Land tax on investment property – what has changed?
The impact of the changes to land tax on investment property depends on several things. How many properties you own. The value of the properties (land value) If you own houses or apartments. If you are an Australian tax paying resident or not. Land Tax rate changes came into effect in Victoria on 1st January…Read More→
Rent bidding – What’s all the fuss about?
The Rent bidding debate lit up the real estate media recently. The phone lines at 3AW went into melt down as Jacqui Felgate took calls about rent bidding. The calls and social media commentary that followed, demonstrates the very real frustration people are feeling when finding somewhere to live during this rental accommodation pinch. The…Read More→
Apartment market in 2024
What will happen in the Apartment market in 2024? We dig into rents, values, supply, immigration, land tax, government intervention and more. As 2023 fades in the rearview mirror, the most defining experience of the market was a dead heat between A sharp jump in rent The rise and rise of interest rates. Rents started…Read More→
Buying your first apartment
Buying your first apartment or house can be a challenge. Cost of living pressures (now dubbed cozzi-livs 😁) have made it tough to save a deposit and pay off a loan in the traditional way. If the Bank of Mum and Dad is not an option for buyers, there is always the bank of Jacinta and…Read More→
Owners and renters help each other.
In normal markets owners and renters help each other and everything ticks along easily. Lately the shortage of rental accommodation is a regular feature on the nightly news and there are challenges for both owners and renters. This week, a lead story on ABC news was the Rental Affordability Index report prepared by National Shelter,…Read More→
Apartment rents to jump 30%
Apartment rents are expected to rise by 30% in some precincts over the next 5 years according to aparmtent research just released by CBRE. We have seen a sharp jump in apartment rents over the last 1-2 years with some of that rise attributed to a catch up in falling rents during covid. This report…Read More→
Costs to buy and sell an apartment
The cost to buy and sell an apartment is one of the reasons apartments are a long-term play. If you sell one apartment and buy a different one, it can cost around 10% of the value of one of the apartments. The cost to either buy or sell equates very roughly to about one year’s…Read More→
Is it time to buy or sell apartments?
We often discuss the best time to buy or sell apartments. Property remains a long-term investment and therefore longer-term trends should trump short term issues. Everyone has their own reasons to buy or sell property. Investment apartments tend to be more about financial drivers than lifestyle considerations. Also, apartment return metrics are different to houses….Read More→
Will the Victorian Housing Plan work?
The ambitious Victorian Housing Plan announced yesterday will take time to be tested. The shortage of housing (and particularly rental accommodation) has been prominent in the press over the last 6 – 12 months with calls for urgent action. While the housing industry has failed to keep pace with demand, we can not let it…Read More→
Will China’s property crash effect Australia?
About 2 years ago, I discussed China’s property crash and how one of China’s biggest property developers earned the unenviable title of the worlds most indebted property developer. At that time, Evergrande carried liabilities of $A410 billion (yes that’s right, billion). That has now grown to $A525 billion and they filed for bankruptcy (in the…Read More→
Rent controls – good or bad?
The National Cabinet meeting last week could not ignore the wave of experts advising them not to introduce harsh rent controls like rental caps or a freeze. Most prominently when asked about rent controls, outgoing Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe said, “…giving people more money or capping prices doesn’t help with the balance of supply…Read More→
Converting offices to apartments. Does it work?
With a critical housing shortage, and plenty of vacant office space, does converting offices to apartments really work? Melbourne’s CBD office vacancy rate rose to 16.2% for the June 2023 quarter (according to JLL research). At the same time the apartment vacancy rate is a desperate 2.6% (SQM research) No brainer right? Well I wish…Read More→