The Year Ahead A 2015 Outlook with Tim Lawless The housing market is moving into the 2015 calendar year with some substantial momentum, with dwelling values 8.5% higher compared with a year ago across the combined capitals. The growth comes on a backdrop of slowing conditions though, with the annual rate of capital gain peaking early in the year at 11.5% over the twelve months ending April. While values are still rising at a healthy rate, at least at a high level and in trend terms, we a...

EVIDENCE of how well the real estate market has bounced back has come through via double digit rises in house values across most major capital cities, new data showed. 
 
Brisbane notching an 11 per cent rise in house values since its previous trough in December 2012, but that figure was blitzed by the Sydney surge where house values jumped 24.6 per cent in that time. Data released by analysis firm Corelogic RP Data saw unit values in Sydney rise a massive 21.1 per cent whil...

Median rents in Gladstone, Mackay and Mount Isa have dropped over the past year, according to median rent data published by the RTA.
RTA data shows median rent for a 3 bedroom house in Gladstone dropped from $440 per week in the September quarter 2013 to $320 per week a year later, a 27% drop. Over the same period weekly median rent for a 2 bedroom unit in Gladstone fell from $370 to $250. In Mackay, the median weekly rent for a 3 bedroom house was $350 per week in the September quar...

The quarterly National Australia Bank housing market report found growth in house values in Brisbane (6.4 per cent) had severely lagged the combined capital city benchmark (9.3per cent), but it also made it more attractive. Brisbanes value growth performance has lagged its southern neighbours, creating a significant gap in housing prices between Brisbane, and Sydney and Melbourne, the NAB report said. As a result, we expect further growth in Brisbane home values over coming months, as wel...

Nobody loves change. So we understand some of the commentary about the new Property Occupations Act which commences on Monday December 1st. The Act has some new provisions around auctions and there’s been some confusion over what it means.
It’s time for some clarity to reassure sellers and buyers that auction will continue as a popular sale method for many years to come. After December 1st a real estate salesperson handling an auction property can, and usually will, provide a...

Confidence remains high in the property market with a new survey revealing investors are keen to keep buying. 
 
The majority of investors polled for the Smart Property Investment/PIPA Property Investor Sentiment Survey revealed they were planning to enter the market again in the next six to 12 months. The survey found 80 per cent of investors believed now was a good time to invest in property, while 68 per cent planned to do exactly that in the next six to 12 months. PIPA cha...

Real estate agents have been fooled for more than a decade, falsely believing they were banned from giving auction price guides. Despite the Real Estate Institute of Queensland chief executive officer Antonia Mercorella stating the absence of price guides for auctions had long been the status quo, it turns out that's not the case. Or at least, it didn't need to be. A spokesman from the Office of Fair Trading said, "The short answer is, they can give a price guide onli...

Sales activity across Queensland over the June quarter was up across all property types, according to the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ). The REIQ Queensland Market Monitor for the June Quarter 2014 reveals increases in preliminary sales for house, units and townhouses. Vacant land sales were up an impressive 37 per cent. REIQ Acting CEO Antonia Mercorella said while the state’s total house sales were up across all price points, the upper end of the market continu...

Major infrastructure projects planned around Queensland lead a spate of compulsory property acquisitions and affected land owners are being warned to ensure they receive their full entitlements. In one of the latest examples, Brisbane City Council announced in early October that it would resume 38 properties on Lytton Road as part of the Wynnum Road corridor upgrade. Leeson Valuers Partner, John Leeson said owners of affected properties on Lytton Road would know about the acquisiti...

Nationally, 58% of flats, units and apartments are owned by investors. That is quite an amazing statistic, especially when you compare that with detached houses where only 21% are investor owned.
Across the capital cities the proportions are even higher. Darwin tops the list with 70.6% of all units being rented followed by Brisbane where 70.2% of all units are rented.

The lowest proportion, 60.3% in Sydney, is still significant. I would presume Sydney’s proportion is probably ...