National rents rose 1.7% over the March quarter, up from 0.4% in the December quarter, according to CoreLogic’s latest Quarterly Rental Review. However, this uptick is largely seasonal, with the 1.7% rise in rents over the three months to March marking the slowest Q1 growth since 2019 (1.0%) and is a full percentage point below…
Yes, you read that right — even in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, there are still places around Australia where owning a home can be cheaper than renting. But (and it’s a big but), you need to know where to look, and you need to act strategically. The media’s been busy with doom and…
Investor behaviour matters a lot. In fact, it probably matters more than skill. To understand why this is true, first, you need to understand one fundamental concept: Investment returns and investor returns are almost always different. In 1999, I was working diligently doing my job as an investment advisor or financial planner (I was never sure what…
If you’ve wandered down the cereal aisle recently, you might have noticed something peculiar. Between the giant, value-packed boxes of Home Brand Cereals and the small, premium gourmet granolas, there’s a glaring gap where Weet-Bix, the staple breakfast of middle-class Australia, once took pride of place. Those mid-sized boxes, the ones we grew up with,…
We are not born with courage, but neither are we born with fear. Maybe some of our fears are brought on by our own experiences, by what someone has told us, by what we’ve read in the papers. Some fears are valid, like walking alone in a bad part of town at two o’clock in the…
There’s an old Chinese saying “I wish that you live in interesting times.” The irony of this is that “interesting times” are often times of trouble or turmoil, making the phrase more like a curse and boy are we living in interesting times at the moment with Trumps Tariffs creating fear around the world. It…
If you’ve been watching Melbourne’s property market closely, you’ll know it’s been a two-speed market in recent years. While established houses in gentrified inner- and middle-ring suburbs have pulled ahead, many apartments have been stuck in reverse gear. But something’s shifting. However, new PropTrack data reveals there are still 13 Melbourne suburbs where apartment prices remain…
How we move through our cities is about much more than just getting from A to B. It impacts our health, our productivity, our environment — and yes, even our wealth. And with Australia’s capital cities continuing to grow, the way we commute is becoming a critical piece of the urban puzzle. Yet, for most…
When it comes to property investment, many investors strive to strike a balance between the income and the capital growth a property generates, hoping to maximise both. However, I have written a lot about the fact that the income from a property, after expenses, probably won’t help you achieve financial independence. It’s the power of…
For mine, the Australian housing market is about to boom. Why? I think we are heading towards a bout of stagflation. Job creation is about to tank and, whilst inflation will rise and remain above the RBA target range for some time to come, interest rates will fall. My modelling suggests that every time mortgage…