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Sheenagh Maguire

 Western suburbs best bets for Sydney investors in 2012: HTW

 The best property bets for Sydney property in 2012 would be most areas in the western suburbs, according to valuer Herron Todd White.

“This segment of the market should see steady capital growth and strong rental returns throughout the year,” the group has forecast.

“Best bets for 2012 would be most areas in the west at the lower to middle end of the market.

“We are seeing signs that small investors are continuing to return to the market in good numbers, looking to take advantage of strong rental returns in areas such as Mount Druitt.”

The valuer suggests new property investors had been “possibly spooked by the stock market fluctuations of late 2011”.

HTW says it is difficult to predict how things will progress as 2011 threw up plenty of challenges with the continuing resources boom counterbalancing poor economic global performance and some lack of business confidence.

“The challenge is trying to see through the macro and micro indicators and come up with a balanced view on how residential will perform this year.

“It seems that good local knowledge of each market’s different sectors is vital.

“The big picture view and blanket statements can prove all too general in a market like this current one.”

It noted The Hills acreage/prestige market appeared as though it would remain quite stagnant with negative growth a possibility through 2012, “so probably one to avoid”.

A major problem pinpointed for the Sydney market was how prospective purchasers react to the changes to the stamp duty exemption.

“This may price out first home buyers who fuel the market in the south west suburbs.”

It noted the upper range of the market had already stalled with very few high end properties selling in the last six months.

“The unemployment rate will also cause some effect,” the report notes.

Local agents in Western Sydney believe immigration is another possible reason for increase in property values, with areas surrounding Auburn and Parramatta remaining popular.

“With cheaper prices and a central location, foreign purchasers have kept the market strong and is predicted to continually grow in 2012,” HTW notes.

In Liverpool and Fairfield areas, the upper range had slowed, however, the properties under the median prices were selling quite well and are also expected to continue in 2012. The Bankstown and Liverpool areas are envisaged to have “good buys” in 2012, with unit prices approximately $200,000 to $250,000, providing a good rental return of approximately $300-$340  to per week, which would represent a solid net yield.

The report notes the big influences looming for 2012 on eastern suburb property markets were largely dependent on the current economic climate in the US and Europe.

“As a result high end markets such as the eastern suburbs will be worst affected if the predicted white collar recession eventuates,” HTW notes.

“The coming year will still present opportunities in the lower to mid range Eastern Suburbs, as well as mid range dwellings in the Botany Bay, Leichhardt and Marrickville LGAs.”

The expectations in north-west Sydney were generally “pretty positive: with the residential market expected to remain fairly steady”.

The report noted the area was still growing at a fairly rapid rate with major land subdivisions and new estates in the Hills/Blacktown area (The Ponds, Rouse Hill, Ropes Crossing, Bunya Estate at Doonside) and Penrith (Jordan Springs, Waterside development at Cranebrook, Glenmore Park and Claremont Meadows).

In the southern suburbs the report noted the proposed Sharks residential/commercial development at Woolooware as one watch along with work on the light rail extension through the inner west, as another significant property price shaping event.

 By Jonathan Chancellor
Friday, 03 February 2012

Sheenagh Maguire

The preliminary capital city dwelling value index result for December was -0.2% (s.a.) following an upwardly revised +0.4% rise in dwelling values in November (was +0.1%). Revised regional house values for November increased from +0.3% to +0.5%. Sydney housing has been the nation’s best performer with dwelling values up 0.4% in December and by 0.7% over the quarter (s.a.).

In the generally seasonally weak month of December, the preliminary RP Data-Rismark Home Value Index result for capital city dwelling values was -0.2 per cent (s.a.). Low sales volumes in December mean that this number will likely see a more significant revision than normal.

The November result from the RP Data-Rismark index for dwellings in capital cities has revised up from +0.1 per cent (s.a.) to +0.4 per cent (s.a.) based on additional sales information. This marks the largest month-on-month improvement in Australian home values since May 2010.

The RP Data-Rismark ‘rest-of-state’ index, which covers Australia’s regional markets, has also revised up in November from +0.3 per cent to +0.5 per cent (s.a.). This is the most significant increase in regional house values since November 2010.

Over the December quarter, Australia’s capital city home values declined by -0.5 per cent (s.a.).

RP Data’s director of research Tim Lawless, said, “The December quarter was the year’s smallest quarterly decline. According to our index, capital city home values fell by -1.5 per cent (s.a.) in the March quarter, and by a further -0.8 per cent (s.a.) in each of the June and September quarters. This rate of decline had decelerated to -0.5% by the final quarter of 2011.”

In 2011, Australian capital city dwelling values experienced a capital loss of about three and a half per cent. Regional house values fared a little better, correcting by around three per cent. This compared to the 14-15 per cent decline in Australian shares. Adding in rents, the gross total return to Australian property investors was slightly less than one per cent over 2011.

Rismark’s managing director Ben Skilbeck said, “The month of December is characterised by a significant lull in activity and the preliminary index results have likely been influenced by some more volatile Melbourne and Perth estimates. We expect to get better clarity on the monthly movements as more information is reported.”

“Sydney currently has the largest volume of reported sales in December. In seasonally-adjusted terms, Sydney dwelling values rose by 0.4 per cent in the month of December. In the December quarter, Sydney dwelling values are up a total of 0.7 per cent (s.a.)” Mr Skilbeck said.

RP Data’s Tim Lawless observed that rental markets continued to strengthen in December.

“Weekly rents across the capital cities were up 1.0 per cent over the December quarter and are now 6.3 per cent higher than at the same time last year.”

“These higher rental rates combined with the slide in property values have improved investors’ yields. The average capital city dwelling is now offering a gross rental return of 4.6 per cent after a consistent trend upwards since mid-2010 when the typical capital city dwelling was yielding just 4.1 per cent. Darwin and Canberra are the highest yielding locations for property investors while Hobart, Brisbane, and Sydney provide gross yields that are better than average,” Mr Lawless said.

On the outlook for the year ahead, Rismark’s Ben Skilbeck commented, “We expect that the RBA’s interest rate cuts in the final two months of 2011 will lend further momentum to housing activity as transaction volumes pick up over February and March after the seasonally slow months of December and January. If financial market pricing for substantial additional RBA rate cuts proves accurate, we could see a stronger-than-expected bounce-back in housing conditions.”

“Housing affordability in Australia has experienced a striking improvement in recent times. While disposable household incomes on a per household basis rose by five per cent over the year to September 2011, Australian dwelling values have declined by 3.4 per cent since September 2010. As a result of the RBA’s rate cuts borrowers can now get fixed- and variable-rate home loans as low as 5.9 per cent and 6.14 per cent. Rismark’s research shows that disposable incomes per household have risen about 15 per cent further than Australian dwelling values since the end of 2003. This helps account for the decline in Rismark’s national dwelling price-to-income ratio, which is as low as its been since 2003” Mr Skilbeck said.

RP Data’s Tim Lawless added, “While global uncertainty and a stagnant local labour market could weigh on the consumer’s mindset, we are nevertheless observing improvements in monthly housing finance commitments. RP Data’s leading indicators on average selling times and vendor discounts are also starting to look healthier. There is no doubt that additional interest rate relief in 2012 would afford a very welcome cushion to the housing market.”

Sheenagh Maguire

 Liverpool, Blacktown and Penrith are making appearances on hotspot lists primarily because of investments in infrastructure, job creation initiatives, new residential developments and more affordable properties. The most recent list of the 50 suburbs with the greatest capital growth potential featured in Smart Property Investment magazine included four western Sydney suburbs. Rental yields of between 5% and 6% are also encouraging investors to consider these outlying parts of greater Sydney

The south-west growth centre is within the boundaries of Liverpool, Camden and Campbelltown and is made up of about 17,000 hectares with capacity for about 110,000 new dwellings.

As part of its Sydney Metropolitan Plan, the NSW government is looking to increase employment in western Sydney with the development of the Western Sydney Employment Area located near the intersection of the M4 and M7 motorways. The zone is expected to eventually accommodate approximately 40,000 workers and is located close to western Sydney’s north-west and south-west growth centres.

The property numbers you need to know:

 

	Population	Median house price	Gross rental yield	Median unit price/yield	Gross rental yield	Distance from Sydney
Blacktown	39,000	$376,000	5%	$285,000	6%	34 kms
Liverpool	21,000	$400,000	5%	$250,000	6%	32 kms
Penrith	11,300	$335,000	5%	$247,000	6%	50 kms
Rosemeadow	7,400	$312,000	6%	n/a	n/a	56 kms
Sydney	4.5 million	$550,000	4.5%	$453,000	5.2%

Current state of the market

SQM Research director Louis Christopher describes Blacktown as having a good ratio of income to house prices with income growth rising quickly due to changes in demographics. Vacancy rates are just 1.1%. Furthermore Blacktown has good transport connections to Sydney via rail and motorways.

Similarly, the vacancy rate in Liverpool is just 1.4%, with prices of houses and units still affordable compared to Sydney and the ratio of income to house prices is good. Liverpool is on four Sydney railway lines. Vacancy rates in Penrith are just 0.6%, the suburb has very good income-to-house price ratios and has excellent rail and motorway links to Sydney. Christopher describes Penrith as “a good safe option for investors”.

Douglas Driscoll, expects the western Sydney market to get stronger with newsuburbs and shopping districts appearing, businesses establishing and settling in the area, transport connections improving and large master-planned residential developments are appearing. “No other area in Sydney is seeing that amount of change so quickly,” he says.

A further indication of the strong appeal of western Sydney, the regional hub of Liverpool recorded the highest number of buyers applying for stamp duty exemptions during December 2011, ahead of the NSW government limiting concessions to those buying newly constructed houses and units. Second on the list was Blacktown, followed by Westmead, Campbelltown and Parramatta.

Reasons to consider buying/investing:

• Growing population, new residential developments and businesses coming into the area
• Popular with middle-income earners and young families
• Multiple rail and motorway connections to Sydney CBD and being expanded.
• More affordable houses than in Sydney
• Rental yields of between 5% and 6% generally higher returns than available in Sydney  

Reasons to consider not buying or investing:

• Not fashionable suburbs
• Still fairly significant commuting distances from Sydney
• More vulnerable to declines in the economy and rises in unemployment – it maintains its reputation as Australia’s mortgage repossession belt with a higher proportion of lender repossessions in Western Sydney compared to rest of NSW
• Crime is still an issue in some parts highlighted by a recent spate of drive-by shootings in Parramatta, Holroyd, Auburn and Bankstown areas
• Still overrun with McMansions

What property analysts are saying about Western Sydney:

Louis Christopher: ''The western suburbs will likely outperform the rest of Sydney and Sydney out perform all capital cities [in 2012].''

''Increasingly investors are seeing that Sydney's west might offer just as much capital growth as Sydney's inner ring but at the same time they're going to get higher yields and fairly high rental growth as well,''

Douglas Driscoll: “There will continue to be infrastructure growth, new developments and rental yields of 5% to 6% in greater western Sydney. Investors will continue to head west, lured by affordable property with high returns and higher stock levels.”

Hotspotting.com.au director Terry Ryder: “The Blacktown area grew in popularity throughout 2009 and 2010, with lower-end buyers targeting it as an affordable area with good transport links, making it Sydney's most popular area for home sales. The upgrade to parking infrastructure at several train stations in the Blacktown area adds to its appeal.”

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Rate cut triggers first rise in home values since December '10

30 December 2011

RP Data-Rismark Home Value Index Release

In seasonally-adjusted terms, Australia’s capital city home values rose by 0.1 per cent in November, which was the first increase since December 2010. Regional house values recorded a 0.3 per cent (s.a.) rise in November, which was also the biggest increase since December 2010.

Based on around 312,000 sales over the first 11 months of 2011, the market-leading RP Data-Rismark Home Value Index recorded increases in home values across both capital city and regional markets in the month of November following the RBA's decision to cut interest rates by 0.25 percentage points.

In seasonally-adjusted terms, capital city home values ground-out a modest 0.1 per cent gain (-0.2 per cent raw) in November. House values across Australia's non-capital city or 'regional' markets, which account for about 40 per cent of all homes by number, also rose by 0.3 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms (-0.1 per cent raw).

Rismark's director, Christopher Joye, commented, "For Australia's capital city and regional markets, this was the single best monthly result since December 2010, and augurs well for housing activity during the first quarter of 2012, which we project will rebound solidly. The best proxy for housing demand—the number of new home loans approved for purchasing established properties—has risen robustly every month since its nadir in March."

The November result has helped improve the Australian housing market's year-to-date performance. Whereas in October RP Data-Rismark reported that capital city dwelling values had declined by four per cent in the first 10 months of 2011, the November year-to-date index change is now just -3.7 per cent (seasonally-adjusted). In actual raw terms, Australian capital city dwelling values have only declined by -2.8 per cent in the first 11 months of 2011.

Regional markets have performed even better. Over the year to November 2011, regional house values are only off by -2.6 per cent in raw terms (or -2.8 per cent seasonally-adjusted). Including gross rents, the total return realised by investors in capital city property remained positive in 2011 at +1.2 per cent.

According to RP Data's Senior Research Analyst, Cameron Kusher, there remains significant diversity across capital city housing markets.

"Although home values have fallen across each capital city, Sydney and Canberra have been the most resilient with dwelling values off just -0.5 per cent (s.a.) and -1.6 per cent (s.a.) over the year, respectively" Mr Kusher said.

He continued, "On the other hand, Brisbane and Melbourne home values have recorded total declines of -7.0 per cent (s.a.) and -5.6 per cent (s.a.), respectively."

"In the month of November, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Canberra produced flat-to-positive capital gains following the RBA rate cut. In contrast, home values in Adelaide, Brisbane and Darwin softened further," Mr Kusher said.

Rismark director, Christopher Joye added, "The November result is consistent with our forecasts that Australia's housing market will respond much more quickly to the RBA's November and December cuts than many analysts expect. Over 90 per cent of all Australian home loans are fully variable rate, and lenders have passed on most of the 0.50 percentage points worth of RBA rate cuts during the final two months of the year. Borrowers can now get fixed-rate loans for around 5.9 per cent and discounted variable rate loans as low as 6.14 per cent. As Australia's most interest rate sensitive sector, the housing market will be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the RBA's munificence alongside consumer spending. We expect to see house prices rising again in 2012."

December 6th 2011, The Reserve Bank of Australia dropped the cash rate 25 basis points to 4.25% today. This follows the RBA’s decision to reduce the cash rate from 4.75% to 4.5% on Melbourne Cup Day in October, the first rate cut in two years and the first time since February 2009 that the RBA has made back-to-back rate cuts. 2012 is shaping up very well for property.

 

Housing prices to increase by about 20% in Perth and Sydney by 2014: QBE LMI report

By Jonathan Chancellor
Tuesday, 11 October 2011

Price growth of 20% is forecast for Perth and price growth of 19% is forecast for Sydney by 2014, according to the QBE Lenders’ Mortgage Insurance housing outlook report researched by BIS Shrapnel.

In Perth the forecast reflects the stronger economic conditions driven by accelerated investment in the mining and resource sector, and in Sydney the forecast is a result of the growing deficiency in household dwelling supply.

Overall house prices in Perth are estimated to rise by a cumulative total of 20% over the forecast period – the highest among all capital cities – to $565,000 as at June 2014.

This reflects price growth of around 6% per annum, which is similar to the expectation of household income growth over the three years to 2013-14, and equates to an 8.8% total rise in real terms.

The Sydney median house price is forecast to lift by a total of 19% to $770,000 over the three years to June 2014, a total rise of 8.1% in real terms, according to 2011-14 report released today.

In Sydney, owner-occupier and investor demand is forecast to rise in 2012, underpinned by the rising dwelling deficiency and strengthening economic conditions, leading to higher price growth and dwelling construction.

The report shows that although the median house value rose to $644,700 in June 2011, real house prices in today’s dollar terms remain below their median house price peak of $707,000 in the March 2004 quarter.

The underlying strength of the Australian economy and the continuing shortage of residential housing in Australia, together with stable interest rates, is expected to support Australian housing prices, according to the QBE LMI housing outlook report.

Ian Graham, chief executive of QBE Lenders’ Mortgage Insurance Limited (QBE LMI), says despite the current volatility in the global economy, QBE LMI is cautiously optimistic about the outlook for the Australian housing market.

But Melbourne in the three years to June 2014 is forecast to have the lowest price growth of 6%, due to record levels of new dwelling supply eroding the current dwelling deficiency.

More moderate house price increases between 6% and 8% are expected in Adelaide, Hobart and Canberra.

There is solid price growth of 16% tipped for Brisbane and 17% in Darwin.

First-home buyer demand, which has suffered recently, is forecast to enter a recovery phase through 2012 as the economic outlook becomes more positive and in the anticipation of first-home buyer confidence strengthening as housing becomes more affordable. Investor demand is expected to recover over 2011-12, in line with first-home buyer demand, and support prices at the entry-level end of the market.

The current stability in interest rates is expected to continue well into 2012. There is now a possibility that the Reserve Bank of Australia could cut interest rates in late 2011 to kick-start a recovery in consumer confidence and spending, thereby initiating the next phase of demand, the recovery in the economy and housing market.

Graham notes that Australia is well placed to deal with any uncertainty that our economy or housing market faces in the next few years.

Private treaty discounting has become necessary to secure sales across most capital cities.Discounting increased considerably across all capital cities in the past year, with the exception of Canberra.

Sydney’s discounting shift over the past year was second only to Canberra’s with the required discounting increasing from 6.2% in August 2010 to 6.9% in August this year.But Sydney’s 6.9% August figure was the highest for any month this year for the city.

Buyer and seller expectations are still disconnected, Australian Property Monitors senior economist Andrew Wilson noted just before the spring selling season got underway. He noted that days on market, discount rates and stock on market numbers were all higher than at the same time last year in the Sydney and Melbourne markets.

 Source: APM August data

Allan Dabbagh

RP Data – Rismark Home Value Index Release

While dwelling values in Australia's combined capital cities declined by a seasonally adjusted (s.a.) 0.6% in the month of July, and regional markets fell by a similar 0.7% (s.a.), homes in Sydney (+0.1% s.a.), Darwin (+0.6% s.a.) and Canberra (+1.9% s.a.) managed to produce small capital gains.

Based on approximately 178,000 home sales over the year to July, the market-leading RP Data-Rismark Hedonic Home Value Index recorded a seasonally-adjusted fall of -0.6 per cent in capital city home values over the month of July (-0.9 per cent in raw terms).

Canberra (+1.9 per cent s.a.), Darwin (+0.6 per cent s.a.) and Sydney (+0.1 per cent s.a.) bucked the soft trend set by the other cities, which, led by Melbourne homes (down -1.4 per cent s.a.), all registered declines during July.

Over the first seven months of 2011, Australian capital city home values were down -3.4 per cent. According to RP Data research director Tim Lawless, this national result conceals wide divergences across the individual cities.

Mr Lawless pointed to the example of Melbourne homes, which after rising by a stunning 29 per cent over 2009 and 2010 had now corrected by -5.3 per cent in 2011. In contrast, dwelling values in Canberra had actually risen in value by 1.8 per cent over the course of 2011.

Over the 12 months to July 2011, Australian capital city home values are off -2.9 per cent. Mr Lawless said that it looks like a multi-speed housing market: Brisbane (-6.6 per cent), Perth (-6.3 per cent), and Melbourne (-4.3 per cent) have all experienced significant declines over the last year, whereas the 35 per cent of Australia's capital city population that lives in Canberra (+1.9 per cent) and Sydney (+0.5 per cent) had realised capital gains.

According to Christopher Joye, Rismark International's economist, "Over the last 11 years, Sydney home values increased by a modest 5.6 per cent per annum compared to an Australian capital city average of 7.8 per cent per annum. Sydney housing has massively underperformed Perth (10.4 per cent per annum), Brisbane (9.7 per cent per annum) and Melbourne (8.9 per cent per annum) housing over this period. After years of being the perennial laggard, Sydney housing now looks to be a relatively resilient store of wealth."

Mr Joye added that Australia's housing market could be at a crucial inflexion point.

"The financial markets are pricing in five rate cuts while leading economists from Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Westpac and Macquarie Bank all believe that the RBA's next move will be down.

As the most interest rate sensitive sector of the economy, the housing market will be the chief beneficiary of any decision by the RBA to reduce the cost of debt. Indeed, borrowers are already benefiting from de facto rate cuts.

The inversion in the yield curve has seen many banks start to slash the cost of fixed-rate home loans. Today lenders like Members Equity Bank are offering 3 year, fixed-rate loans of just 6.35 per cent, which is well below the standard variable rate benchmark of 7.8 per cent.

And while the rhetoric coming out of the central bank of late has been conflicting, UBS believes that the Governor's testimony to Parliament last week shifted the RBA to a ‘neutral' stance," Mr Joye said.

"If rates do remain on hold, or begin to fall, we would expect to see Australia's housing market find a base and begin to generate capital gains again. If the RBA has really come to the end of its tightening cycle - which we would find surprising given the high core inflation revealed over the last six months - 2011-12 will likely be judged one of the best buying windows seen in quite some time. The turning point will arrive when otherwise hawkish Australian consumers accept the notion that rates are not going to inexorably increase," Mr Joye said.

Mr Lawless said that the current weakness in housing market conditions is related to the ongoing anxiety consumers have about their future finances as reflected in the latest consumer confidence data.

"According to the August Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment survey, Australians still expect two interest rate hikes over the next 12 months. Combined with volatile equity prices, global financial market instability, and soft house prices, Australians are understandably reluctant to make high commitment decisions at the moment," Mr Lawless said.

Mr Lawless also highlighted the premium housing market where comparatively larger declines in value will likely present patient investors with attractive opportunities during the next six months.

"Dwelling values across the most expensive capital city suburbs are down -6.2 per cent over the first seven months of year. This compares with a much smaller -2.3 per cent fall across ‘middle priced suburbs' and a -2.1 per cent decline in the cheapest suburbs. Clearly, the ongoing financial market volatility is having a more marked impact on wealthier households, as are weak business conditions outside of the resources sector," Mr Lawless said.

Despite some improvements in selling times in previous months, the average number of days it takes to sell a home has increased in June and July. Other key leading indicators also imply that market conditions remain soft.

"The build up in the number of homes being advertised for sale together with the slow-down in buyer demand has once again seen average selling times expand. Across the capital cities the average house is taking 55 days to sell compared with 45 days at the same time last year. We have also seen the level of vendor discounting expand to -7.2 per cent from -5.7 per cent in July 2010, which is in line with the lowest reading recorded during 2008. Finally, the weighted average auction clearance rate across Australia's capital cities has remained slightly below 50 per cent over the past seven weeks".

"If these soft trends persist, the Spring Selling Season is likely to open up some attractive investment opportunities for prospective buyers. In contrast, the selling environment is likely to be challenging for vendors, particularly if they have unrealistic price expectations," Mr Lawless said.

Allan Dabbagh

 

The RP Data-Rismark Home Value Index results for July 2011 will be released on Wednesday next week. We anticipate that the results aren’t likely to show much deviation from the past month to month trend; the market is flat to falling, Sydney is the best performer while Brisbane and Perth are the laggards. In recent months the rate of value decline has been slowing with a fall of just -0.2% during June across the combined capital cities. We expect fairly similar conditions when the July results are released next week. Certainly with low levels of consumer confidence we would not expect an improvement in sales volumes or return to value growth so long as consumers continue to act in a cautious nature.

 The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released data this week on the total value of construction work done during the June 2011 quarter. Over the quarter the total value of construction work rose by 0.7% and values increased by 2.0% compared to the June 2010 quarter. When you break the result down into its components you can see that engineering is doing all of the heavy lifting. The total value of building construction fell by -14.6% year on year with residential down -7.6% and non-residential falling by -23.2%. In comparison, engineering was quite buoyant increasing by 21.2% over the year. Clearly investment in residential, office and industrial building remains soft whereas investment on major infrastructure remains quite strong.

 

 Advertised Stock on the Market

The number of new properties advertised for sale increased by 4.4% nationally over the four weeks to August 21 2011 compared to the four weeks to August 14. Across the combined capital cities the number of new listings increased by a greater 5.3%. Currently new listings are 5.2% higher than they were at the same time last year nationally and across the capital cities they are 3.5% higher than at the same time last year. The total number of properties listed for sale remains at elevated levels, increasing by 4.3% over the week nationally and by 5.4% across the combined capital cities. Total listings remain at elevated levels, 33.1% higher than they were last year nationally and 32.0% higher across the capital cities. It will be interesting to see what happens with listings in the coming week, given the weak market conditions and inflated listing volumes an increase coming in to spring would not be beneficial for the market.

Latest National Auction Clearance Rates

The weighted average capital city auction clearance rate increased from 47.0% the previous week to 49.7% last week. The number of capital city auctions also increased from 1,103 the previous week to 1,169 last week. Despite the improvement, clearance rates remain well below levels of last year when they recorded at 59.3% during the corresponding week. In the country’s largest auction market, Melbourne, clearance rates increased from 52.7% the previous week to 54.9% last week. In Sydney, clearance rates increased from 51.2% to 54.1%.

 

 

 

 

 

Provided BY RPDATA

Allan Dabbagh

Rate reprieve despite inflation figures

Once again, homeowners have dodged an interest rate hike, with the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) leaving the cash rate unchanged at 4.75% today.

Stronger than expected inflation figures were expected to worry the central bank and meant interest rates could be on their way up sooner rather than later, according to economists.

The Reserve Bank of Australia is trying to balance rising inflation - above its target zone - driven by the mining boom against a downturn in the broader economy that has seen retail sales go into a tailspin, it seems the latter has been the saviour for mortgage holders this time around.

 The consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.9 per cent in Australia in the June quarter, for an annual inflation rate of 3.6 per cent, official data shows. Economists' forecasts for the headline consumer price index (CPI) had centered on a rise of just 0.8 per cent in the quarter, for an annual pace of 3.5 per cent.

 The decision rounds out a big day for the Australian economy, with shares and the Australian dollar soaring after the United States avoided a debt default with an eleventh hour agreement.

 The US House of Representatives today voted with the agreement which raises the $ 14.3 trillion US debt ceiling in return for some $ US2.1 trillion ($ A1.92 trillion) in spending cuts over 10 years

Allan Dabbagh

 

Media Release

Wednesday, 3 August 2011

Coldwell Banker South West Realty

Market Aggressively to Obtain Results

According to leading agent Allan Dabbagh, sellers should market their property aggressively in order to obtain the right result.

“The property market is sluggish and now is the time to market your property extensively if you want a result. Full scale marketing campaigns can entice a buyer and help obtain the best possible price,” said agent Allan Dabbagh.

While aggressive advertising can boost the chance of a quick sale, correct pricing is a major factor.

“In this market, buyers are very critical of price and if your property is not competitive then the chances of obtaining a result diminish,” concluded Allan.

agent Allan Dabbagh can be contacted on 02 98252100

<END>

For further information contact:

Allan Dabbagh, 98252100, info@cbrealestate.com.au

The RP Data-Rismark Home Value Index results for May 2011 were released this week. The results showed that the soft market conditions are persisting however, the rate of decline in values has improved since January. Looking at the seasonally adjusted value changes month-by-month this year provides some good insight. In January combined capital city values fell -1.2%, in February they fell -0.3%, in March they were down -0.6%, April recorded a value fall of -0.4% and in the most recent month, values fell by -0.3%. Since the beginning of 2011 capital city home values have fallen by -2.7%.

At an individual capital city level, Perth continues to disappoint with values falling by -7.5% over the year. Brisbane was the second weakest performer with values down -5.9% for the year. In Brisbane, values are now -6.3% below their peak and in Perth, the -7.5% fall over the year represents the percentage fall from the peak of the market. At the other end of the spectrum, Sydney and Canberra are the best performed markets however, when value growth is adjusted for inflation, property values are becoming more affordable in these cities. Sydney values are up by 1.0% for the year and in Canberra values have shown no movement over the last 12 months.

The broad market trends show that units have recorded superior growth in values over the year (-0.2%) to that of houses (-3.0%). This trend reflects the price sensitivity of active buyers in the market. It also highlights ongoing densification within capital cities and changing lifestyle patterns which indicate that Australian’s are becoming more accepting of inner city unit living. Dwelling commencements data supports the change with unit commencements climbing sharply at a time when house commencements are falling sharply.


Latest National Auction Clearance Rates
There were 1,586 auctions held last week and RP Data collected results on 82% of them. The weighted clearance rate across the capital cities was 46.9%, the fifth week running where the combined capitals clearance rate has been recorded below 50%. Melbourne and Sydney both recorded clearances above 50% with Melbourne at 52.6% across 696 auctions and the Sydney clearance rate at 51.5% across 596 auctions.

Keep track of your area's weekly changes in auction results with our Auction Results panel, found on the top right corner of the rpdata.com home page.

Number of Properties Advertised for Rent
The number of new properties advertised for rent has fallen by -3.8% over the last four weeks compared to the previous four weeks ending June 19th. Capital city new rental listings have fallen by -3.7%. Despite the fall, new rental listings nationally are 15.2% higher than at the same time last year and in the combined capital cities they are 12.5% higher. Total rental listings are down -0.6% nationally over the last week and -0.3% lower in the capital cities. Again, listings remain at much higher levels than the same time last year, up 14.0% nationally and 11.4% in the capital cities.

Sheenagh Maguire

Voyager Point Witnesses Home Price Record Instead Of End Of The World

Whilst the end of the world was easy for someone to predict last weekend, no –one could have predicted that Voyager Point would see a record home price being paid for a double storey residence in Boronia Road.

The five bedroom, three bathroom home with a salt water pool was sold on Saturday the 20^th of May for $900,000 to a buyer from Revesby who had been waiting patiently for a home that was uniquely suited to his needs.

 The agent Azam Dabbagh of Coldwell Banker South West Sales said;

“ the buyer was adamant about living in Voyager Point , he was actively searching similar communities  for six months, we had many conversations and I began to picture exactly what he wanted “

Azam then identified a home in Voyager Point that ticked all the boxes for the buyer with only one drawback, the house was not on the market.

“I approached the owner and he gave me his magic price for the property, we then agreed to put his magnificent home on the market.

Azam‘s buyer was immediately smitten by the property and quickly placed a deposit.  Recent home sale records in Voyager Point have reached $835,000 and $850,000. 

Allan Dabbagh

Rate reprieve despite inflation figures

Once again, homeowners have dodged an interest rate hike, with the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) leaving the cash rate unchanged at 4.75% today.

Stronger than expected inflation figures were expected to worry the central bank and meant interest rates could be on their way up sooner rather than later, according to economists.

The Reserve Bank of Australia is trying to balance rising inflation - above its target zone - driven by the mining boom against a downturn in the broader economy that has seen retail sales go into a tailspin, it seems the latter has been the saviour for mortgage holders this time around.

 The consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.9 per cent in Australia in the June quarter, for an annual inflation rate of 3.6 per cent, official data shows. Economists' forecasts for the headline consumer price index (CPI) had centered on a rise of just 0.8 per cent in the quarter, for an annual pace of 3.5 per cent. 

The decision rounds out a big day for the Australian economy, with shares and the Australian dollar soaring after the United States avoided a debt default with an eleventh hour agreement.

 The US House of Representatives today voted with the agreement which raises the $ 14.3 trillion US debt ceiling in return for some $ US2.1 trillion ($ A1.92 trillion) in spending cuts over 10 years

 When local real Estate Agent Allan Dabbagh read about the Penny Nichols Golf Day in last week’s Liverpool Leader he had two very good reasons for wanting to help; a love of Golf and more importantly a very personal experience of caring for a family member with breast cancer.

“When I was asked to be a sponsor for the day, there was no hesitation, I have absolute admiration for Penny Nichols and her family, it is a journey that puts life back into perspective and brings a family even closer together” Mr Dabbagh said .

The day was a huge success, due to attendance numbers and an unexpected break in the constant weekend rain periods.