Federal Budget extends first home buyer support
One of the main reasons property prices rose so much through the pandemic was the healthier home balance sheet, or in a buyers language, saving a bigger deposit. Fueled by low interest rates and a few other factors, this was the primary reason people were able to pay more. Conversely, the lack of a sizable…Read More→
The case for regulating property spruikers
The financial services profession is awash with regulations designed (in part) to protect consumers from advisers promoting or recommending inappropriate products or being influenced by incentives with little knowledge of the client’s needs. Whilst most financial advisers don’t need regulations to guide their professional morality or expertise to understand a client’s circumstances and appetite for risk, regulation…Read More→
Apartment market forecast to tighten
With the relatively strong pipeline of Build to Rent (BTR) apartments in various stages of planning and the reducing pipeline of Build to Sell (BTS) apartments, both these sectors are now being analysed as part of the broader Apartment market by the major research houses. I attended a recent briefing by Charter Keck Cramer (CKC) Research &…Read More→
When should I repair my apartment?
Many owners corporations (OC) (formerly body corporates) have a long term maintenance plan to undertake repairs of common areas and general property of the building over a 15-25 year period. The OC collects payments from every apartment owner each quarter to fund these works. For investment owners those payments are tax deductible even though the works don’t take place…Read More→
Can owners increase the rent?
It is great news for apartment owners that the market rent for apartments is improving after the Covid dip, but does this mean owners can immediately increase the rent? Well that depends… Many owners have been incredibly supportive of renters during the difficult Covid times and provided rent concessions. Other owners have incurred the decline in…Read More→
What is needed to create an apartment community?
Property news continues to report on the surge in Build to Rent (BTR) projects being planned across Australia with many developers raising capital and searching for suitable sites. Melbourne is leading the charge with the largest number of projects mooted or under construction. As all the apartments in a BTR project are owned and managed…Read More→
More good news for Melbourne rents!
I’m pretty sure most apartment investors are tired of hearing about the decline in rents that ensued in Melbourne through Covid, so when I tuned in to REAs 2022 Market Outlook, I was delighted to see Inner Melbourne on top of the national table for the greatest number of lease deals during 2021 and the largest…Read More→
Universities impact on the Apartment Market
As we know, universities play an enormous role in our community, economy and obviously education and everything that flows from that. The success of Australia’s universities to attract students in the global market also has a significant impact on the apartment market (outside of the traditional or purpose built student accommodation market). A recent article in University…Read More→
How wide is the apartment vs house gap?
During the middle of 2021 it was becoming evident the rise in house prices was creating a unsustainable value gap between houses and apartments. This was most pronounced in Melbourne where the impact of extended lockdowns had driven many people to not only hoard toilet paper, but buy their own bunker of “terra firma”. The…Read More→
Investors buying apartments in 2022
The apartment market has traditionally been dominated by investors, first home buyers and downsizers. Over the last few years investors have been mostly absent from both “off the plan” and existing apartment sales however this is changing. ABS reported an overall rise in residential property lending throughout 2021, with a slow down in the second half of…Read More→
Do first home buyer government incentives work?
Property ownership and especially the family home has become an integral pillar of Australian’s personal wealth building and financial planning. Consequently the issue of housing affordability is not just about housing. It has become a proxy for financial independence and generational wealth accumulation. Housing has many social ramifications and home ownership enabling financial independence is an…Read More→
What are the learnings from Zillow’s mistake?
If you haven’t heard of Zillow, they are the US equivalent to realestate.com.au or domain.com.au. Launched in 2004, Zillow are now the dominate real estate advertising platform in the US and grew to a market cap of $US48 Billion in Feb 2021 with a share price of over $US200. In 2018 they entered the physical…Read More→