Recent content by gwk

There are some real rental slum areas in Australia.. I would have thought staying clear of them could be beneficial for long-term growth. Most renters really don't care too much about the outside appearance of their properties, and there is a lot of coming and going all the time. If you've got a...

While cooling housing is probably the priority, the dollar is also due to impact on our economy in the next few months. Our exporters and their profitibility will be increasingly punished as the interest differentiation between here and other Central Banks widens. Therefore despite the talk, the...

If you had a building and pest clause in there "to your satisfaction", would that provide any protection I wonder within the initial cooling off period? If the building was say, a pile of ash, obviously it would not meet your structural requirements, and hence you could get out of the contract...

I think this is great.. quick and easy way to get an evaluation that will be close to the bank eval, and can be done all online, for low cost. I would imagine making it easier could encourage a lot more to get a valuation before, or after purchase, even just for peace of mind.

That's odd.. I've lived in many different properties over the last 10 years, in both VIC and QLD, and at all times the electricity has never been physically "disconnected". The call process is really to ensure your details are attached to the property, and anything is backdated from when the...

Is it possible that higher fixed rates are being introduced beyond actual funding costs to turn people off fixing their home loans, which gives greater flexibility or possibly profitability for the banks in the next cycle? I know the RBA would probably prefer to have everybody on variable rates...

I don't know how this sort of thing is allowed to be printed, it's very misleading and with interest rates to rise, I think the equation would change quite quickly anyhow. I think it prays on young potential home-owners who may not fully cost everything up before buying.

I think you really need to pay a visit to Melbourne. When you get there and have a look around you may have a better feel for the place, and I think you will need to change your expectations. I'd maybe have a look at Footscray

What if they gradually phased out negative gearing for old properties? and it only applied to new properties to help stimulate construction growth and provide further supply?

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=amrrzlGGFtTU Doesn't look rates are going up in the UK for a while, and our own RBA does like to monitor what is happening in other markets in setting the rates here.

Not to be an attack on the possibility of heavy rate rises, however I think it is important to see how volatile the implied yield curve can be. Here is the chart from only 3 weeks or so ago.. There were actually expectations of a rate cut, and rates nearly 1% lower than is indicated in the...

Throw a dart at the wall as to how much rates will *actually* rise in the next 18 months. There are too many unknowns right now. The expected rate expectation curve has been wrong before, may be wrong again. Most economists are saying below average growth globally for the next few years. Then...

5 year fixed rates are presently around low 7's.. If we take the position "banks nearly always come out on top with fixed rates", surely they are baking in under 7% for approximately 3 years, then the possibility of over 7% for say 2 years? This gives an average somewhere below 7.x % This...

How do they tackle this ? It is a very interesting dilema... If they raise rates too high to stop the 'speculators', the cost of investment is pushed higher for many sorts of new housing development, and those prices have to be passed onto the buyer or tenant (pushing up the price of...

Domain and Realestate already having a spit about it.. No surprise I guess.. http://business.theage.com.au/business/google-faces-property-ads-war-20090726-dxga.html I think the last part is still telling.. it's more about protecting market share and an effective duopoly than being willing to...