What a year 2023 has been in property! Nationally and in Victoria we've seen property prices and interest rates escalate, a shortage of properties for sale, a lack of affordable rentals, and changes to legislation. Of particular note are the changes to land tax laws that are coming into effect from 1 January 2024. We'll see additional clauses in contracts apportioning and adjusting land taxes …
Wendy’s Market Predictions For 2024
When interest rates and house prices are rising, people become cautious. They wonder whether to buy and sell now, or wait for a better time. The market may slow, but it keeps ticking over because there are fundamental reasons why people continue to buy and sell property irrespective of the state of the property market. These include death, divorce, downsizing... all these sorts of …
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Buyer Alert: There is A Pocket Of Opportunity Right Now!
The property market is a fickle thing, heavily influenced by a range of factors and variables which make it hard to know when is a good time to buy. Significant rises in property values and thirteen interest rate rises over the past 18 months have certainly added to the level of buyer anxiety. What will happen in the next 18 months is anyone's guess, although experts predict that property …
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Melbourne’s Rental Crisis Is Becoming A Rental Catastrophe
Housing reform can't come quick enough for Melbourne's struggling tenants. Hit hardest by the limited supply of rental properties and skyrocketing rents are low to middle income earners who are finding it near impossible to rent an affordable home within reasonable proximity of the city. A recent survey showed that single income families, couples earning minimum wage and pensioner …
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Do You Love Low Maintenance Living But Also Enjoy A Lush Garden Space? Here’s How To Have Both!
Big family homes on small blocks and even downsized homes on courtyard allotments are marketed as "low maintenance living" - a term that entices buyers with visions of relaxing lifestyles and social weekends spent out and about, not mowing lawns, trimming hedges and weeding gardens. But in fact low maintenance homes often occupy a large portion of the block so the backyard becomes a paved …
Victoria’s Land Tax Reforms – Will They Help?
So, better times might be ahead for tenants and home buyers struggling with the lack of affordable homes. Reforms to Victoria's housing industry continue with the Treasurer's recent proposal to introduce changes to the current residential land tax scheme. Treasurer Tim Pallas proposes to extend the vacant residential land tax from inner and middle metropolitan council areas to state …
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What Is Causing Melbourne Tenants To Lose Sleep?
You can't argue with numbers, and the numbers are showing that property investors are selling up and tossing their landlord's hats away, clearly a prospect which is causing anxiety for many tenants. New research by the Property Investment Professionals of Australia (PIPA),indicates that 12.1% of property investors sold one or more of their rental properties in the past 12 months, with just 24% …
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What Does The Latest Rate Rise Mean For The Property Market?
While Tuesday's interest rate rise didn't come as a surprise, it still hurts many mortgage holders who are already struggling. The November rise marks the RBA's fifth increase this calendar year following hikes in February, March, May and June, with further rises probable. The point of interest now is, how will this impact the housing market? Indications are that the latest rise could slow …
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Is Property Investing Still A Good Idea? Melbourne Landlords Don’t Think So.
A recent article published on realestate.com revealed an alarming trend. One in four Melbourne landlords have sold an investment property in the last year, leaving Melbourne ranked as the second worst capital city to invest in property. While the trend is nationwide, only Hobart beats Melbourne for the bottom spot, as an estimated 217,000 properties have been sold by investors …
The Great Escape – Would You Do It?
Where would you choose to live if work commitments didn’t influence your decision? One of the positives to come out of covid-19 has been increased flexibility in the workplace allowing permanent hybrid or work from home arrangements, with a significant flow-on effect in the housing market. The subsequent impact of changing business models on the housing industry saw an increase in the number …
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