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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Top growth performing suburbs …get in on the action!!
The rich list has been announced and the top performers for both houses and units were areas of NSW.
RP Data released its top price growth suburbs, recording the greatest increase in median house and unit prices during the 12 months to December 2008.
North Sydney suburbs were the standout performers for both houses and units with [...]
Cheap inner-city living …but where you ask!!??
It’s well known, buying properties within 10km of capital cities is generally a good investment, but where ARE the most affordable areas?
There’s some suburbs within 5km of capital city centres where the median unit price is $200,000 and the gross rental yield 5.33%?
You really don’t have to buy far from the city centre to [...]