National
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Australian Community Newspaper Readership 2016: Roy Morgan
Readership of community newspapers in all mainland capital cities has declined, but many titles are bucking the trend and finding new local readers, the latest Roy Morgan Community Newspaper Readership results for the 24 months to September 2016 show. In Sydney, the St George & Sutherland Shire Leader extended its lead as the most-read community paper, with 220,000 readers per average issue (up…
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Clearance rates again above 70 percent on soaring volumes (11/12/16)
Auction markets continue their strong run, with the number of auctions recorded at the second highest level this year and clearance rates remaining above 70 percent for the 20th successive week Auction activity does not appear to be slowing through the festive period, with auction numbers reaching the highest level since March earlier this year. There were 3,411 auctions held…
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Historically low rates unable to offset increasing mortgages: REIA
The Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) says that in the September quarter of 2016, housing affordability in Australia declined marginally with the proportion of the median family income required to meet average monthly loan repayments increasing to 29.5% from 29.4% in the previous quarter. REIA President Neville Sanders says, “The latest Adelaide Bank/REIA Housing Affordability Report shows that whilst…
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December 2016 RBA decision: Tim Lawless, Core Logic
In response to the RBA’s decision to keep interest rates on hold, Tim Lawless, CoreLogic’s Head of Research, provides his expert commentary on the decision and what may lay ahead when they meet in February. Despite inflation tracking well below the target range of 2-3%, the RBA decided to keep the cash rate on hold at 1.5% today. “On one…
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REA Group Property Demand Index – November 2016
REA Group has released their Property Demand Index for November 2016 showing variable results across capital cities with weakening demand in some locations and a stabilisation in demand. “Perhaps there is a sense of nervousness among Australians following the recent US election, because demand levels stabilised in November, increasing by just 0.1% during the month,” commented REA Group Chief Economist,…
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Real Estate Group Almost Doubles the Number of Members in 12 Months
@realty are a brand on the move, with an interesting and different business model that enables agents to operate autonomously under the @realty brand. Providing enhanced marketing services for agents wishing to have their own business, the brand has grown from 180 agents at the beginning of 2016 to 335 agents at the end of November. The Group started on…
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Rates to hold in December, before rising in 2017: RateCity
Official interest rates are poised to hold at the historic low of 1.50 per cent when the Reserve Bank Board meets this Tuesday, according to analysis by RateCity.com.au However, their study of over 30 key economic indicators suggests the easing cycle has ended with Peter Arnold, data insights director at RateCity.com.au suggesting the chances of a rate hike in 2017…
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Capital city values rise as cycle clicks over 4.5 years of growth, CoreLogic November Index
The CoreLogic November Home Value Index results released last week released showed a rise in dwelling values across most capital cities, however, CoreLogic Head of Research Tim Lawless has noted that it is the ‘softest capital city result since December 2015’. Throughout November, capital city dwelling values rose by 0.2%. While the headline results remained in positive growth territory, the…
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Are Recent Fixed Term Rate Rises a ‘Sign of What’s to Come’?
The Commonwealth Bank is the latest lender to lift interest rates for homebuyers looking to fix their home loan, raising rates on a number of fixed products. One of the country’s biggest lender lifted the rate of its popular 3-year fixed rate by 0.20 percentage points to 4.24 percent on Friday. It also lifted its longer-term 5-year fixed rate by…
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Clearance rates hold steady on falling auction volumes (04/12/16)
Capital city clearance rate remains strong for the first week of Summer at 75 percent, while the number of auctions has fallen week-on-week The combined capital city preliminary clearance rate rose this week to 75.0 percent, up from last week’s final clearance rate of 73.0 percent. This week’s auction market results indicate that clearance rates are maintaining strength coming into…
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1 in 4 mortgage holders ‘extremely concerned’ about rate rise, new research finds
On the back of yesterday’s OECD recommendation that the Australian Reserve Bank increase interest rates next year, new research from Australian Credit Bureau, Experian, has revealed that a quarter of Australian mortgage holders are extremely concerned about the impact a potential 1.5% interest rate increase would have on their ability to service their loan. The RFi study of over 1,500…
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LJ Hooker overhauls its digital presence
LJ Hooker has unveiled its reinvigorated online centrepiece (ljhooker.com.au) and franchise network office websites with a view to enhancing interaction between its sales agents, property managers and customers. With the objective of creating a future-focused customer experience across its Australian residential, commercial, rural, land and home loans businesses the sites incorporate greater mobile responsiveness for customers and staff, cutting-edge agent…
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REIA welcomes Government decision on change to FIRB rules
Following industry representation the Government has announced changes under the foreign investment framework to allow foreign buyers to purchase an off-the-plan dwelling when another foreign buyer has failed to reach settlement on it. Previously, the on-sale of an off-the-plan apartment was regarded as a second-hand sale, which was not open to foreign buyers who are only able to buy new…
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Aussie tech start-up Ubookr transforming how real estate agencies do business
Before the recent launch of ubookr.com trying to co-ordinate suppliers was a tricky task for real estate agencies. Synchronising the visits of photographers, floor-planners, copywriters and a long list of other suppliers often required endless emails or a complex, time-consuming ring-around. Having made the job a whole lot simpler Ubookr’s new online booking platform has been enthusiastically welcomed by the…
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Auction markets continue their strong run (27/11/16)
Auction markets continue their strong run of high clearance rates after the second busiest week for auctions so far this year Auction volumes increased with 3,367 properties taken to auction this week. This was the second highest number of reported auctions this year for the combined capital cities, up from 2,987 over the previous week. Despite the surge in auction…
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Super Lots Delivering Super Returns: LJ Hooker Research White Paper
It’s a phenomenon that always makes headlines, neighbours coming together to sell their properties, as a “super lot”, for double, triple or even quadruple the price of others in the street. A LJ Hooker Research Consumer White Paper on the growth of amalgamated selling delivers insight into this trend. Chief amongst the reasons cited for ‘super lots’ is the rezoning…
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Recognising excellence in customer service: Ray White
At its elite conference in October, Ray White announced its top five businesses and agents leading the way in customer service internationally. As the Group continues to drive a shift in consumer sentiment in the Australian and New Zealand real estate industry, the Ray White ‘choice’ awards recognise those businesses that are rated most highly by their customers. From Queensland,…
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News Corp Australia and realestate.com.au partner to create digital property news powerhouse
News Corp Australia and realestate.com.au this week announced a partnership streamlining property news, content and information. From early December, digital property content from News Corp Australia’s major metro, regional and community publications will live at realestate.com.au/news. This partnership brings together News Corp Australia’s news and information resources and realestate.com.au’s access to Australian property seekers. Tracey Fellows, REA Group CEO commented:…
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Preliminary clearance rates lower on higher volume (20/11/16)
The final auction clearance rate last week was at 75.8 percent. This week’s preliminary result this week is steady at 75.6 percent. Auction volumes have trended slightly higher this week. There were 2,950 auctions held across the combined capital cities, with week-on-week results showing an increase over the 2,897 reported capital city auctions last week. With the number of auctions…
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realestate.com.au partners with Tendril to provide Energy Scores for Australian properties
realestate.com.au last Friday launched Energy Scores, which will give properties in Australia their own energy efficiency rating. The tool will give property seekers an indication of how energy efficient their next home could be. And for homeowners, it allows them to better understand energy usage, associated costs and where they could potentially reduce their energy expenditure. To create Energy Scores,…
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REA Group Property Demand Index – October 2016
REA Group last week released it’s Property Demand Index Report for October. “Demand for property in Australia is now at fever pitch, with rates continuing to reach record levels, further supporting house price growth in all states except Western Australia,” says Nerida Conisbee, REA Group Chief Economist. “From what we’re seeing on realestate.com.au in October, the increases in the index…
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Small Business, Big Depreciation Schedules, don’t miss out says Bradley Beer
Australia’s largest provider of tax depreciation schedules believes that small-to-medium size businesses may be missing out on valuable opportunities to reduce their tax bills by not maximising the wealth of legitimate depreciation deductions available in the commercial property they either own or rent. According to Australian Taxation Office rules, commercial property owners and tenants can simultaneously claim for two categories…
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Preliminary clearance rates hold steady at 77.5% (13/11/16)
This time last week, the preliminary clearance rate was reported to be at 77.5 percent as is the case with this morning’s report. As results come in over the coming days, we will get a firmer view on how the numbers end up however with a strong preliminary headline result and increasing volumes of properties going to auction, the market appears…
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Defence Housing Australia Appoints New MD
Jan Mason has been confirmed as Managing Director of award-winning Government Business Enterprise Defence Housing Australia (DHA). Ms Mason, who acted in the role for the previous year, has been appointed for a further five years, DHA Chairman, the Hon J.A.L. (Sandy) Macdonald, said today. Mr Macdonald said Ms Mason had already accomplished a great deal and would continue to…
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realestate.com.au launches Australia’s first VR property app on Google’s Daydream platform
Australians can now more readily explore and view properties in virtual reality, via the realestate VR app launched by realestate.com.au, on Daydream, Google’s high quality, mobile virtual reality platform. Australia’s first dedicated virtual reality property app on Daydream features a range of active realestate.com.au listings, allowing consumers to walk through their potential next home, in their own time. The number of properties available…
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How the US election will affect the property market: LJ Hooker
Today, as the world watched the US election unfold, LJ Hooker Head of Research, Mathew Tiller gave us some preliminary thoughts on the impact of a Trump win on the Australian commercial and residential property market. Says Tilley, “Nearly all parts of the Australian economy are intrinsically linked to the performance of the US; our equity markets take their direction from…
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PropertyAnt: a new online platform helping the next generation of property investors
Research shows that new investors are starting earlier in life and are more likely to own several rental properties over their lifetime. PropertyAnt is a new tool that has been created to service this growing market segment. The 100 percent online and mobile solution matches investors with the right tools, experts and strategies that will enable them to feel confident about…
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RE/MAX global growth trending upwards
RE/MAX growth in Australia and New Zealand is travelling a similar upward path as the international scene, says managing director Michael Davoren. In a recent broadcast, Dave Liniger, the CEO, Chairman and Co-Founder announced that the worldwide RE/MAX network had topped 110,000 agents. “The September quarter was the 19th consecutive quarter of growth for RE/MAX across the globe,” said Mr…
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Bankwest to deliver real time updates on home loan applications
In possibly an Australian first, Bankwest customers are now able to check the details and status of their home loan application using Application Tracker, a real-time, 24/7 online service, that also sends push notifications at key milestones. Bankwest’s Executive General Manager of Retail, Andrew Whitechurch, said the Application Tracker had been developed by working directly with customers to understand their needs.…
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Clearance rates creep towards 80% (6/11/16)
Auction markets continue their strong run with the weighted preliminary clearance rate holding well above 70% for the 15th week running. Auction activity has continued to rise through in the final month of spring, however, the number of auctions remains well below the highs recorded a year ago. The preliminary clearance rate was 77.5% across 2,490 reported auction results. This…
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Whose Depreciation Claim Is Top Of The Block?
Which apartment on Channel 9’s 2016 season of The Block is going to be the most appealing to potential investors? EPM regular, Bradley Beer from BMT Tax Depreciation and his team have run the numbers and share their analysis. Here are the key points: It looks like investors could claim an average of over $2.2 million in depreciation deductions for…
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Are all bets off for RBA rates announcement tomorrow?
A RateCity.com.au analysis of over 30 key economic indicators overwhelmingly point to interest rates on hold in November with the Board tipped to sit tight as they monitor global economic movements. Peter Arnold, Data Insights Director at RateCity.com.au, said the consumer price data will be a key discussion point at tomorrow’s rate decision after last week’s inflation figures came in…
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Auction Markets Remain Firm (30/10/16)
Auction markets remain firm, recording the 14th consecutive week where the combined capital city clearance rate remains above 70%. The final weekend of October shows the auction clearance rate remains high across the combined capital cities, recording above 70.0 per ent for the 14th consecutive week. There were 2,246 auctions held across the capital cities, with a preliminary auction clearance…
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It’s a two speed property market: Domain
Australia has a two speed property market, with some capitals hitting record high prices while other markets weaken, according to the September quarter Domain House Price Report. Nationally the median house price increased by 1.7 per cent over the quarter, but varying levels of local supply and demand are delivering mixed results for individual capitals. Melbourne and Sydney prices have…
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realestate.com.au launches new content campaign with MasterChef’s Gary Mehigan
realestate.com.au continues to invest in digital entertainment, with today’s release of ‘Sale Scents’ starring popular celebrity MasterChef Gary Mehigan. Inspired by existing research that says using aromatic citrus scents could help your house sell for more, realestate.com.au teamed up with Mehigan and aroma specialist Dr Megan Thornton to put it to the test in a fun two-minute film. In the…
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