If you’re interested in property, do you have all your ducks in a row and are ready to negotiate? At this point in the journey, it can often feel like all the heavy lifting is done and that negotiating and buying a property is just a small piece of the puzzle. While it can feel…
After years of property investors feeling that Victoria sees them as an easy source of extra revenue, there is finally an encouraging change in direction. The Victorian Government has announced plans to ease the Absentee Owner Surcharge for eligible developments, recognising that attracting investment can help get more homes built. Introduced in 2016, the surcharge…
Are real estate agents honest, or do they just bend the truth enough to get the deal done without getting sued? It’s a question worth asking, because agents have had a bruised reputation for decades. In my years working alongside many different agents, I’ve seen the good, the bad and the occasional ugly. But let’s…
There is no doubt that our housing markets are facing challenges from all directions, but clearly they have remained more resilient than the property pessimists had predicted. To better understand what’s happening, this monthly collection of charts from Cotality paints an interesting picture. According to Cotality, Australia’s spring property market has failed to gain its usual…
Australia’s housing shortage is already serious, construction costs remain elevated, finance is expensive and too many proposed developments struggle to stack up financially. Now the Federal Government’s proposed changes to the taxation of discretionary trusts are creating another potential obstacle for the small and medium-sized developers responsible for delivering much of Australia’s new housing. New…
Thinking of buying a property and not sure of the numbers? Given the current tax changes and economic environment, buying without understanding the numbers is a gamble. With negative gearing and capital gains tax both changing, the gap between investors who run the numbers and those who don’t is about to get much wider. That…
Australia’s spring property market has failed to gain its usua momentum, with home sales down more than 20% compared with the same period last year, properties taking longer to sell and capital city vendors accepting their largest discounts in five years. Cotality’s October Housing Chart Pack shows an estimated 39,747 homes sold nationally in September,…
SQM Research released its latest data on residential property vacancy rates and advertised rents for September 2026. Australia’s national residential vacancy rate increased to 1.4% in September 2026, up from 1.3% in August. The total number of residential vacancies rose to 42,290 dwellings, compared with 41,039 the previous month. Compared with September 2025, when the national…
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,…
Affordability and cost-of-living pressures have taken the heat out of Australia’s rental market, driving a marked slowdown in rental growth during the September quarter as vacancy rates rose to their highest level since January 2025. Cotality’s latest Quarterly Rental Review shows national rents increased 0.5% in the three months to September, a marked slowdown on…
