OPINION
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Millennials to eclipse baby boomer real estate spending in next 5 years: First National Real Estate
Despite 74% of millennials requiring more help than usual in understanding the buying process, it is anticipated that the next five years will see millennials eclipse baby boomers’ real estate spending power with 66.1% of those born between 1982 – 2002 choosing property over lifestyle. With millennials earning more money than earlier generations, their buying budgets are anticipated to be…
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No bursting of the development bubble in 2018, tips Investorist
As the new year dawned, Mr Ellis outlined his predictions for off-the-plan developments in the year ahead. Here’s an insight into his top tips. No bursting bubble As the head of a global property investment marketplace, Mr Ellis features a unique insight into off-the-plan property sales and believes 2018 will “certainly be a buyer’s market”, with things having returned to…
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The Rise of Facebook Advertising In Real Estate: Chris Rolls
While the industry is addicted to the reliable stream of buyer leads these real estate portals send them, the downside is that it costs more to market a property online in Australia than many other places around the world. This cost is borne in most cases by the seller of a property, but many agents also claim that the high…
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The irresistible pull of gravity
In business and personal relationships it’s not necessarily the loudest or the most confident person in the room who is the most influential. If you find yourself worrying about not having the “right personality” to stand up in front of people to present your solutions or ideas, Julie Masters explains how to use gravity instead to pull your audience in.
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Don’t let the mainstream media put you off your game
You wouldn’t know it from some mainstream media reporting, but housing affordability is actually getting better, not worse. That doesn’t mean it’s suddenly become easy for first home buyers to enter the market or for buyers of any kind to service a mortgage. All it means is that it’s now less hard. The latest quarterly Adelaide Bank/REIA Housing Affordability Report…
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How men can embrace a more collaborative approach to win female customers: Anna Thomas
It may no longer come as a surprise that Forbes has identified women as the world’s most powerful consumer; it’s well documented that women drive 70 to 80 per cent of all consumer purchasing through a combination of their buying power and influence. In fact, according to EY, the global income of women is forecast to achieve a mind-boggling $18…
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Is selling houses online the way of the future?
You’ve heard of selling your pre-loved furniture or clothes on eBay, but would you sell a house through an online bidding process? Recently, our Stockdale & Leggo Ringwood office utilised online offer management system Click & Bid, to sell a home located at 3/7 Fortuna Avenue, Croydon, by private treaty, achieving a result well in excess of the vendors expectations.…
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Jonathan Lui predicts downscaling properties are the way of the future
Australia’s properties are now the smallest they’ve been in the past two decades, with an incline in apartment-living. And apparently, that’s OK. Having lived in Australia most of his life and recently moved to Singapore, Lui says he has noticed a significant difference in property sizes. He says big properties are out, and small houses are in. “Asia is the…
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The Sydneysider’s guide to renting; based on RAI findings
Property commentator and valuer Anna Porter looks at the Rental Affordability Index (RAI), released on November 29, and what it really means for Sydney’s renters and prospective house buyers. BAD NEWS, LET’S GET IT OUT OF THE WAY “Firstly, the most curious part of this data is that the only ‘affordable’ location within Sydney catchment shown on the Rental Affordability…
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Douglas Driscoll’s property market forecast for Sydney in 2018
Douglas has forecasted the following 10 property market trends for 2018: 1. House prices to grow. We saw prices drop slightly at the end of 2015, and we’re seeing this again at the end of 2017 – possible evidence that prices could rebound once more. Overall, I think we’ll see the median house price grow by around three…
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Why your buyers are finding it harder to get finance
Fun fact: did you know that we’ve had one interest rate rise in 2017? That might sound like a strange thing to say, given that the Reserve Bank of Australia has left the official cash rate at a record-low 1.50 per cent since August 2016. However, between 1 January and 1 November, interest rates gradually crept up, ultimately increasing by…
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Agents need to sharpen communication with vendors in a slow market: Andrew Cocks
As the auction market softens and the gap between vendor and buyer price expectations widens, agents would do well to begin honing their communication skills. Despite some properties continuing to attract bullish prices the 65 per cent Sydney auction clearance rate, which is artificially high through manipulation of listings, and 32 per cent in Brisbane recorded on the weekend, suggests…
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Doug Driscoll reveals his 2018 Sydney suburb hotspot predictions
Douglas Driscoll, CEO of Starr Partners has announced his top 10 Sydney suburbs to watch in the upcoming year. 1. Leppington Leppington has seen significant housing development after re-zoning and is very family-centric. With Coles and Woolworths moving in this year, I think we can expect to see this area go from strength to strength. The new NSW rail changes coming into…
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First timers homing in to opportunity: Andrew Cocks
There’s been a predictably mixed response to the release of CoreLogic figures showing another month of declines in Sydney house prices. From some there have been howls that the sky is falling, the boom turned to bust, and the imminent collapse of lives and livelihoods. But there is one group for whom the slow-down we had to have has given…
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7 Reasons Why Quick Sales Are Good Sales
There are many reasons why a quick sale can be a fantastic result for all parties involved. Evan Broadbent lists his seven top reasons why every agent should have strategies in place that facilitate these transactions. The buzz you feel from a quick sale that has resulted in both a happy vendor and happy purchaser more than compensates for that…
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The Truth about Clearance Rates: David Holmes
With price growth slowing in Australia’s biggest housing markets, many sellers have been pondering what is the best strategy for a strong sales result. Prospective sellers keenly eye the auction clearance rate as a leading market barometer, and with a bumper volume of properties to go under the hammer this weekend, property pundits will have their opinions on what figure…
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First Homebuyers Making the Right Moves: Michael Davoren
The REIA recently reported that first home buyers, as a proportion of total owner-occupiers, are at the highest level since July 2013 and the number of first home buyer home finance commitments is the highest since December 2009. New stamp duty exemptions and concessions in NSW and Victoria began on the 1st of July this year, which were designed to…
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Adelaide takes investor attention off Melbourne and Sydney
Anna Porter, a property market author, commentator and former valuer who works with first time and experienced investors on building high-performance portfolios, says she is directing clients towards the forgotten state of South Australia. “For the past three years all eyes have been on Sydney and Melbourne as the markets that have been outperforming the national averages. Many suburbs across…
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Catching the right wave: Michael Davoren
On the Queensland coast the humpback whales are slowly heading back south to Antarctica with their calves after their June to August migration to tropical North Queensland waters where they mate and breed. This month we are hearing about another migration. A 130,000-strong people-wave is tipped to move from southern states, and more specifically Sydney, in coming years for Queensland’s…
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Spotlight on Rent Bidding: Sarah Bell
Rental bidding apps have been on our radar for a little while now: think Rentberry, Liveoffer and Rentwolf. In theory, I love what this tech is attempting: A free and open system, rewarding those who compete and are bold. Many welcome the move to a freer economy between landlords and tenants, and while I’m just as big of a fan…
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Rising buyer activity points to a stronger Darwin property market.
“Compared to 12 months ago we have double and even triple the number of groups at each open home on a Saturday,” said Glenn Grantham, General Manager, Raine & Horne Darwin. “Around 75% of buyers are savvy locals, who have been at our open homes regularly over the last six months. “They recognise that a median house price of $445,000…
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Rentvestment hotspots in Australia for under $600,000
Rentvesting now accounts for one third of all Australian property investments, accounting for $202 billion on loan. With Australian property prices rising by 618% over the past 30 years and national incomes failing to keep up, the rentvestment trend is gaining traction according to Mozo property expert Steve Jovcevski. “The Australian housing market has undergone a period of dramatic change.…
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How to Beat the Interceptors: Lisa B
An interceptor can be defined as a company or individual who is better at search engine optimisation or search engine marketing than you are. As Lisa B explains, their objective is to dominate page one of the search engines, where their presence entices your potential clients to call them and not look for you. Interceptors are everywhere. On the real…
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Why real estate agents need video
Here’s why: 1. Online video now accounts for 74% of all online traffic (KPCB) Social media and Google are all favouring video content in their algorithms ensuring video posts last longer and get seen by more people. Google – which owns YouTube – even has a video tab for searching video. If you want to be seen…
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Short-term letting only suitable for some
Di Jones Head of Investment Management Bridgette Barker said with increases in the cost of living any owner of a property can tap into these services to help with rising expenses. “While people are taking up the opportunity, less than 1 per cent of our rental roll has decided to put their homes onto the short-term market in the past…
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A second bathroom adds six-figures to a sale price: REIV
In the year to June 30, two bathrooms added the greatest value to the sale price of two-bedroom apartments in Stonnington, achieving a median of $920,000 – $312,000 more than homes with only one bathroom. Two-bedroom units with a second bathroom also fetched considerably more in Hobsons Bay with a median price of $650,000. This was $184,000 higher than the…
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John McGrath says no chance of a 40% correction in Sydney market
“The Sydney market is most of the way through its sales cycle and very near the top of its cycle. My view is there is no bubble and no chance of a 40% correction.” said Mr McGrath “The market continues to have strong drivers including deep demand, populations growth, overseas investment and low interest rates. There is a possibility of a small…
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Mortgage Stress: While it’s not pretty, it’s not new
Financial stress is not something you would wish upon anybody, whether it’s due to loss of a job, business failure or unmanageable debt. Mortgage stress falls within its own special category given that the family home is often the single largest asset held by many Australians and embodies so many of the values we cherish most – family, shelter and…
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Common misconceptions debunked about the overseas investor: Ivan Tandyo
It’s hard to deny that house prices in Melbourne and Sydney are through the roof. And it’s not uncommon to hear people blame the government’s ‘relaxed’ rules for foreign investment in Australia. And more often than not, overseas investors are misunderstood and seen as purely negative. People are quick to make assumptions and get angry about foreigners’ local property purchasers…
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Seeing red over bank blacklists: Andrew Cocks
Planning for population growth in our capital cities is no easy task. There will always be entrenched opposition to change particularly when the benefits to many have to be balanced against the costs to a few. As Australia’s population has grown, and the shift to the cities become more pronounced, we’ve had to adjust what it means to achieve the…
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Scare mongering the enemy of first home buyers: Andrew Cocks
The many measures adopted to encourage more first home buyers into the property market have so far failed to produce the upswing that everybody had hoped for, leaving many to wonder if there is a solution to the declining rates of home ownership. But put yourself in the shoes of those contemplating the big step into a lifetime mortgage and…
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Off-Market is the New ‘On’ Market: Liane Fletcher
Australia has long had a love affair with property and the predominant East Coast method of sale has been by public auction, a quick and clean process that has brought excellent results over recent years in a rising market. While there is little doubt auctions will remain popular, the recent cooling of the property market has led to fewer auctions…
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Do cold calls and letterbox drops really work?
In the dark old days of real estate, agents had to rely on white pages and made hundreds of cold calls for new listings. They spent hours completing letter box drops of property pamphlets and other promotional material. Today, very few consumers are tolerant of these methods. Pamphlets and brochures end up largely in the bin unacknowledged. Cold calls are…
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Fortune favours the brave, when it comes to auctions: Haesley Cush
Fortune favours the brave. It’s an expression I’ve used a few times over the years. But I have referred to this a bit recently as I’ve found a few buyers of late seem to have a limited understanding of auction and subsequently are turning up yet planning on not participating. However by not bidding and letting the property pass in…
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On the road to salvation: Andrew Cocks
If you’ve travelled Sydney’s M4 in the past few weeks you’ll have noticed what a difference an extra lane can make; faster on and off ramps and a freer flow of traffic all equating to less time on the road and more time at work and home. The official opening of the revamped M4 on the weekend attracted predictable opposition…
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