.
Big four banks have already made a policy in line with the new standards of refusing to lend for one-bedroom apartments smaller than 50 square metres.
Developers in recent years have been making planning applications for larger apartments, with the proposed new guidelines in mind.
However, a source told The Age that most of the apartment projects due to be completed in 2017 were designed and sold in 2012 or prior, before the discussions about the new guidelines had been made public.
"Those apartments purchased off-the-plan that are less than a certain size will find it a challenge to find financiers," the source said.
Lenders are mostly concerned about the resale value of apartments that do not meet the minimum standards.
The managing director of mortgage broker Homeloanexperts, Otto Dargan, said for small apartments, buyers may have to up their deposit to 20 per cent or more.
That could leave some buyers scrambling for cash at settlement time to plug the gap.
He said even though banks often provided customers with a "pre-approval," this could end up being worthless, as lenders had specific restrictions on factors such as a unit's location or its size.
"Before committing to purchasing an apartment, people should check the property with their mortgage broker or bank manager to make sure it meets the lenders' criteria," Mr Dargan said.
The warning comes as a Melbourne buyer is caught up in a blame-game with NAB about a St Kilda apartment purchase that went wrong, leaving him $40,000 or more out of pocket.
First home buyer, 20-year-old Alexander Tashevski-Beckwith, claimed he had verbal approval from a bank manager to sign the purchase contract, but the manager then mysteriously left the company before sending out the final loan approval documents.
He was told the apartment was too small, despite being told that the size was not an issue previously, he claimed. It left him without finance at settlement time.
Mr Tashevski-Beckwith has produced witnesses, such as the vendor's agent and a conveyancing solicitor, to confirm his side of the story.
His mother, Marika Tashevska, said she and her husband were scrambling trying to raise the $214,000 from family members to settle on the 47-square metre apartment so he didn't lose his money.
The case is further evidence that banks have responded to directions from APRA to be more prudent about loans for apartments, particularly those considered high-risk.
A spokeswoman from NAB said they had been trying to meet with the family to work out what went wrong and find a solution. It had no documents to show a loan had been approved.
She said the bank had to be responsible in evaluating home loan applications and economic risks and that properties of less than 50 square metres are generally not approved for lending purposes.
"We are prepared to offer compensation for any financial losses if it is the case that NAB has been at fault and caused these losses in this instance," she said.
There were approximately 122,500 apartments completed across Melbourne in 2015, the latest annual figures available, according to the Charter Keck Cramer database.
One-bedroom apartments were mostly sized between 41-60 square metres, within a price range of $435-454,000, according to the database.
原文出處:https://goo.gl/AhWAhb
國際超級房仲：
非常痛苦、吃力，再加上同事的幫忙總算把這篇新聞給看完了，簡單來說的重點只有一個：如果你想要在墨爾本貸款，購買房地產的面積一定要在50平方公尺以上（約15台坪）。
為什麼會有這樣的方案，主要就是因為面積過小的單位在未來的二手房市場上價格不好，很可能會導致你今天購買的房子在未來出售時會「賠售」，而賠售就會讓持有的屋主很可能會還不出貸款，連帶地拖累整個銀行的貸款體制。因此，維多利亞州的政府才特別針對此風險而提早做限制。
國際超級房仲個人是非常認同這樣的做法，就如同許多投資者在詢問我澳洲物件該買什麼類型的產品時，昌鵬第一句一定是跟客戶說：「要買兩房以上的單位」。
為什麼呢？因為在澳洲當地如果面積過小的單位，其實在出租上並不是那麼受歡迎，一房對澳洲人來講已經不太夠用了，更不要說面積不到50平方米的一房了（這樣說起來曼谷人真辛酸，在曼谷50平方米的面積已經是兩房的規模了）。
而澳洲的兩房裡面，據當地實際出租出售的狀況來看，又以兩房兩衛的房型又更好，因為兩房兩衛可以讓注重隱私的澳洲人擁有更多自主的空間，甚至如果是靠近「學區」的兩房兩衛還可以分租給兩個學生，非常搶手！（你們可能還沒有看過三十幾個大學生排隊遞履歷給房東，就只為了請房東將房子出租給自己的盛況吧）
ＰＳ：在澳洲知名學區的學區房非常有價值，就好比台北捷運旁邊的物件，或者曼谷百貨公司＋捷運的住宅一般。
可是最關鍵的要來了，向您介紹澳洲房地產的房仲業務們，有沒有把這麼重要的資訊告訴您呢？
因為你要知道，這一年來外國人在澳洲當地貸款確實是很大的一個問題，甚至大多數台灣的澳洲業者也不見得完全懂當地貸款的流程，業務員只是把公司提供的話術照本宣科地背給你聽。實際上，即便現在有些銀行會信誓旦旦地說小於50平方公尺的單位他們可以貸款，但通常這還必須要一些滿足特定的條件（如地點、建案等）才可行。所以最保險的做法，還是將您購買的單位直接讓銀行知道，得到銀行確認可以貸款的承諾後在購屋，這才是最安全的。
但昌鵬還是強烈建議您購買兩房以上才是最有獲利的方案，千萬不要為了總價較低而選擇面積小的單位，只為了低總價未來比較好跑，實際上來看，在各國的經驗兩房都絕對比一房更加好租、好賣、漲幅更高，這一點在澳洲更更更是明顯。
所以，昌鵬常常在國際超級房仲的文章裡面提到，海外投資最大的風險其實就是「人」，千萬要留意那些只是為了推銷、只是為了好成交，而沒有把真實資訊告訴你卻逼你囫圇吞棗的不肖業者。
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❶進場階段：不隨意接案，只有透過實力才能拿到當地最好的搶手建案。❷持有當中：唯一在泰國與大馬等數國已設置具多年經驗的直營物業管理部門（非外包），連同業的客戶都只能尋求我們代租代管。❸出場管道：21世紀不動產獨家唯一的全球6800間據點，讓您在台灣就能簡單又放心地透過當地21世紀不動產出場獲利。❹其他服務：全球獨家唯一的國際轉介系統，讓您可以購買/出售/租賃全球78個國家的不動產，買到天下賣向世界。❺國際超級房仲：前21世紀不動產亞洲總部最強專案，全台唯一能替您「跨國分析」的海外房地產專家，讓您安心進場、獲利出場。
若您想瞭解更多資訊，請歡迎立即與我聯繫：
☺ 姓名：李昌鵬（Zack）
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