‘A Guide to Property Values 2012’ by Victoria’s Valuer General was released July 5. It has been comprehensively ignored. The report dissects property transfers and prices lodged with the titles office. This dataset is the actuals, the definitive historical record,…
By Sam Oldfield, an economics student at Latrobe University and an Associate at Prosper Australia. The Rudd government’s sudden increase in cigarette taxes completely disregards sound economic practice. Joe Hockey calls it “policy on the run” – he couldn’t be…
Places Victoria, a government agency that once competed with private land developers to limit their pricing power, is to sell all its remaining land holdings on Melbourne’s outskirts to a single buyer, the AFR reports today. Rebecca Thistleton has Places…
The call for infrastructure spending to lift Australia’s productivity and efficiency widens and deepens every day. Around us, economic activity continues to weaken, particularly in construction. The call to spend big will soon be irresistible. The needs list is very…
It is often said those who fail to understand the mistakes of the past are bound to repeat it. In one area, this holds spectacularly true: the residential real estate market. History has shown time and again the fortunes of…
Everybody duck! A property spruiker has taken exception to Philip Soos’ panoramic chart pack of Australian property values. Cripes! Pete Wargent is an investment advisor and auto-publicist who operates toward the breathless end of the investment spectrum. His new book…
Glen Byrnes, NSW Executive Director of the Property Council of Australia has a Fairfax op-ed out on the Fire Services Levy that has me seething. You will be too when you understand the filthy game he is playing. Victoria’s Fire…
16 May 2013 MELBOURNE:- The federal budget initiative to omit conveyancing Stamp Duty for retirees down-sizing to a smaller home acknowledges just how destructive and behavior-distorting this vile tax is, says Prosper Australia. “This is a disgusting, economically dishonest policy,”…
15 May 2013 MELBOURNE:- Yesterday’s federal budget highlights again Australia’s unbalanced reliance on wage and salary taxation for government revenues, says Prosper Australia. “Taxation discourages. That is why we tax gambling, alcohol and tobacco. Unfortunately, it has the same effect…
Land prices are falling across Australia. Yet the politico-housing complex strains at every sinew to hide this from first home buyers and jolly them into making a life-long commitment at the very worst time in eighty years. Problem is,…