The election cliffhanger is expected to force the banks to hold off from raising home loan rates, despite increasing pressure on their margins from the rising cost of funds.

The median house price in Melbourne increased by 4.4 per cent in the quarter, rising from $554,000 to $578,000.

Wyndham is among the metropolitan municipalities where the most building permits have been issued

Investors are putting more money into housing and the exodus of first-home buyers has ended despite a series of interest rate rises since last October.

The National Housing Supply Council's second State of Supply Report was launched by the Federal Minister for Housing, Tanya Plibersek, in late April and it has provided further confirmation of the problem in the local housing market.

Many people invest in apartments because they often have a cheaper buy-in price than houses and are also thought to be a lot easier to maintain without gardens to worry about, and with the costs of building maintenance shared across other owners.

Australia is the fourth-fastest-growing property market in the world after a 20 per cent price jump in the past year.

The Victorian capital's success in freeing up land for housing casts NSW in a poor light, writes Scott Elliott.

Superannuation funds' hopes of delivering double-digit returns to members this financial year are set to be scuppered by the Rudd government's proposal for a resources tax, turmoil in European financial markets and lacklustre bank profits.

A CRISIS of confidence in Europe and at home has brought about the biggest collapse in the Australian sharemarket since the onset of the financial crisis and sent the Australian dollar plunging below US85¢.

BORROWERS can expect a reprieve from more interest rate rises in the next few months, analysts say, after the strongest signal yet from the Reserve Bank that lending rates are on hold.

Despite a recent drop in the number of owner occupier housing commitments, real estate agents remain busy with a significant increase in pre-listing activity.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)house prices indexes for capital cities, released yesterday, showed prices grew 20 per cent over the 12 months to March, more than any other time since the series was launched in 2002.

Among the capitals, Melbourne led gains both on a quarterly and annual basis, with prices rising 6.7 per cent and 27.7 per cent, respectively.

WESTLINK, a proposed six-lane freeway under Footscray and through Sunshine West, is Victoria's ''number one priority project'' for federal funding, according to a Brumby government submission on the road's likely impacts.

AUSTRALIA'S housing shortage is worsening with the gap between supply and demand almost doubling in 12 months and expected to widen.