February 18, 2013
There still seems to be a bit of doom and gloom about so I thought it was time I looked at the statistics to see whether the future looks bright or if it’ll be more of the same.
BY PETER KOULIZOS
Firstly, let’s look at property prices. According to RP Data, home values fell 0.4 per cent across the combined capital cities in 2012. Some cities like Darwin, Sydney and Perth increased in value but the rest dropped in value. Read more →
November 12, 2012
Many will think I’m writing this article because I live in South Australia, but if you’re interested in buying property in an area where the government is lending a helping hand to investors – not just first homebuyers – this might be the state for you.
BY PETER KOULIZOS
To provide a boost to the construction industry, the SA Government recently introduced some incentives. They include a First Home Owners Grant of $15,000 for new homes, the elimination of stamp duty on new apartments built in some locations in or near the CBD (saving as much as $16,000) and the Housing Construction Grant (HCG) of $8500.
July 30, 2012
We’ve reached the halfway point of 2012 so it’s a good time to look at the performance of the residential property market so far. What’s happening with prices, auction clearance rates, vendor discounting and rental prices?
BY PETER KOULIZOS
Using the most recent figures from RP Data, I’ve formatted several tables that give an insight into the state of property in Australia. The first table provides an overview of capital growth over the past three months, 12 months, five years and 10 years.
June 5, 2012
Last year I wrote a blog asking why property pundits were so glum, even though the property market was soft and property prices were falling. We had a record number of properties on the market and almost a record low number of property sales. This state of affairs has improved, as has the situation with inflation, unemployment and interest rates.
BY PETER KOULIZOS
Last May, I pointed out that:
• Inflation was under control
• Interest rates were steady with a possible rise in the future
• Unemployment remained very low.
Let’s look at the situation today to see what’s changed.
April 10, 2012
With a little over one quarter of the year gone, I think it’s an opportune time to check on the progress of the property market, based on a number of key indicators provided by RP Data. I have also added some comments on what we need to see happen to these key indicators to give us a sign that the property market is improving.
BY PETER KOULIZOS
Days on market
The average time it takes to sell a house or unit has increased in the past year. Twelve months ago, it took on average 75 days to sell a house and 65 days to sell a unit. Fast-forward to today and the time taken to sell property has increased. It’s now taking on average 78 days to sell a house and 67 days to sell a unit. The days on market needs to decrease to give us a sign that the property market is improving.
March 6, 2012
If you can pick cities/suburbs/areas that are about to outperform the market, you can markedly increase your wealth in a relatively short space of time.
BY PETER KOULIZOS
Your first step in trying to forecast the future is to look at the past and try and analyse the data. It’s not enough to just see what happened but you need to understand why it happened. Below is a table, which illustrates the performance of all the capital cities over the last 12 months. As you can see, every capital city experienced a drop in property prices.
February 7, 2012
I recently replied to a blog posted by API deputy editor Vanessa De Groot relating to the difficulty of buying property interstate.
BY PETER KOULIZOS
I suggested a simple five-step process so as to try and overcome the fear with buying in unfamiliar territory. As many people are considering buying interstate, especially in the resource-rich states, I thought it would be a good idea to provide some more detail on this five-step process.
January 9, 2012
As promised, I’m following on from my last blog, called ‘2011 – annus horribilis’. (The term ‘annus horribilis’ is the Latin phrase for ‘horrible year’.)
BY PETER KOULIZOS
I don’t think too many property owners will be sad to see the end of 2011, which saw property prices drop in every capital city. Now for 2012 – annus betterus (it’s not a Latin phrase).
October 24, 2011
Recently there have been discussions on whether potential homebuyers should be able to access their superannuation to buy property.
BY PETER KOULIZOS
When I heard this strategy being suggested, my first response was ‘no’. The main reason I was initially against the idea is that I was concerned that if some superannuation funds had been invested into the family home and something went wrong, it would also jeopardise their retirement.
Read more →
September 19, 2011
One of the problems with purchasing property is deciding on what to buy.
BY PETER KOULIZOS
Some of the common choices for investors include a house in the inner or middle ring suburbs, an older style unit in the suburbs, a brand new apartment in the CBD or an investment property in a mining town. Read more →
