The Australian property market feels uncomfortable at the moment. Values are falling, buyers are hesitating, and another interest rate rise remains possible. If you’re waiting for someone to tell you precisely when the market will turn, you may be waiting for an answer nobody can give you. Fortunately, successful property investing has never depended on…
While many Australians are keen to invest in property to secure their financial future, the statistics clearly show that most investors fail to achieve their goals. More than half of those who buy an investment property sell up in the first 5 years and only around 20,000 investors have joined the 1% club who own…
Where do you start your search for an investment property? It’s the classic question every property investor asks, but the order of those decisions matters. What should I buy, where should I buy it, and when? At every seminar we used to run, Michael Yardney would put this question to the room. Almost without fail,…
There’s something psychologically powerful about a suburb joining the “million-dollar club”. Crossing that seven-figure threshold attracts headlines and creates the impression that property values have permanently moved to a higher level. Yet property markets don’t move in straight lines, and the latest figures are just another reminder that median prices can move backwards. According to…
Here’s something that should concern every parent and grandparent in Australia. If you were born in the late 1940s, there was a 54% chance you owned a home by your late twenties. If you were born in the early 1990s, that figure has fallen to 36%. Now that’s a significant change in how wealth gets…
Earlier this month I had the pleasure of speaking at the Brisbane branch of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Australia. The organisers asked me a dozen or so questions covering everything from affordability and population growth through to construction costs, infrastructure and the Olympics. Looking back on the discussion, four themes seemed to emerge. 1….
Selling a property, whether it is your home or an investment, is a significant financial decision. You may be upsizing, downsizing, relocating or restructuring your investment portfolio, but whatever your reason for selling, choosing the right real estate agent can make an enormous difference to both the experience and the final result. A skilled agent…
With national property values down by 5.2% in September from their March peak, Australia’s housing market is in a distinct downturn. This has sparked concerns voiced by Opposition Leader Angus Taylor of a housing market “in freefall”. Translated into dollar terms, using the Domain property price series, the price of a typical home has dropped…
I expect many participants in the property industry will spend the coming months devising ways to navigate the negative gearing and CGT changes, to maintain investor interest. As a business that is completely independent, with no vested interest in any asset class, including property, I wanted to examine some of these potential strategies. Remember: property is not the only game in…
Every year, property investors are presented with a fresh collection of forecasts telling them where interest rates, house prices, rents and the economy are heading. Some forecasts will be broadly right, many will miss the mark, and almost none will accurately predict the unexpected events that ultimately shape the market. Yet investors continue to search…
