Scott Keck says there's no housing bubble
Charter Keck Cramer executive chairman Scott Keck says the housing market is "fully priced" but property values are likely to drift sideways over the next few years rather than crash.
Keck told clients that while the housing market was "certainly inflated [though] perhaps not fully inflated to the extreme" domestic conditions were subsiding with the market having just recently drifted off its peak.
"We think that it is unlikely that there will be a significant increase in commercial interest rates or unemployment and thus these internal factors are not a danger. Left alone there seems to be no internal or domestic pending or immediate threat that would cause a major correction." he said.
But, he did acknowledge that at inflated levels, property along with other asset classes would be vulnerable to a major international event like an economic meltdown in China or another GFC.
"So, in summary, does Charter think that there is a bubble which infers an event that is about to collapse? Our answer is NO," he wrote.
Speaking to The Australian Financial Review, Mr Keck said housing values were supported by strong population growth and immigration, major demographic changes and a "huge depth of demand" from those looking to buy at lower rungs of the property ladder.