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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Victoria’s Housing Reforms – The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
Last month the Andrews government released their long-awaited housing reform policies. The good news? The government is doing something to accommodate the housing shortage and the lack of rental accommodation as well as affordable housing. The bad news is that many experts doubt the efficacy of the proposed changes and the news could even turn ugly if the proposed strategies …
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Go Hard or Go Home, Say Melbourne’s First Home Buyers
PropTrack data analysts recently assessed the 20 top suburbs around the country that attracted the most email enquiries from first home buyers. The analysis of email enquiries by first home buyers to agents on realestate.com.au during August showed that first home buyers around the country were most interested in units in the Melbourne CBD, followed by Parramatta in Sydney and …
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Spring Home Trends Not To Be Sneezed At!
What’s your favourite season? We enjoy the cosy glow of toasty fires and cheeky red wines but we’re glad when winter comes to an end. And while we love outdoor dining in summertime and the taste of a refreshing G&T, we soon start complaining about unrelenting summer heat. That's when we start looking forward to the cooler temperatures again, and the vibrant hues of autumn …
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Rising House Prices – When Will They Hit The Roof?
According to the PropTrack Home Price Index, national property prices rose again for the eighth straight month in August. Fueled by a housing shortfall and increased overseas migration, cities such as Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth along with regional Queensland and South Australia saw new record high property prices. In Melbourne, prices rose a modest 0.15% in August while the rest of …
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