Real Estate- Is this where we're headed?

Bankruptcies on rise on eastern seaboard
October 10, 2005 Page Tools

People living along Australia's eastern seaboard have been afflicted by rising bankruptcies as deflating house prices and higher petrol costs sink in.
Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland had a greater numbers of bankruptcies in the September quarter compared to the same time last year.
But Western Australia, Tasmania and South Australia all saw significant falls, according to new figures from the Insolvency and Trustee Service Australia (ITSA).
"I believe that is showing some significance of local factors rather than the broad brush stroke of interest rates," Hall Chadwick insolvency partner Paul Leroy said.
Those living along the eastern seaboard appear to have been more greatly affected by rising petrol prices while house prices - which posted some of the biggest gains along the eastern seaboard in recent years - have experienced the biggest drop compared to the rest of the country, he said.
New South Wales posted a 20.9 per cent increase in bankruptcies to lead the country at 1,900 in total, followed by Queensland (18.3 per cent) and Victoria (9.0 per cent).
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Although the Northern Territory posted the largest increase of 30 per cent, it also posted the lowest overall bankruptcy numbers at 26.
The ACT, WA, South Australia and Tasmania posted falls of 74.4 per cent, 17.8 per cent, 12.2 per cent and 7.5 per cent respectively.
The rising level of bankruptcies along the eastern seaboard boosted the national total by 6.4 per cent to 5529 during the quarter.
Increasing levels of household debt was another area of concern as people find their asset base eroded by a fall in the value of their homes, he said.
With Christmas approaching, Mr Leroy warned consumers to act cautiously and to not rely overly on credit cards.
"If there is an interest rate rise at the end of the year what impact will it have given higher Christmas spending?" he said.