But the median sale price is soaring…
It is perplexing for some sellers when their property doesn’t increase in value as much as the median price. It begs the question, “What is the median price anyway?” Firstly a couple of brief points to set the scene. There are several different asset classes including shares, fixed interest (bonds), cash, property, and commodities. With most asset…Read More→
A boost for apartment values
You may have seen the press over the weekend about new laws limiting the size of new apartment buildings in Melbourne’s CBD. Read it here. These interim planning laws limit the size and setbacks of new buildings and came into effect on Friday. Over the next 12 months “permanent” planning rules and the approval process will be…Read More→
who’s to blame for under-quoting?
We haven’t heard much in the press lately about under-quoting, which is strange given how strong the market is, and how often the sale price is exceeding the quoted price by some margin. So during this void of media hysteria and half truths about under quoting it’s timely to review it rationally. It’s a tricky…Read More→
Do tenants really need a car park?
Any developer will tell you it’s the single bedroom apartments, without a car space, that are the hardest to sell. Town planning rules require dedicated car parks for most units in new projects (esp non CBD) and the market place (in the form of investment buyers) demand it. But what do tenants think? In very…Read More→
10 million people in Vic by 2051
Last week the Victorian Gov’t released “Victoria in Future 2015″ which is the official state government projection of population and households from 2011 to 2051. You may have read a related article in The Age on Saturday as well. It forecasts there will be a natural increase of 1.7 million people (3.7m births less 2m deaths)…Read More→
Can int rates still fall?
Last week saw APRA’s announcement requiring the major banks (including Macquarie) to increase capital reserves against their mortgage book. APRA has no property market regulation responsibility, nor is it attempting to temper the market, but it is clearly concerned about the exposure banks have to this sector. APRA’s direction prompted several banks to increase their variable…Read More→
Is now a good time to sell?
It’s the question real estate agents get asked every day. The question has the presumption of market cycle timing and future direction. The market is strong now but the question is more about what will happen “tomorrow”. Of course no one knows for certain and we monitor market indicators closely to provide the most informed…Read More→
Negative Gearing change would hit tenants
There has been lots of discussion lately about potential changes to negative gearing. It would need to be a very brave (read, secure) government to remove or even tamper with it, as it would impact many asset classes… not just property. It is so deeply entrenched in our property market that any change would alter…Read More→
Will China’s economic turmoil impact Melbourne Real Estate?
I will caveat my comments as Wood Property Partners are not economists or financial analysts and there were some great articles over the weekend in the financial press that are definitely worth a read. From my reading here are some interesting points… 48% of Chinese listed companies remain suspended so the Gov’t funded rebound last week was…Read More→
Bubbles burst and vanish…
Many media outlets have been talking up a property bubble… like many analogies it has unspoken and inaccurate inferences. Bubbles burst and vanish. Clearly we are in a period of growth and recent research by BIS Shrapnel (read here) says we can expect further price growth in 2015/16. The report also says “the rate of growth will slow”…Read More→
Off shore buyers aren’t the only thing driving the market.
A recent AFR article details how Penthouse sales are making a come back. Read it here A lot of the recent rise in residential property values has been attributed to off shore buyers. Clearly they love Melbourne and are buying up big, but remember they are prohibited from buying existing real estate. So if it…Read More→
How is a property valuation arrived at?
We have all scratched our head when seeing a valuation and wondered how they arrived at that figure. Well to answer the question we need to explain a little bit of back ground…. When buying any real estate most people borrow some amount of the purchase price from a bank or similar. That bank takes…Read More→