Prosper Australia

Citizens retreat confused when talk turns to Economic Rents. The taxi industry is an excellent example of how assets granted by government create economic rents – at the expense of the wider community. There are 5181 taxi licences in Victoria, of which the Department of Transport’s Victorian Taxi Directorate leases about 1100 licences to operators [...]

ABS Inflation data out today shows a big fat zero: we have nil inflation, at least for this quarter. The consequences for interest rates are profound. Mortgage rates may seem reasonable at 6 to 7 per cent.  In practice they are agony. A real interest rate of 6 per cent is a significant transfer of [...]

The Australian property market ended 2011 on the ground in a foetal position after a serious assault by Harsh Reality. Symptoms include: • A year’s supply of unsold houses on the market • Low and falling building applications • Low and falling finance approvals • Failing auctions nationwide • First home buyer indifference • Universal [...]

    The City of Boroondara craves more parkland. Council wants open space within 500 metres of all residents without crossing a major road. This is a worthy objective that will improve the health and wellbeing of all, and every local government should embrace the idea. There are a few problems. Boroondara will have to [...]

photo credit: Elsie esq. Australian property prices are so over-valued their return to the long term trend will make the painful bubble burst in the USA look like a child’s picnic. Government, major banks and property speculators used every tool in reach to keep alive this Ponzi scheme – Hyman Minsky’s term for borrowers reliant [...]

photo credit: DrWurm A term employed in Vagrancy statutes to test whether an individual has any apparent ability to provide for himself or herself financially. The Law frowns upon people who make their living outside formal employment. Yet it bows deep before land and property. Irrational confidence has inflated property prices so far they bear [...]

photo credit: lynac The bullhawks are out in force, talking up last quarter’s smaller than expected price falls. Somehow here is evidence of the end of the downturn. Risk on! Throw caution to the winds! Really? It is easy to see why the bullhawks focus on that and claim it is simply noise, not a [...]

The currently deflating land bubble will erase wealth with dazzling speed. Sadly, striking falls in land values will have a greater impact on Australian wealth than any other advanced country.

photo credit: tm-tm On Sunday 9 October, The Sunday Age published an article by Chris Vedelago Buyers Nibble but No Big Bite. I would link, but can’t see it in The Age online. Here are the money quotes: “But a survey conducted by The Sunday Age found that only 35 per cent of properties actually [...]

photo credit: Domiriel Influential SMH Journalist Jessica Irvine today writes about the urgent need for Land Tax to be prioritised in Land is the Best Hope for Fixing the Tax System. The endorsement is requires a complete transcription. Make sure you see the film Real Estate 4 Ransom to investigate these issues further. Land is [...]