Sunday Blog - Expert property investment insights

In property circles, this term often comes up. It is easy to identify after it has taken place, but is a serious challenge for speculative investors to predict. Being able to forecast a suburb that is about to undergo rapid gentrification is a special skill that requires a strong grasp of statistics and the ability…

Three weeks ago I wrote about an emerging trend at our coalface; a marked increase in buyer enquiry and activity for holiday houses and regional tree-change and sea-change properties. Following that Sunday Blog, I explored where our discretionary spending as a nation used to go, and what our COVID-19 lockdown measures have altered. The focus…

First homebuyer challenges are often a topic of discussion in politics, media, and of course socially, at BBQ’s, dinner parties and within social circles. Plenty of people weigh in with their thoughts about whether incentives are the right way to support those entering the market, and statisticians and produced interesting trends to demonstrate the affect…

While there are many individuals and households that have been negatively impacted financially by COVID-19, there are also plenty who haven’t been adversely affected. In fact, some businesses and sectors are thriving as a result of the new demands that the pandemic has placed on their skillsets or businesses. Our Government aggressively stepped in with…

Since the COVID-19 pandemic struck our shores at the beginning of 2020, our entire way of socialising, working, educating our children and, well… living has changed. It is little surprise that a vast number of people have reconsidered where they live. We’ve felt it at the coalface. Our percentage of owner-occupier briefs outside of our…

We all groaned when Dan Andrews announced Stage 3 restrictions last week. Parents felt that pang of anxiety at the mere thought of containing young children in the house while juggling work pressures. Small business owners, (me included) scrambled for clarification of enforceable work changes and our teenage children rolled their eyes and wondered if…

Lending has changed dramatically since I was a mortgage broker, (over a decade ago). Since the GFC we’ve experienced a credit crunch, a pandemic, a large number of first home buyer incentives, and a proliferation of online lending resources. Banks have always traditionally provided their customers a pre-approval service, but pre-approvals are not what they…

This past fortnight has been interesting for Australian property investors who have been keeping an eye on the news feed. Reports have come to light, showing that many of our nation’s regions are experiencing stronger than expected capital growth. Typically, our regions have delivered stronger rental yields and moderated capital growth. Investors who prefer to…

We all want to ensure our children are equipped to make sound financial decisions as they grow up and navigate life, and I’ve consistently felt that our schools don’t teach very much about fiscal responsibility in the primary and middle school syllabus. Teaching our children about money is a well-canvased discussion and many people have…

We often have briefs from our clients that focus on school zones. Many are homebuyer clients, but this quest isn’t just restricted to home searches. Investors often list this as a criteria too. There have been many articles and media stories about the value growth that certain premium public school suburbs have experienced, and it…

We’ve traditionally referred to secret sales as off-market sales. Our business has consistently tracked at around 25% for off-market acquisitions over the past years, but COVID-19 changed the real estate selling environment considerably. Our secret sales are now sitting at 50% since COVID-19 struck our shores. The interesting change relates to how agents are now…

In this current climate, we have experienced an adjustment to the way in which we use data to measure the state of our property market. Traditionally, we have always been able to rely on a combination of; auction clearance rate, days on market, median house price movement, and transaction numbers. With auctions only just resuming,…