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.
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,…
Prices are up again. Headlines scream “new record highs.” Homeowners quietly smile. Renters quietly seethe. And somewhere in the background, a much bigger question gets ignored: As a nation, how expensive do we actually want housing to be? This is the uncomfortable conundrum that leading demographer Simon Kuestenmacher, my co-host of the Demographics Decoded podcast,…
Most people assume that if costs rise due to a shock – such as the current Middle East shenanigans – they will fall back once things settle. But economics and, moreover, business doesn’t work that way. Prices move up quickly with rising costs, but they rarely come back down in any meaningful way. “Up like…
Are you considering investing in Melbourne’s property market? You’re not alone as more investors are eyeing the Melbourne property market. But the forecasts that looked so promising at the start of 2026 have been revised downwards, and are now scaring some investors off. ANZ Research, in its most recent forecasts, now expects Melbourne housing prices…
“Am I doing OK financially?” It’s the question so many Australians quietly ask themselves. But few dare to say out loud. Whether you’re just starting out, deep in your wealth-building years, or nearing retirement, it’s natural to wonder: “How do I stack up?” Well, let’s find out. Drawing on fresh data from the ABS, ATO,…
Capital city auction clearance rates were steady following the Easter break; however listings were relatively low reflecting the current school holiday period. Capital City This Week Last Week Same Week Last Year Auctions Rate Auctions Rate Auctions Rate Sydney 832 64.0% 1895 64.1% 1185 69.6% Melbourne 822 59.1% 1781 61.4% 1363 66.8% Brisbane 103 52.8%…
Why is it that some property investors seem to make steady progress year after year, calmly building substantial portfolios and growing their wealth, while others stay stuck in place despite reading the same books, attending the same webinars and listening to the same podcasts? And why do two people with similar incomes, similar opportunities and…
SQM Research’s Weekly Asking Prices Index for the week ending 30 March 2026 showed mixed short-term movements, though annual growth remains strong. Nationally, asking prices eased slightly over the month, with houses down 0.5%, units up 0.3%, and combined dwellings falling 0.4%, while still 12.0% higher year-on-year. Sydney (-0.8%) and Melbourne (-0.1%) recorded slight monthly…
Let me tell you something that might surprise you. The reason property has made more Australian millionaires than any other asset class isn’t because “bricks and mortar always goes up in value.” That’s a feel-good phrase, but it doesn’t actually explain anything. Property doesn’t always go up. History shows us there are periods of stagnation,…
Most investors are watching the wrong scoreboard. They’re fixated on the headline numbers: total population growth, migration caps, whether Australia hits 40 million by mid-century. Those figures make good media copy. But property markets aren’t driven by how many people we have. They’re driven by who those people are, what stage of life they’re in,…
