For years, auctions have been the preferred selling method in Australia’s largest property markets, particularly in Melbourne and Sydney. When buyer demand is strong, an auction can create urgency, competition and fear of missing out, encouraging emotional buyers to push the price beyond where a private negotiation may have ended. However, auctions rely on one…
The Australian property market feels uncomfortable at the moment. Values are falling, buyers are hesitating, and another interest rate rise remains possible. If you’re waiting for someone to tell you precisely when the market will turn, you may be waiting for an answer nobody can give you. Fortunately, successful property investing has never depended on…
While many Australians are keen to invest in property to secure their financial future, the statistics clearly show that most investors fail to achieve their goals. More than half of those who buy an investment property sell up in the first 5 years and only around 20,000 investors have joined the 1% club who own…
Where do you start your search for an investment property? It’s the classic question every property investor asks, but the order of those decisions matters. What should I buy, where should I buy it, and when? At every seminar we used to run, Michael Yardney would put this question to the room. Almost without fail,…
There’s something psychologically powerful about a suburb joining the “million-dollar club”. Crossing that seven-figure threshold attracts headlines and creates the impression that property values have permanently moved to a higher level. Yet property markets don’t move in straight lines, and the latest figures are just another reminder that median prices can move backwards. According to…
Earlier this month I had the pleasure of speaking at the Brisbane branch of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Australia. The organisers asked me a dozen or so questions covering everything from affordability and population growth through to construction costs, infrastructure and the Olympics. Looking back on the discussion, four themes seemed to emerge. 1….
With national property values down by 5.2% in September from their March peak, Australia’s housing market is in a distinct downturn. This has sparked concerns voiced by Opposition Leader Angus Taylor of a housing market “in freefall”. Translated into dollar terms, using the Domain property price series, the price of a typical home has dropped…
This month the Reserve Bank lifted the cash rate to 4.60%, its fourth increase this year and the highest level since late 2011. Sydney home values are now around 7% below their February peak, the top end of the Melbourne and Sydney markets has fallen more than 10%, and plenty of investors are quietly wondering…
What if interest rates don’t fall? I keep seeing charts like the ones below. They all tell much the same story. Rates rise some more, inflation eventually behaves itself and sometime around late 2027 or early fiscal 2028 the cost of money starts heading south again. Maybe. But for mine, there is a growing risk…
Six months ago the conversation about Australian property was all about resilience, about how our markets kept climbing despite thirteen rate rises and a cost of living squeeze that refused to ease. Boy has that conversation has changed. Capital city dwelling values fell 1.1% over the past month and are now 1% lower than a…
