Property Economics
The Federal Budget’s fumbled opportunity
The argy-bargy of political wrangling always seems to include collateral damage. Parties come out swinging with a host of policies they say will help some group or another. They want to appear to be doing the right things – or, at least, the most popular thing. It’s important for the pollies to get the voters…
Read MoreThe wealthy, the comfortable middle and the rest: Australia’s wealth and income ladder explained
“If poor people knew how rich rich people are, there would be riots in the streets.” Those are the exact words of American actor and comedian Chris Rock during a past interview with New York magazine. He was referring to the enlarging gap between the rich and the poor in the US. Here at…
Read MoreBuilding approvals point to a potential future housing shortage
It doesn’t seem that long ago we were talking about an oversupply of apartments across Sydney, South Melbourne, and Brisbane. However, a lot has changed in the past few years. The ABS October figures on building approvals show a seasonally adjusted estimate for total dwelling units falling by 8.1% in October. The graph below from…
Read MoreWhat the 2019 Federal Election result means for property investors
This question will be sliced and diced a million different ways over the next week or two, but I wanted to give you my thoughts on it. In the short term, it’s going to provide a lot more certainty, and it will be back to business as usual eventually. A lot of investors and even…
Read MoreThe recent regulatory changes and the state of the Property Market
The January CoreLogic figures have shown that capital city dwelling values have posted their first quarterly fall since April 2016. The peak of the market was called as far back as 2016, but now we’re seeing the evidence some two years later. On a positive note, the combined regionals edged slightly higher over the Dec-17…
Read MoreOur predictions – Property Market Scorecard for 2017 and 2018
What a year property has had in 2017. We’ve seen some double-digit growth in major capital city markets and a big move from APRA in the investor lending space. We’ve also written extensively about changes to depreciation. There’s also been plenty of debate about foreign investors and housing affordability. So, what did the numbers show…
Read MoreIs a commercial property investment something you should consider?
When the Federal Government announced 2017-18 Budget measures to limit tax depreciation claims against second-hand residential investment properties, market experts predicted that many investors would turn their attention to commercial property investment. Is a commercial property investment something you should consider? There are plenty of reasons to have a look: Longer term tenants A typical…
Read MoreHow will changes to investment property depreciation affect you?
Investment property tax deductions hit the headlines when the 2017-18 Federal Budget was handed down on 9 May 2017. As the second biggest tax deduction after interest, depreciation deductions against investment properties save investors thousands of dollars and can make or break the profitability of a property investment. By claiming a tax deduction for the…
Read MoreFour reasons you should always use a construction price estimator
So you’ve decided to build. You’ve had plans drawn up and you have a ballpark budget in mind, but how can you be sure that it’s realistic? With a professionally-generated cost estimate, that’s how. Here are four reasons you should employ a construction price estimator before you get started: Belief in your budget An…
Read More181 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda – Super depreciation, and a pool to die for.
The view from St Kilda back to the CBD over Albert park is not often showcased, but it’s a spectacular one. Taking full advantage of this is the new development at 181 Fitzroy Street St Kilda. This retail/residential mixed use building comprises 46 two bedroom and 68 one bedroom apartments over nine levels. As described…
Read More