Prosper Australia

  by Philip Soos For those interested in the Australian residential property market, below are a collection of figures illustrating long-term trends. Housing prices and land values are compared to a basket of fundamental metrics. Australians are fortunate because much data on real estate and financial markets are publically available, going into depth not seen [...]

  The ABS House Price Indexes 8 Capital Cities Dec 2012 6416.0 was released this morning and shows prices rising 2.1 per cent for the year and 1.6 per cent for the quarter. This result will encourage those who see expensive land as a badge of honor. It provides no respite for Australia’s 1.1 million [...]

  The latest annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey ranks all Australian capitals as Severely Unaffordable. They’re right and the statistics back them. Housing has two elements, the building and the land.  What fluctuates is the land price; structures are worth only what they cost to build.  High land prices mean current buyers are committing [...]

  By Philip Soos Is Australia’s residential property market in a price bubble? This question has been much debated over recent years as housing prices leaped then slowly receded, resulting in entrenched views on both sides. Certainly, mainstream opinion is opposed to the idea that a housing bubble exists, with the government, FIRE sector (finance, [...]

13 December 2012 Citizens deserve the truth: property prices are down -8.6 per cent nationally in real terms. Removing inflation from real estate prices reveals falls from peak of -11.2 per cent in Melbourne and -11.6 per cent in Brisbane in real terms, according to fresh analysis by researcher Philip Soos, deflating the ABS house [...]

A storm of triumphant prose rolled out to greet yesterday’s release of the authoritative ABS Eight Capital Cities House Price Indexes. Normally-sober Bloomberg told its global audience: “Prices climbed 0.3 per cent in the September quarter from a year ago.” They did – in nominal terms. Sadly this was a fraction of Australia’s inflation experience [...]

‘We help property sellers sell’ is realestate.com.au’s proud claim. It is shocking to discover how far this News Corporation subsidiary is prepared to go to fullfil this promise. An un-named writer penned a delightful upbeat article on their website based on research called the Housing Affordability Sentiment Index that realestate.com.au commissioned from mccrindle research. QUOTE [...]

David Collyer’s edited presentation from our Northcote Town Hall event earlier this year. With a jump in job losses last quarter, stock levels at near record levels, land supply in abundance and over 90,000 vacant properties here in Melbourne, one wonders how long Negative Gearing investors can hold these properties empty in lieu of capital [...]

Toby Johnstone in the Sydney Morning Herald is at it again, suggesting renovating for profit in Sydney makes sense. On September 8 he profiled 50 Princes Street Bexley where a bright-eyed couple spent 5 years reclaiming a ‘swamp’. The property is now for sale at $630-680,000. The higher figure is probably the real vendor expectation. [...]

Reprinted from On Line Opinion 6 Sept 2012 The apathy of economists about the costs and burdens imposed upon modest citizens is staggering, as though this is their natural lot and there is nothing to be done. Housing is a perfect example. We see young adults rejecting home-ownership because without future price appreciation, taking on [...]