Newsletter Archive
29 July 2010August 2010 Newsletter
NEW TENANCY LAWS GETTING CLOSER We’ve covered the new Residential Tenancies Act 2010 previously, but it doesn’t hurt to do a recap, particularly with the Act coming into effect later this year. The Act has undergone a major review since the laws were introduced more than 20 years ago. As part of the process, more than 2000 submissions received fr... read more
01 July 2010July 2010 Newsletter
RESIDENTIAL TENANCIES ACT - THE GOOD & THE BAD With some months to go till the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 comes into effect, the Real Estate Institute of NSW is working hard to get the NSW Government to properly consult all stakeholders, particularly real estate agents. The REINSW has already forced the government to make considerable changes to the final Bil... read more
27 May 2010June 2010 Newsletter
SELF MANAGED SUPER FUNDS THE BENEFITS OF BUYING RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY When it was introduced in September 2007, it was described as the biggest thing to happen to the property investment sector since the introduction of negative gearing. Today, the rules governing self managed super funds (SMSFs) effectively allowing funds to borrow to buy an asset have seen an incre... read more
28 April 2010May 2010 Newsletter
TAX TIME - AND IT’S TIME TO DEPRECIATE! With tax time fast approaching, it’s time to start thinking about what you can depreciate on your residential investment property. But it seems that many investors aren’t taking full advantage of a property’s tax depreciation potential. I heard an alarming statistic the other day that only 20% of investors fully ut... read more
31 March 2010April 2010 Newsletter
WE LOVE THIS CITY ! BUT where’s everyone going to live? It’s lucky Sydney has large tracts of parklands, because in the next 30 years we might see the need for tent cities to be established there. Okay, so I’m exaggerating, but with the revised population figures for the year 2036 having risen from 5.3 million five years ago to around six million, we really d... read more
25 February 2010March 2010 Newsletter
SCALING THE HEIGHTS (BUT THERE WAS NO PLUMMET) He no doubt thought it would never happen, but economist Steve Keen has lost the bet. Sixteen months ago Mr Keen made a bet with Macquarie Group interest rate strategist Rory Robertson after claiming that house prices would dive by 40% when the GFC was at its worst. Fortunately his predictions didn’t eventuate, and now... read more
02 February 2010February 2010 Newsletter
Forever flighty In early January I read an article in the Financial Review entitled ‘Volatility is home to roost’ , written by Professor Robert Shiller, author of the book The Sub-prime Solution: How Today’s Global Financial Crisis Happened, and What to Do About It. The general gist of the article was that volatility has lon... read more
29 December 2009January 2010 Newsletter
FAREWELL TO THE Gfc (WE HOPE) Happy New Year! There certainly seems to be a lot more confidence in the air compared with this time last year. In 2009 there was much doom and gloom as the 2008 downturn and the great unknown for the year ahead dampened the market. Fortunately, as a nation, we certainly seemed to finish 2009 with greater confidence. The Westpac-Melbourne I... read more
02 December 2009December 2009 Newsletter
FAREWELL TO THE ROLLERCOASTER (WE HOPE !) Well, we’ve made it through another year – another decade even – and as always, I like to reflect on the year that was. And what an interesting rollercoaster 2009 has been – especially for Australia’s first home buyers. Let’s take... read more
30 October 2009November 2009 Newsletter
Going going gone! In the past few weeks there have been plenty of media reports about the strong auction clearance rates and signs that Sydney house prices are set to rise significantly. Clearance rates are up because there is very little for sale (and, for that matter, rent). In my 25 years in real estate, I have never experienced such low stock levels. The lack of supply combine... read more