Archive for August, 2011

Rethink that Fire Insurance Levy, Mr Premier

Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

30 August 2011 MELBOURNE:- Massive hikes to the Fire Services Levy are a very poor way to fund bushfire preparations, says Prosper Australia. “While this move may appear sensible, if insurance premiums in fire-prone areas rise to the $1,000 mentioned in the Herald Sun, many homeowners will see it as too expensive and skip it,” [...]

Disguised Increments

Monday, August 29th, 2011

photo credit: Torley The Externalities Factor in Land Economics Leo Foley Leo is our guest speaker at our 120th Annual Henry George Commemorative Dinner, on this Thursday. This article was taken from Progress Magazine. Subscribe now for a free Trial Subscription. Why is it so difficult to recruit people to the idea of Land Value [...]

Prosper affirms ‘Don’t Buy Now!’ warning

Thursday, August 18th, 2011

photo credit: :: Hello Mizu ::     18 August 2011 MELBOURNE:- Landowners are about to be economically decimated as Australia’s severely unaffordable house prices reverse, says Prosper Australia. ‘Stale Stock’ on the market in Melbourne is growing exponentially The sheer volume of unsold property is now indigestible Recent price falls must accelerate “We confirm [...]

Prosper’s 120th Annual Dinner

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

photo credit: JD Hancock You are cordially invited to a special night for everyone interested in the great Georgist themes of economic efficiency and social justice. 120TH ANNUAL COMMEMORATION DINNER Thursday 1st September 2011 6 pm Gathering time – 7 pm Dinner – 8 pm Address COMMEMORATION SPEAKER: Leo Foley, B.Ec Taking it to the [...]

Overindulgence has its consequences.

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011

There are currently 377,300 houses for sale across Australia, according to SQM Research data released today – up 21.9 per cent on last year. Why is this significant? Well, we have some 8.9 million houses. A quick back of the envelope calculation tells me 3.79 per cent of all our houses are for sale right [...]

Land Tax REDUCES Rents

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011

Dr Gavin Putland of the Land Values Research Group drives a stake through a vampire heart in the Letters page of today’s Australian Financial Review Joanne Seve (Letters, August 5) regurgitates the property lobby’s favourite untruth, namely that land tax is passed on to tenants. In its crudest form, this argument expects the reader to [...]

How Much Land Does A Man Need?

Sunday, August 7th, 2011

At this market climax, let me remind all of the risks of compulsive, over-optimistic ambition. In Leo Tolstoys’ tale, ‘How Much Land Does A Man Need?’ written in 1886, a wealthy peasant named Pahlom is told of the rich earth in the land of the Bashkirs beyond the Volga. They are simple folk and he [...]

Australia has over 125,000 excess houses

Friday, August 5th, 2011

photo credit: Dean Terry 5 August 2011 MELBOURNE:- “Australia’s housing undersupply myth has just been exposed. We have overbuilt more than the USA,” Prosper Australia Campaign Manager David Collyer said today. “Prosper calculates Australia now has over 125,000 excess dwellings. “Fresh analysis of ABS data by Philip Soos for Prosper Australia and comparison with peer [...]