Michael has been once again voted Australia’s leading property investment advisor by the readers of ‘Your Investment Property Magazine’, but he’s not a theorist… He has been successfully investing in property since 1971 and is a leading property commentator and Australia’s most widely read property investment blogger. Join over 115,000 others who get their updates from Michael and his group of expert guest bloggers and benefit from their perspective.
Playing monopoly was a tradition in our family for a long time. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t come out as often these days – I guess I don’t play board games much anymore. In the good old days, I played Monopoly with my parents when I was young, with my children when they were young, and…
If you have been looking at property price data from the past five years, be careful. This period has been shaped by a perfect storm of unique, one-off factors, and it does not necessarily reflect the long-term fundamentals that drive sustainable growth. My concern is that some investors may rely on this recent data and…
Here’s a strange truth that trips up many well-intentioned investors… The more you try to control every aspect of your property portfolio, the less influence you actually end up having. Yes, I know—it sounds completely backwards. Most people believe the secret to building a successful portfolio is being hands-on. After all, if you want things…
There’s more property data available to investors today than ever before, much of it free, and it can significantly improve investment decision making. Analysing how a property’s value has changed over time (i.e. its compound annual growth rate across multiple decades) and comparing it to comparable properties in close proximity, is an essential part of investment due diligence. However, it’s equally important not to become too data driven….
A war thousands of kilometres away might seem like something that only affects geopolitics or the oil markets. But in today’s interconnected global economy, events unfolding in distant regions can quickly ripple through to Australia’s economy, households and property markets. Rising oil prices, disrupted supply chains and shifting geopolitical alliances all have the potential to…
When it comes to real estate investing, there’s an old saying: “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.” But for many first-time or naive investors, the allure of quick profits and shiny new developments often blinds them to the hidden traps lurking beneath the surface. One of the most insidious of…
Will today’s younger generations end up wealthier, happier, and more secure than their parents? That used to be a no-brainer. For much of Australia’s modern history, each generation climbed the economic ladder higher than the one before it. More education, better jobs, bigger homes, longer lives. But that narrative is now being questioned, especially by…
Australian housing resale profits strengthened in the December quarter, with the share of properties selling at a gain rising to its highest level in more than two decades. Of the 102,000 resales analysed in Cotality’s Pain & Gain report, 95.9% recorded a profit, up slightly from 95.6% in the previous quarter and the strongest result…
Australia’s housing loan market is facing potential headwinds, particularly in the investor segment, amid speculation around changes to the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) discount for investors and a cap on negative gearing. Despite that, according to Money.com.au’s latest State-by-State Mortgage Insights Report, home lending growth is forecast to hit 7% in 2026 (to 594,279 loans),…
The Senate committee reviewing the CGT discount released its final report yesterday. Commentators are now suggesting the government could reduce the CGT discount for property investors and potentially cap negative gearing to two or three properties. Let’s look at the impact a change to the CGT discount could have. Why is CGT under the microscope? The government…
