Apartments are the big winner.
It looks like apartments are the big winner from the Federal Government’s upgraded First Homebuyer Guarantee Scheme. Even the Federal Government agrees that changes announced last week to The First Homebuyer Guarantee (buyer deposit scheme) will push up home prices. The scheme per se is not new. What is new is the removal of the…Read More→
Underquoting can trip up the Uninformed
When you start seeing stories on underquoting, it is a sure sign the property market is rising. In a rising market, property buyers will often pay a price above the seller’s expectation. Sale prices rise and property starts selling over the estimated selling price (quote price) provided in the marketing. Does that mean the agent…Read More→
Melbourne Apartment Rental Market
As we roll through the halfway mark of 2025 and return from winter escapes to warmer climes, it’s time to look at where the Melbourne Apartment Rental Market is at and where it’s going. In an odd twist of fate, the Melbourne Rental Market has boomed due (in part) to the Victorian government’s land tax…Read More→
Let’s play Apartment Market Tipping Point
Where is the apartment market’s tipping point? When does it make more sense to buy rather than rent? And while we are at it… where is the tipping point for investors to buy apartments? As it turns out they are both about the same. Obviously, there are lots of non-financial drivers to buying property, but…Read More→
Who’s paying Vacant Residential Land Tax?
It’s no surprise Vacant Residential Land Tax (VRLT) is not generating as much tax revenue as the Victorian Government thought. As The Age reported this week – “Thousands of empty homes are dodging the tax”. The article said the Parliamentary Budget Office estimated 5,000 properties would be hit by the tax. But only 1,779 owners…Read More→
BtR and the Housing Shortage.
Build-to-Rent (BtR) is a hot topic in Australia’s housing sector, and for good reason. But can it fix the housing shortage? BtR is commonplace internationally (known as multifamily in US) but is starting to get traction in Australia. Traditionally Australian apartments have been built and sold individually. ie. Built to Sell. But BtR projects are…Read More→
Change Property Managers and Save Thousands
How do you know if you should change property managers and how much can you save? I’m not talking about saving a hundred dollars in property management fees. In fact low property management fees can mean poor service and higher cost longer term. How about saving thousands of dollars in lost rent, avoidable repairs, unrecovered…Read More→
Apartment Market Health Check
Let’s do a 2025 Apartment Market Health Check to understand what is going on and what the growth path is for apartment values. We have put the stethoscope on the 5 value drivers being: Job security / Wage growth / Health of employment market. The availability and cost of property debt. The number of apartments for sale…Read More→
Apartment Investment Returns
The whispers are growing louder that apartment investment returns have crept back up to levels that can no longer be ignored, and investors are beginning to take notice. After a few years of being in the investment shadows, apartments are returning to favour as both rental yields and broader economic conditions tilt back in their…Read More→
Unboxing the new rental rules.
New rental rules were announced recently but they are more like minor tweaks than big reforms. Compared to the March 2021 rental rules revamp, these changes look like political window dressing than meaningful change. They do however, put additional importance on the quality of rental agents’ advice to owners and renters. Good agents will help navigate everyone…Read More→
An idea to create Affordable Housing.
We hear a lot about affordable housing. The housing crisis… and the rental crisis… and the building cost crisis. The media (and this blog) are full of what the problems are and suggests of what to do about it. Everyone wants a balanced housing market. We had one only 5 -10 years ago. So what…Read More→
Creating Cheaper Apartments
Here is one idea that may help create cheaper apartments and ease the housing crisis. Have you ever walked past the early stages of an apartment development and looked down into the abyss of the enormous hole in the ground resembling the 9/11 Ground Zero Memorial? That hole is a (soon to be) basement car…Read More→