With more property investors entering the real estate market this year, a new report from RP Data has provided a timely reminder of the value of real estate investment over the long term.   While capital growth and yields are both important, capital growth should always be the deciding factor when purchasing a property for […]

If you’re heading out into the competitive Autumn marketplace this month, you may want to consider your position on buying old versus new property. In the apartment market, I know some buyers who won’t go near a brand-new block because the strata levies are often not yet set; they don’t know who their neighbours will […]

This time last year, we were heading into a buyers’ market in the prestige sector. The GFC was biting, finance and banking executives were losing not only their bonuses but in many cases their jobs and the share market was declining rapidly. As a result, the prestige property market became oversupplied as high net worth […]

Congratulations to those property buyers who purchased a house or apartment in late 2008/early 2009 – your asset is now worth about 11 per cent more than when you bought it. Australian homes achieved double-digit price growth last year and I believe there’s some more impressive growth to come in 2010 – as long as […]

As the busy autumn selling season approaches, many vendors are now interviewing potential agents to sell their homes in February or early March. One of the issues vendors face when choosing an agent is how much commission to pay them. The decision is made for them in Queensland, the only state in Australia where commissions […]

Welcome to 2010 and what will likely be the most exciting year in Australian real estate since the property boom earlier this decade. I am eagerly anticipating this year’s first Super Auction Saturday in early February to get a hint of where our market is headed in 2010. I have a feeling we’re in for […]

A new survey from the Bureau of Statistics and RP Data confirms my predictions for market activity in 2010. Essentially, upgraders will remain the largest buyer group with a continuing increase in investor and downsizer activity. The ABS Housing Mobility survey shows a massive 45 per cent of Australian home owners feel their homes are […]

These days we hear a lot about Gen Y actively choosing to rent where they want to live rather than saving up to buy in more affordable areas. They love living in the fun-filled affluent lifestyle locations close to beaches and cafes – and who can blame them? But it concerns me that many young […]

The only thing scorching higher than the Sydney temperature gauge over the past few weeks has been the auction clearance rates. With 70 to 80 per cent clearance becoming a regular occurrence in recent months, our inner city offices hit an almost all-time high of 92 per cent recently. Historically, I’ve found that if the […]

Single career women are now an influential buying force in the Australian property market. When I started in real estate, it was very rare to conduct an auction and have a 28-year-old female buy a property on her own. It didn’t happen that often. Nowadays when you put a well-located, beautifully designed apartment block on […]

Just as buying a property is a great investment, hiring a good property manager is also an investment. For a small fee, which is fully tax deductible, a professional property manager can have a huge impact on the rental yields and long term capital gain of your investment asset. A good property manager will be […]

The essence of property is that it’s a ‘real’ and tangible asset made up of soil, bricks and mortar. The exception to this is buying off the plan, where a developer offers an apartment or house for sale before the building has been completed. I don’t want to scare you away from buying off the […]