Sharp falls in consumer confidence have begun to spill into the economy, with house prices in Australia's capital cities falling for the first time in 12 months, according to property analysts. RP Data - Rismark's home value index showed a 1.9 per cent drop in May - the biggest slide since December 2008. Melbourne led the decline with a 3.6 per cent slumped, followed by Adelaide and Brisbane, which fell 1.8 and 1.7 per cent respectively. Sydney also cooled with a 1.1 per c...

There are 3,111 auctions scheduled across Australia this week with 2,589 expected in capital cities – a remarkable 53 per cent more than the 1,687 auctions held a year ago. Vendors may be concerned about the high volume of competing auctions but should gain confidence from last week’s results when there was a small increase in the clearance rate to 66.6 per cent across capital cities from 65 per cent in conjunction with increased supply. The increase in volumes this ...

Housing market outlook from March results -- RP DataIt’s been a busy time across the property market with the release of the RP Data Rismark March Home Value results coinciding on Tuesday last week with the RBA’s announcement on interest rates.  Fortunately, both results delivered good news; an increase in values of 2.3% in March across the combined capital cities and the RBA announcing that interest rates will remain on at 2.5 per cent for its seventh consecutive month.Senio...

Industry Market Wrap The Australian Bureau of Statistics released housing finance data for January 2013 earlier this week. The data showed that the number of owner occupier housing loans was unchanged over the month however, refinanced loans fell by -1.1% compared to a 0.5% rise in non-refinanced loans. Focussing on the different types of owner occupier finance commitments; commitments for the construction of new dwellings rose by 5.8% over the month, commitments for the purchase of new d...

Valuations are at the heart of property investment – particularly when it comes to getting finance, or being refinanced, with a lender. You might also just be asking ‘What is my home worth?’ and a valuation may appear to be the natural way to answer this question. MUST KNOW ELEMENTS: IT'S NOT AN APPRAISAL THEY'RE NOT AN EXACT SCIENCE THERE ARE MULTIPLE TYPES OF VALUATION COMPARABLES ARE HEAVILY RELIED UPON YOU CAN ASSIST THE VALUE...

REMOVAL OF CAPITAL GAINS TAX (CGT) DISCOUNT FOR EXPAT AUSSIES – WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW By John Leeson
Certified Practising Valuer Non-residents and off-shore owners of Australian property were targeted in the 2012 federal budget, with the removal of the 50% Capital Gains Tax (CGT) discount. John Leeson, of independent property advisors Leeson Valuers, explains that although the discount is currently available to all individuals irrespective of residency, the new rule which took...

WHAT'S THE ADDED MARKET VALUE OF A VIEW? By John Leeson
Certified Practising Valuer ABSTRACT Our instruction was to assess the added market value of a view associated with residential property in Brisbane as at 2004.  What is the value that the market will pay and what is the quantum? We analysed sales evidence in two (2) new high rise residential buildings, where the unit sales occurred in a relatively narrow time frame and were identical units, other than the variation ...

Housing finance; NAB Business survey Record home loans: The value of all home loans rose by 0.2 per cent to record highs in December. The number of new owner-occupier housing loans fell by 1.9 per cent in December, just the second fall in the past the past 11 months. First home buyers accounted for just 12.7 per cent of all loans in December, lifting from record lows. Business conditions at 34-month high: The NAB business confidence index rose from +6.3 points to +7.8 point...

Industry Market Wrap The Reserve Bank released the minutes of their February board meeting earlier this week. The key theme of the minutes is that the RBA is likely to maintain their neutral policy setting over the short term at least which implies a stable cash rate. The RBA sums it up with this quote from the Minutes: "the most prudent course would likely be a period of stability in interest rates". One of the Bank’s most challenging considerations is the higher than exp...