Source:  Eliza Owen, CoreLogic The 2016 Census data reveals how people are dealing with unaffordable housing in the capital cities. While wage growth sits at a record low 1.9% against higher costs in basic needs like housing and health, and consumer confidence hits a 12 month low of 96.23, it is no wonder that people are paying more attention than ever to events such as the Census. A flush of new data gives a clearer perspective of the state of Australian households, and h...

Source:  Domain In 2016, a withholding tax of 10 per cent on the sale of a home by foreign investors was introduced for properties selling at $2 million-plus. That has been reduced to $750,000 sale price as from 01/07/2017 and withholding rate increased to 12.5%. But some expats who do decide to sell their home once they've moved overseas will also be required to pay a chunk of their capital gains to the Tax Office when they sell and lose their main residence capital gai...

Source:  REIQ From 1 July 2017, the withholding tax rules that were introduced last July for properties $2 million and above, will now apply to all property transactions where the market value of the property is $750,000 and above. Although the new laws are aimed at foreign residents, real estate agents must be aware that these new laws impact all property sales at $750,000 and above.  Summary The new laws require a purchaser to withhold 12.5% of the purchase pric...

When we think about the housing market we tend to focus on when values rise but in the recent past values have fallen in each capital city; this week we look at the magnitude and duration of these falls in the past. Throughout the past 20 years it has been much more common for combined capital city dwelling values to have been increasing than falling.  Although value rises have been more common, it doesn't mean that the housing market is bulletproof and in some instances values h...

Source:  API IN the Federal Budget on 9th May, depreciation allowances forming part of an investors income tax deductions for second hand residential investment properties were effectively killed off. This will apply to the purchase of any second hand properties where the contract to buy is entered into after 7.30pm on 9th May 2017. Contracts entered into prior to this date will be grandfathered and deductions will still be able to be claimed. What this means is not en...

Source:  API OPINION: THE Budget measures include a radical plan to shift the responsibility of accounting for GST from property developers to purchasers. Under the proposal, purchasers must remit the GST directly to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) as part of the settlement process. The proposal will apply to newly constructed residential properties and new subdivisions from 1 July 2018. What does this mean for the developers? The full impact for developers will depe...

Source:  CoreLogic.com.au The CoreLogic May Home Value Index results out today confirmed that the capital gains trend has slowed over recent months with dwelling values edging 0.4% higher over the three months ending May 2017.
According to CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless, Australia's capital cities saw a cooling of housing market conditions over the seasonally weak month of May with the CoreLogic hedonic home value index reporting a -1.1% fall in dwelling values ...

Source: REIQ Broadly speaking, the Queensland housing market will not be significantly impacted from announcements in the Federal Budget. We are disappointed in those measures that limit investor activity because the Queensland housing market urgently needs investors. As a state that does not face a significant housing affordability issue, most of the measures were designed to tackle problems that are faced by Sydney and Melbourne markets. We have 93 suburbs in Greater Brisbane...

Source: Russell Buckley, nadia Czachor & Ian Wright, CBP   In brief
The case of Moreton Bay Regional Council v Caseldan Pty Ltd [2017] QCA 72 involved an application for leave to appeal a decision of the Land Appeal Court to the Court of Appeal. The Council sought to challenge the decision of the Land Appeal Court regarding the value of land located adjacent to South Pine Road in Brendale which was compulsorily acquired by the Council.
The Council compulsoril...

Source:  Choice.com.au Figuring out what a property's worth is a tricky task, and when the market's hot, prices can change quickly. But an accurate assessment of the value is critical if you don't want to pay too much when you're buying, or miss the mark on your home's value when selling. Luckily, there are a bunch of resources out there to help some are free, while others will cost you. But how reliable are these sources, and how much do they differ in their ...