Property values fall in Queensland flood zones
Queenslanders in flood-affected areas may be hit with an after effect of the flood, with a sharp drop in land valuations. This has exposed thousands of victims with mortgages now greater than the worth of their homes.
The Queensland State Government revised valuations of 23,000 properties impacted by the floods, and its estimated that price drops [...]
Families pooling funds and buying together
With affordability at its lowest level on record, first-home buyers have to think outside the square.
The home-ownership dream rarely used to feature a sibling in your bathtub and a parent on your certificate of title. These days though, first-home buyers are prepared to be flexible.
Housing affordability fell to record lows in the March quarter this [...]
Tax hurdles tripping up property investors
INVESTORS own around two million homes in Australia and every year thousands claim deductions they’re not entitled to and fall foul of the Australian Taxation Office.
The result can be a kind warning or a significant fine and large interest bill.
The tax office says its investors’ responsibility to get their tax returns right and they [...]
Beach bargains just a fairy story
CASHED-UP Melburnians keen to snatch beachfront holiday homes from struggling vendors may be in for a big disappointment.
Plunging average prices for regional seaside homes don’t tell the full story.
Valuer-General Victoria sales figures released this month by Land Victoria show median house prices rose in a third of seaside towns!
From the end of 2007 [...]
High interest rates a benefit for investors
What will happen if rates go up? In today’s low-interest-rate environment one of the common questions property investors ask is, “What happens if we buy now and interest rates skyrocket, like back in the 1980’s?”
An understandable concern and today’s historically low interest rates can’t be sustained forever because at some point the economy will [...]
A great weekend for the Melbourne auction market!!
MELBOURNE’s auction market had its highest clearance rate over the weekend since the end of the property boom in December 2007.
Of the 452 properties up for auction, 83 per cent sold and 77 properties were passed in!
However, the number of properties for auction was 126 fewer than at the same time last year!
The [...]
Variable home loans reach record levels
Home buyers are flocking back to variable rate mortgages which now account for 91% of the residential lending market, their highest proportion in four months.
Mortgage broker Mortgage Choice reported in April basic variable mortgages accounted for 48.15 per cent of all home loans approved - up nearly one per cent from March, while standard variable [...]
First homebuyers improving rental vacancies
Melbourne’s outer suburb vacancy rates have improved from 0.7 per cent to 1.8 per cent in the past six months, according to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria’s April vacancy rates.
Vacancy rates across Melbourne is reasonably steady having been between one and 1.4 per cent for 12 months. However it‘s significant that there’s a noted [...]
Commercial building steady
The value of commercial building permits in Victoria has increased in the March quarter, despite there being a fall in the state’s building industry overall.
Building Commissioner Tony Arnel says that when compared to the same period in 2008, the value of building permits in the state has decreased by 11 per cent to reach under [...]
You can profit from the next property boom!!
Property investors should be planning ahead to take advantage of the next upturn in the property cycle, that’s according to quantity surveying firm Asset Economics.
“Property booms never last but neither do property busts.”
To take advantage of the next boom, investors need to ensure they’re buying for long-term capital growth and also take in account [...]