East, West, maybe home is best

Sydney is now showing healthy price growth in the eastern suburbs and the North Shore, where demand is strong from higher income households with good equity, McLeod says. "However, in the outer western and south-western suburbs, residential price growth is still negligible because the lower income groups cannot afford the present price levels. Price growth during the early years of this decade outstripped ability to pay and demand has therefore fallen. This is having a major impact.
"Flats price growth is likely to spread in Sydney in 2008 as the state economy improves, population growth remains strong, Melbourne slows and affordability issues arise, and price differentials between Sydney and Brisbane reduce on increasing rental levels."
Lawless is similarly upbeat about Sydney's prospects. "2008 may spell the end of Sydney's outer suburban plight," he says. "Investors are likely to become more active, chasing strong yields and looking to diversify their portfolio out of shares and into bricks and mortar."
As for McNamara, he has some strong advice for Sydneysiders. "Sit tight," he recommends.
"It's looking a very undervalued market at the moment; it represents better value than it's been for many, many years."

And for those considering a move elsewhere, he counsels against it. "You'll always get better value, dollar for dollar, in Australia's most global city," he says. "After all, do you want to live in a global city or in a Victorian city?"

Banned from buying houses, foreigners opt for long lease

With the state government ‘banning foreigners from buying properties in the state’, local builders have fine tuned their strategies and are promoting five-year leases among tourists.
There are no official figures to prove the trend, but lawyers and builders agree that this is definitely increasing, with several builders from the state organizing road shows and exhibitions in UK to attract customers to Goa.
“A large number of builders are leasing houses to foreigners and it is within the law. But something needs to be done as houses are being leased to foreigners at a huge price, making it difficult for Goans to invest in homes” said builder Rajendra Talak of Talak constructions, Margao.
Despite India’s stringent property laws, the affordability of real estate draws foreigners — British, Russians and Israelis — to Goa. “While a two-bedroom flats would cost about Rs five crore or more in Europe, in Goa the flats come at much cheaper rates. Europeans prefer Goa and find investing in homes in the state a cheaper option,” said a builder, who leases out homes to Europeans.

So take my advices please!

Cheers!!!

Goa Crying

Goa has not yet reached the nadir of degradation. But, there is a scare that decadence could soon change the face of Goa on a whole. With towns being choked with concrete, the infrastructure here is failing to keep pace with the rapid growth. This phenomenon was prominently captured by Rajan P Parrikar in telling photographs themed “The Rape of Goa“. His pictures were recently on display at the Menezes Braganza Art Gallery, Panaji.
Talking to the Goa Times, Parrikar, who holds a Ph.D in Electrical Engineering, said, “Goa does not have much time left. Real estate sharks and the mining lobby, with the help of corrupt politicians have devoured vast tracts of land, including prime spaces, which he says is a shocking tale of criminal assault on Goa’s land, culture and identity.

Flats 4 midgets? Flats 4 rats? Flats 4 someone? Anyone wanna gift me a flat? Dont care about the location... Cheers!

Has the market reached it climax?

It's actually several markets, and one of them - the working/ lower middle-class suburbs of Melbourne and Sydney - is past tipping point and in decline.
Wealthy suburbs in Sydney and Melbourne may be on the verge, with the declines in the stockmarket bringing to an end the "turn it into bricks and mortar" approach to locking in share trading profits. There may be some major declines there, as people who are being cruci- fied by margin calls are forced to liquidate.
Overall, the market has to be topping. Our bubble almost turned in 2004 - and if it hadn't been for Howard's doubling of the flats buyers grant and halving of the rate of capital gains tax (when owners sell an investment property), it probably would have. Those populist policies restarted the bubble as it began to falter. It might have another year left in it, by which time house prices would have tripled in less than 20 years - whereas the dreaded consumer price index (and wages!) has risen by just over 50 per cent.

Yeah mates keep it going...

Cheers!

House rules change

In the space of six months, just about everything anyone thought they knew about the Australian home loan market has changed. Mortgage rates no longer track the official rate set by the central bank; borrowers must jump through hoops rather than fend off overzealous lenders; instead of racing to beat rising flats prices, prudent buyers must factor in the possibility of stagnant or even falling values.
Previous assumptions about where the best home loan deals lie need to be examined, then re-examined. Many borrowers spurned non-bank lenders last year, for instance, only to be socked by higher rates from the big banks this year.
Resi Mortgage Corporation's head of consumer advocacy, Lisa Montgomery, says the result is that people are confused and suffering from inertia when it comes to their home loans.
"A lot of people have lost confidence in all lenders. They're not sure what they should do," Montgomery says.

You know what should we do? Haha the question is easy, just NOTHING.

Cheerio!

A little slice of serenity close to the action

One end of Havelock Street, St Kilda, is opposite parkland; the other meets the cosmopolitan junction of The Esplanade, Acland and Carlisle streets.
One end of Havelock Street, St Kilda, is opposite parkland; the other meets the cosmopolitan junction of The Esplanade, Acland and Carlisle streets. The chic townhouse at No. 56A, while at the heart of the action, is kept private and tranquil by its leafy surrounds and owners Kristie Gray and Stuart Dinn vouch for the serenity.
"The living room stares out to a beautiful big peppercorn tree, it's very peaceful, there are trees all around and you feel a million miles away," says Mrs Gray. "And it's handy with (daughter) Sienna; I haven't needed to drive much as we can walk to shops, parks, beach and movies."
The flats has two bedrooms (one with balcony), a study and a bathroom on the first floor. At ground level, the spacious living and kitchen area has polished boards and is kept bright by a lightwell decorated with a water feature and greenery. The roomy courtyard is dressed with plants and stylish bench seating from a modification the couple did when they bought the house brand new 10 years ago.
"We changed the plants, added seats and built in light boxes where we put ornaments with downlights on them. You sit there and feel like you're in a resort or something," says Mrs Gray

What's a fair guide?

Fair Trading investigators found that 20 of 23 properties (flats especially) presented a discrepancy of more than 20 per cent between the minimum promoted price and the price achieved on auction day. Two of those returned a difference of more than 50 per cent.
Spokesman Graham Humphreys says there is no list or guideline in terms of tolerances.
"Each case is looked at on its merits and the circumstances involved because property prices vary so much dependent on suburb and location," he says. "So we look at individual cases to see what's reasonable in the circumstances."

Mixed Success

There are several mixed-use developments in Sydney. One recently completed is
After some early disappointments, multi-use developments are on the rise.
Pacific Square at Maroubra, which includes 570 flats, a Coles, an Aldi and 50 specialty shops. "Pacific Square is attracting shoppers who might normally head to Westfield Bondi Junction or Eastgardens,"
The most recent stage of Pacific Square is fully occupied and attracting good rents, Slunsky adds.
Others haven't done so well.
The retail area at the base of St Margarets in Surry Hills always appears to be struggling, with shops coming and going.
Lumiere cafe is the only original business to have survived since the complex opened just three years ago.
It's a very windy site and not sunny for most of the day, also, I think the wrong businesses moved in.
St Margarets architect Adam Haddow says there have been some issues with the site but that they are being addressed by the use of awnings and a large public sculpture to block or deflect the wind.
Haddow says mixed-use developments are the way to go but they require careful thought and planning.
"It's not just a matter of throwing a couple of cafes down there."

Weeeeird guys...

Cheerio!