Something unusual is happening in Victoria’s rental market, and it has no historical precedent in over two decades of recorded data. For the first time since the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority began tracking bond lodgements, more rental bonds are being refunded than lodged. Put simply, rental properties are leaving the market faster than they’re entering…
There’s a saying in property circles that you make your money on a piece of real estate when you buy it. The gist of this is, that if you can negotiate really well and buy the property at the right time in the cycle, you’ll instantly manufacture some profits. This myth has caused people to…
There is a line doing the rounds in overseas journals and podcasts about the death of the first-time home buyer. In Australia, I would not call it death just yet. But it is certainly prolonged suffocation. The desire is still there. The aspiration is still there. The cultural pull of owning your own home remains…
There is more conflicting information about property right now than at almost any point I can remember. Turn on the news and you will find someone warning that prices are about to fall. Scroll a little further and you will find someone else forecasting another year of growth. Somewhere in the middle of all that…
You can spend all day debating interest rates, immigration, building approvals, auction clearance rates and what the RBA might do next. But if you want to understand what really drives capital growth in the medium term, you need to look past the property headlines and follow the money. And in a city or region, money…
Turn on the news or check out social media morning and you’d be forgiven for thinking the property market is on borrowed time. Interest rates, housing affordability, cost of living pressures, geopolitical tensions and now the budget change – the list of worries seems to grow faster than property values. Yet, after watching markets move…
For years, we’ve been told that property investors are the big winners when it comes to tax breaks. I’m sure you’ve heard the narrative: investors get negative gearing, capital gains tax discounts and all sorts of incentives that ordinary Australians don’t receive. But when you step back and look at the numbers objectively, that story…
The 1970s may have been known for flamboyant clothing, but their architecture was somewhat less exciting. In fact, property from that time period could almost be described as quite “bland” – at least from the outside. Inside, of course, was a different story with the wallpaper often featuring paisley motifs and the floors festooned with…
Most Australians think short term. They’re wondering what they’ll do this weekend, what’s for dinner, or how to stretch the next pay cheque. And most beginning property investors aren’t much different. They obsess over today’s interest rate rise, this week’s media headline, or whether their investment property will be cash flow positive right now. But…
Turn on the news or scroll through your feed and you’ll see the same pattern playing out again. Confident forecasts, persuasive arguments, and a steady stream of opinions about where property markets, interest rates, and the economy are heading next. Some say prices will fall. Others insist we’re on the verge of the next upturn….
