The Australian property market is on the move. After a few years of uncertainty, highlighted by headlines about falling prices and interest rate hikes that made buyers nervous, we turned the corner last year, and property values have been rising ever since. With the Reserve Bank having dropped interest rates three times already this year,…
Relationships are much more complicated these days, aren’t they? It’s common for couples to purchase a property before they have walked down the aisle or even lived together, which raises the question of who gets the house if they break up? It’s surprising more couples don’t give this a second thought. They assume they’ll be…
It’s no secret that education for their children is a top priority for many Australian families. But what’s becoming increasingly clear, especially here in Melbourne, is just how much that priority is translating into cold, hard property premiums. In fact, the latest report from the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) reveals something most of…
There is a lot of noise being bantered about regarding property investment of late. No surprises here given the recent federal election result, the tightness of the countries rental market and changes to property investment taxation potentially coming our way, thanks to the Labor Party, Greens and a weak opposition. I don’t want to join…
Remember when owning a home was considered a rite of passage? A marker of stability and success? Today, for many Australians, that milestone feels more like a distant fantasy than a realistic goal. What was once seen as the cornerstone of financial security has become an uphill battle, with soaring property prices, stricter lending rules,…
Median apartment rents are likely to grow by 24% between 2025 and 2030, across Australian capital cities, according to the latest report by International Property Consultancy, CBRE. By 2030, 92% of 2-bed apartments are forecast to have rents exceeding $700/week (33% exceeding $1000/week). CBRE expect that capital city vacancy rates will fall further to 1.1%…
It seems like property investors have become the punching bag of choice lately. The media loves to portray us as greedy landlords, politicians use us as scapegoats for the housing crisis, and some believe we’re locking first-home buyers out of the market. In fact, in the five decades I’ve been involved in property, I’ve never…
Buying property in Australia is tricky enough without the added complexity of state taxes, federal rules, and the ever-changing definitions of who qualifies as a “foreign person.” Recently at Metropole, we worked with a client who held a Resident Return Visa (subclass 155) – a type of permanent visa. Their big questions were: Will I…
If there’s one thing property investors learn over time, it’s that no two cycles are ever the same. The past decade has reminded us of this lesson again and again. Since 2015, Australia has been through three major interest rate cutting cycles. Each of these has played out very differently, with entirely different market segments…
Australia’s prestige property markets are revealing a surprising opportunity for strategic buyers – not inside the elite strongholds, but just beyond their borders. Ray White Chief Economist Nerida Conisbee’s latest analysis introduces the concept of “fortress suburbs” – coveted enclaves like Mosman and Toorak that resist the usual spillover effect seen in property markets. These…
