Prof. Ross Garnaut gave the Hamer Oration at Melbourne University on Thursday. He pointed out that Australia has not experienced a recession for 17 years, a record for The Lucky Country. Such a period of unbroken growth is not just an Australian record, it is a world record. But one-way tickets have built-in risks for [...]
photo credit: Dru! A survey of property investors in The Age today by Colemar Brunton shows sentiment delicately poised between those who see the market flat or falling and those anticipating further rises. This is not the bursting of The Great Australian Property Bubble that Prosper and many other commentators like Jeremy Grantham and [...]
photo credit: looseends Saturday mornings at the Richmond market. I hear a fruit stall worker calling his wares: “Last of the carrots! A dollar a bunch! AND THERE’S NO MORE!” Of course, he has carrots by the boxful under the table, but his solemn warning means he sells out every day. Shameless lying by [...]
photo credit: robertivanc The great property speculation game is over in America and Europe. The music has stopped. Forty years of steadily increasing pressure has been released. Houses are worth a fraction of what people paid in better times, while the giant mortgages they took on remain. Meanwhile, Australia parties on. We play the [...]
photo credit: midlander1231 For too long, the media eagerly reported the property spruikers’ claim ‘prices only go higher’. This ‘truth’ turned homeowners into speculators and led a whole generation of first home buyers to commit to enormous mortgages they will only pay off after thirty years of unrelenting sacrifice. This week the public story [...]
photo credit: Congratulations Citizens! The Economist says your home is the most expensive among the advanced countries we generally compare ourselves with. Before you puff out your chest in pride, consider what this means. Mortgage repayments are the heaviest in the world, leaving the least disposable income for food, clothing and transport. This is a [...]
photo credit: MarcelGermain Should I buy now or rent and save a bigger deposit while I wait? Houses cost money. How much should they cost? These are long-life assets and the price paid can change a lot. Good timing can lead to a lifetime of heavy debt repayment or a life of ease. There [...]
photo credit: Praveen M Tomy Fans of Gavin Putland’s work will have read today’s piece on Housing Market Tipped to Weaken as Buyers Retreat. High auction clearance rates and record prices notwithstanding, official figures show the number of loans to buy houses in Victoria slipped from a record high of 15,300 in September to 13,400 [...]
The Australian Tax Office has released figures on the extent of negative gearing in Australia ahead of the Henry Tax Review. This is no accident. They are preparing the ground for Ken Henry’s changes. The picture drawn is not pretty: it shows the nation’s ‘aspirational’ landlords, heavily weighted with borrowings, perched on a twig, [...]
photo credit: UGArdener This morning, Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glen Stevens appeared on Seven Network’s Sunrise program to talk up interest rates and talk down the property market. Using tabloid television to broadcast RBA views is unprecedented. It prefers to communicate via densely written statements, opaque economic speak and background briefings to senior [...]