The Supreme Court of New South Wales has ruled that the buyers of an off-the-plan property were entitled to a rescission of their contract and a deposit refund because the estate agent for the developer engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct. These inexperienced investor-buyers had relied on baseless representations in newspaper advertisements that the value of the inner-city terrace units being marketed by the agent would double in five years.
By TIM O’DWYER
A major law firm soon issued a media release suggesting that, in a falling market, off-the-plan buyers might try to get out of deals done years earlier by relying on pre-contractual misrepresentations. Property developers and their agents were warned “to carefully check the wording of their advertisements or other representations” to make sure they were “based in fact”, while any statements regarding future value must have a “reasonable basis” with further information being provided to qualify those representations. Read more →
Stable interest rates are proving just the ticket for investors, as new research from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows that money spent on housing for investment purposes has risen in the past 12 months.
By DAMIAN SMITH
According to the ABS report, the total amount spent on the construction and purchase of investment properties for rent and resale in June increased by 11 per cent compared to June 2009, to $7.3 billion (based on seasonally adjusted figures). A relatively benign interest rate climate, plus the ongoing shortage of housing supply in many parts of Australia, all point to the attractiveness of property investment for many Australians.
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Recently a number of different research organisations released their June housing price statistics, each giving very different results. It’s no surprise that many property investors are wondering “who’s right?”
By MICHAEL YARDNEY
The best way to look at this is to answer some common questions…
1. Why bother measuring house price movements?
Most Australians have the majority of their wealth tied up in their home. Rismark estimates the total value of privately-owned residential real estate in Australia is around $3.4 trillion, so it’s not surprising that we like to keep track of how our wealth is growing, and the media likes to put a number on this.
And of course the more than 1.5 million Australian property investors want to track the performance of their investments.
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I always find it interesting when I speak to property owners that the one thing they often don’t consider with renovations is car parking. This can have a significant impact when wanting to sell or rent a property.
By ANA STANKOVIC
The days of only looking for a property through the paper have changed, with the majority of people these days starting their search online and loving the flexibility of being able to set up alerts and notifications so they get told when a property that meets their search criteria becomes available in the marketplace.
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A typical marketeering scenario usually begins with the cold-calling of unsuspecting mums and dads to tout wealth creation and/or tax saving seminars, then proceeds to the slick selling and financing of specially selected investment properties.
By TIM O’DWYER
Involved in this profitable property system can be financial advisers, real estate agents, developers, builders, mortgage brokers, solicitors, valuers and lenders. Those involved are in the know, as this (slightly edited) whistle-blowing letter to me from an insider at a major lending institution largely reveals:
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The year 2010 has been a very interesting year to date. There was some excellent growth in the first part of 2010 but since then it has slowed. So what now?
By PETER KOULIZOS
According to RP Data, Australian capital city dwelling values didn’t grow at all over the June quarter and actually fell by 0.7 per cent in the month of June. Figures for each of the major capital cities for the June quarter are below. Read more →
By MICHAEL YARDNEY
The latest figures from RP Data – Rismark’s Home Value Index release show that after 17 consecutive months of solid growth, dwelling values across our capital cities declined in the month of June.
This result isn’t really surprising, considering all the leading indicators pointed to a slowing market and it gives the Reserve Bank the ability to keep interest rates on hold.
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There’s plenty of evidence that our property markets have changed, from the hot “sellers’ market” of the first half of this year, when vendors called the shots and the price of many properties increased at a dizzying rate, to now when there are many more properties for sale, but buyers are a little nervous and holding back their purchase decision. We are in what’s called a “buyers’ market”, where homeowners and investors now have the balance of power on their side.
By MICHAEL YARDNEY
My question to you is: if you are considering investing, are you taking advantage of the buyers’ market?
While experienced investors love these markets because they have more time to make decisions and can negotiate with more effect, it seems that many beginning investors find it easier to decide not to buy.
Why is this?
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