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.
![Melbourne housing market update [video] | May 2026](https://cdn.propertyupdate.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/melbourne-1-270x200.jpg)
The Melbourne property market continues to face persistent downward pressure, with the latest Cotality data showing a dwelling value dip of 0.6% in April. This extended downturn represents the fifth consecutive monthly decline for the Victorian capital, pulling overall values down a cumulative 1.9% from the November cyclical high and leaving them 2.3% below the…
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Australia has always promised that if you worked hard, took responsibility, invested wisely and built something for your family, you’d be encouraged – or at least not punished for doing so. But some of the recent Budget changes raise a very uncomfortable question: are we slowly dismantling that promise? Because buried behind the headlines, the…
Every few years property investors are told the game is over. A new tax. A new regulation. A new lending rule. A new reason to sit on the sidelines. And yet, after 50 years of investing through booms, busts, recessions, credit squeezes, banking reforms, political interference, rising interest rates, falling interest rates, a global financial…
The national housing market is navigating a distinct cyclical turning point, with Cotality’s National Home Value Index rising by just 0.3% in April, taking the slowest monthly growth recorded since January 2025. While values continue to trend higher on a national level, the pace of appreciation is clearly losing momentum as the housing cycle moves…
For many Australians, most of their retirement wealth is tied up in their home. A simple, well-designed program to tap into those trillions in home equity could help boost their retirement incomes. Such a program exists. However, it remains little known and underused. The federal government’s Home Equity Access Scheme (HEAS) allows older Australians to…
I believe most people spend too much of their lives trying to reduce perceived financial risk. The opportunity cost of this approach is very high and puts lifestyle goals at risk. Too much focus on risk reduction Many people buy a home and then focus on repaying debt. They then upgrade their home and once…
What if I told you the single biggest threat, or opportunity, for your wealth creation journey could be something you never saw coming? In the early 1980s, long before there was a TV show by the same name, economist Dr. Don Stammer taught me to always watch out for the “X Factor.” These are the…
They were born into a world rebuilding itself after war, came of age during unprecedented economic expansion, and spent decades accumulating assets in a system that steadily rewarded long-term ownership. Today, Baby Boomers sit at the centre of Australia’s economic landscape, still shaping markets, policy settings, and the financial trajectory of younger generations. Yet the…
According to Cotality, since its daily index began at the start of 2010, Melbourne house values have risen by around 4% p.a., which is only about 1.3% p.a. above inflation. But of course, not every property has delivered such a mediocre result. That begs the real question: which types of properties have outperformed over this period, and what…
Welcome to the inaugural episode of Market Room Live, where I delve into the complexities of the property market and the recent bombshell federal budget’s impact. This discussion, featuring insights into current trends and future predictions, is essential for anyone interested in navigating the evolving landscape of real estate investment in Australia. Understanding the Federal…
