At a seminar I ran around 20 years ago, I still remember someone shaking my hand and saying, “You must own hundreds of properties by now.” They looked genuinely confused when I reacted with horror and said that would be my absolute nightmare. It’s an easy assumption to make. Most people equate more properties with…
If you’ve been shaking your head at recent property price growth, you’re not alone. Australians everywhere are asking the same question: “How on earth can property values keep rising when affordability is so stretched, interest rates are still high and unlikely to fall further, and many people seem to be struggling with the cost of…
Every week I sit down with the latest property data and ask myself the same question: what’s the signal, and what’s just noise? Right now, there’s plenty of noise to sort through. Global uncertainty is on the rise, geopolitical tensions are pushing oil prices higher, inflation fears are resurfacing, and financial markets are starting to…
If a picture paints a thousand words, then this collection of charts should do a pretty good job of painting the landscape as it affects our economy and our property markets. Each month the RBA summarises macroeconomic and financial market trends in Australia by providing a detailed chart pack. World Economy Australia’s economy doesn’t operate in…
Let’s face it — most Australians will never achieve real financial freedom. I know that might sound a little harsh, but stick with me. Sure, they might retire one day – but more often than not, that retirement means living off a modest superannuation balance or relying on a government pension. That’s not exactly the…
We all face challenges in our lives. Challenges show themselves in many ways and in all arenas of your life. The most successful people in the world have faced some of the largest challenges. But they have persevered and become achievers because of the way they handle adversity. They have learned from their failures. They know not…
Imagine you had sold all your property and investments during the 2003 Iraq War. Or when the GFC hit in 2008. Or when COVID-19 locked the world down in 2020. Each time, the headlines were apocalyptic. Each time, the pundits predicted catastrophe. And each time, the doomsayers were proven spectacularly wrong. Right now, another crisis…
Let’s be honest – patience isn’t sexy anymore. We live in a world addicted to instant everything. TikTok’s taught us that if it takes more than 15 seconds, it’s boring. And if your investment doesn’t double in six months, apparently you’ve “missed the boom.” Scroll through social media and you’ll see 25-year-old “property gurus,” flashy…
If you listened to the typical real estate commentary, you’d think property prices are basically driven by interest rates, immigration and whatever the Reserve Bank might do next month. But when you strip away the noise and look at what actually moves property values over the medium term, one factor quietly dominates everything. It’s jobs….
There is no doubt that our housing markets are facing challenges from all directions, but clearly, they have remained resilient. To better understand what’s happening, this monthly collection of charts from Cotality (formerly CoreLogic) paints an interesting picture. Buying a home for roughly the same cost as renting might sound unlikely in Australia’s current housing market,…
