Is Housing Productivity the Un-lock?
The headlines are full of the challenges in our housing market and the various government initiatives to remedy it. While there is no silver bullet, maybe everyone is looking in the wrong place? Is Housing Productivity reform the answer? For example, in preparation for the May budget Dr Jim Chalmers and the Treasury Department are…Read More→
Apartment Development – Boom or Gloom?
Melbourne is being told to “build up” but is being shown why it’s not that easy. State Government planning ambition and market reality have collided. The Victorian Government’s planning rhetoric for more apartment development in established suburbs from Mitcham to Malvern is at odds with their own property taxes and rules that make property investment…Read More→
Annual Return vs Capital Growth
Property investors have always weighed up annual return vs capital growth. More recently, and especially in the apartment market, investors are seeing above average annual return and below average capital growth. Is that a problem? It is if it upsets your investment objective or personal financial implications like tax. If you are an ABC news…Read More→
Global Property Market Update
Global Property Market update If you want an insight to the world’s residential property markets right now, just compare Tokyo’s booming 56% rise in prime prices to Melbourne’s 1.7% slide. In today’s global apartment market, the difference between growth and stagnation isn’t just about interest rates. It’s about the local economy, housing demand, cost of…Read More→
Renters Rights make Owners Picky
No one should be surprised to see the headlines this week on the “dire” rental affordability situation which is not just about renters rights. While news stories will have you thinking the entire Melbourne rental market is a tale of doom and gloom, the reality is more nuanced. Nevertheless, the latest Rental Affordability Index should…Read More→
Changes to Rental Rules
There are some changes to rental rules for investment property in Victoria starting on 25th November. We detailed this in April this year but the time has now arrived. Rental rules to the Victorian Government feel like an iPhone to a 15 year old… they just can’t seem to put it down and leave it…Read More→
Australia’s Apartment Market Snapshot
Traditionally the apartment market in each city around Australia moves in a similar way. Each city will have local boom and flat cycles however historically the broader National economic drivers keep the overall longer-term trend similar for each city. Now it feels like some cities have decoupled from the National trend. Charter Keck Cramer’s national…Read More→
Apartment Rents to hit new highs
Apartment Rents are set to rise by 24% and more between 2025 and 2030 according to CBRE. This is widespread across 53 precincts in Australia. It will be driven by a continued tightening of vacancy rates across all capital cities, including Melbourne. CBRE’s latest Apartment Vacancy & Rent Outlook H2 2025 outlines a measured but…Read More→
Apartment values are rising… finally
The long-anticipated rise in Melbourne apartment values is finally showing up in the market. There is also research to show the party is only just getting started. For the past few years, the high cost of living and rising interest rates kept a lid on apartment prices. But now, as cost-of-living pressures stabilise, and interest…Read More→
Apartments are the big winner.
It looks like apartments are the big winner from the Federal Government’s upgraded First Homebuyer Guarantee Scheme. Even the Federal Government agrees that changes announced last week to The First Homebuyer Guarantee (buyer deposit scheme) will push up home prices. The scheme per se is not new. What is new is the removal of the…Read More→
Underquoting can trip up the Uninformed
When you start seeing stories on underquoting, it is a sure sign the property market is rising. In a rising market, property buyers will often pay a price above the seller’s expectation. Sale prices rise and property starts selling over the estimated selling price (quote price) provided in the marketing. Does that mean the agent…Read More→
Melbourne Apartment Rental Market
As we roll through the halfway mark of 2025 and return from winter escapes to warmer climes, it’s time to look at where the Melbourne Apartment Rental Market is at and where it’s going. In an odd twist of fate, the Melbourne Rental Market has boomed due (in part) to the Victorian government’s land tax…Read More→