SUNDAY BLOG

Once upon a time, a median house in Ballarat delivered around a five per cent gross rental yield. In fact, prior to 2010 rental yields even eclipsed this figure. Ballarat has been a popular location for investors for many reasons but of late, it hasn’t been investors that are driving this market. Interestingly, gross rental…

A fortnight ago, a good friend of mine contacted me in a moment of upset. Twenty-four hours prior, his daughter and her husband had found a property they loved. They’d liaised with the agent, formulated the right offer and they’d documented their offer on a contract of sale. The agent contacted the vendor, (who verbally…

This time, it’s not just Melbourne and Sydney that are experiencing heady growth. In fact, many more regions than capital cities have been outperforming typical market growth rates, and even in the face of COVID-19 lockdown headwinds, our markets have surprised many of our economists. House price growth in a large portion of our national…

Coburg has been a popular choice for investors and owner-occupiers alike for some time now, but since our floorplan preferences were altered by COVID-19, Coburg’s appeal has been stimulated even more so. Coburg is just 9km north of our CBD and is home to over 26,000 inhabitants. Postcode 3058 is is often pictured on bustling…

Our preferences have changed dramatically as a direct result of COVID-19, hardly surprising given we’ve experienced a significant, global event. Like all historical events of significance, our attitudes and generational values will be reshaped. In future years, people will hark back to the COVID-19 era and it will be easy to reflect on the changes…

Settlement day… often much anticipated, yet so underwhelming as a process step. First time buyers almost always ask us about settlement day, and often in a bit of a frenzied state. For the uninitiated, this looming ‘big day’ can fray nerves for many. Converse to expectations though, it’s usually a short, sharp event that is…

In response to COVID-19 dampening buyer sentiment, domestic spending and confidence in the Victorian property market, our state government announced an incentive for all residential property buyers, (in addition to already-existing concessions and opportunities). Quickly formulated and declared in early December, this special offering took effect immediately and created a flurry of questions and actions,…

January 2021 is like no other January in the world of Australian real estate, and in particular, Victorian real estate. After thirteen long weeks of a second lockdown for our nation’s second largest city, Melburnian agents, vendors and buyers alike aren’t bothering with the typical January holiday downtime. With state border closures posing a threat…

Back in 2014 our prudential regulator initiated some directives to our banks after concerns about the rising potential for a property bubble in Australia. Household debt had increased and investor numbers were troubling our reserve bank and regulator. The banks were given a new set of targets, including a cap on new investor lending and…

We often hear the word “over-capitalise”, yet so many investors and home owners don’t consider the risk of over-capitalisation. “Over capitalisation – what is it? The term over capitalisation means to improve a property beyond its resale value, in other words it means that you spend too much money on the renovations of your property and are not able to recoup this…

From a crazy run following our 2019 Federal Election result to our market being plunged into mask-wearing, COVID-fearing purchase activity, this year has been one out of the box. It was interesting to climb into Google Analytics to see what our data said about our readers, and even more intriguing to challenge some of the…

Buyers often assume that they know how the auction will go. Auctioneer rings the bell. Selling team go inside for one last consult with the vendor. Auctioneer strides out and starts bellowing at the crowd. “Ladies and Gentlemen… Welcome to the auction of 42 Derby Street…” and so it goes. But what they don’t always…