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.
While it’s not typically required by law, most financial products such as ETFs and managed funds report historical investment returns over 1, 3, 5, and 10 years, as well as since inception. This data is incredibly useful, as it allows investors to assess performance over the short, medium, and long term, all of which are…
Let’s face it, we Aussies love a good whinge. We’ll complain about the cost of living, the price of housing, the traffic, our politicians, and even the weather if we run out of other options. It’s part of our cultural DNA, that casual cynicism that coexists with our dry humour and love of understatement. But…
You’re probably reading this blog because you want to become rich. But how much money do you need? A lot of research has gone into whether money does truly make you happy and it has been found that, in general, humans are never satisfied. We always think that if we had a little bit more…
Ever heard of the 1% rule in property investment? It sounds simple, even seductive. Buy a property where the monthly rent is at least 1% of the purchase price, and you’re set for positive cash flow. In theory, it’s a quick way to separate good investments from bad. While you may come across this a…
Nationally, asking prices rose 1.9% for houses and 1.4% for units over the month, with combined dwellings up 1.6% month-on-month and 9.7% year-on-year, according to SQM Research’s Weekly Asking Prices Index for the week ending 28 October 2025 which revealed a continued upward momentum. Sydney house asking prices eased marginally (-0.04%) to $2.1 million yet…
![[PODCAST] Why Our Politicians Don’t Want Housing to Be Affordable | Big Picture Podcast with Ken Raiss](https://cdn.propertyupdate.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/728-Housing_Affordable-KR-Youtube-cover-270x200.jpg)
Let’s be honest — if our politicians really wanted housing to be affordable, it would be by now. They’ve had decades to fix it. There have been inquiries, commissions, roundtables, and billions thrown at so-called “affordability schemes.” And yet, what do we have? Record house prices, record rents, and a generation of young Aussies wondering…
Most investors expect their tax bills to rise when they buy more property, not when they simply sit still. Yet that’s exactly what’s about to happen in New South Wales. The NSW Government’s recent decision to freeze land tax thresholds means property owners from mum-and-dad investors to self-managed super funds (SMSFs) will pay more tax…
Nationally, housing affordability has deteriorated badly since the pandemic. Cotality data shows home values are up 46.8% in the past 5 years. The median dwelling value has gone from 6.4 times, to almost 8 times median household income. Median rent across Australia has reached $672 per week, with rent values up 43.8% in the past…
The RBA Board voted to keep the cash rate on hold at 3.6% in November, breaking the 2025 trend of quarterly cuts. The decision came as no surprise following the September inflation report, with trimmed-mean inflation – the RBA’s ‘core’ measure which they try to get in the 2-3% target band – jumping to 3.0%…
Success and wealth don’t just happen by chance. For many, the drive to achieve greatness stems from powerful motivators that ignite ambition and fuel persistence. Drawing from a mix of psychological insights, real-world examples, and research on my studies, this article explores the top five factors that inspire ordinary individuals to chase extraordinary outcomes. These…
