Gold was a particularly useful trading item in the camps. Gold teeth/jewellery kept many prisoners alive on the starvation rations, as it would be traded with the local Poles who worked along side the Jews in forced labour. The Greeks were rather good at this trading system.
A crash in property prices? Don't bet on it
- Thread starter Propertunity
- Start date
Gold was a particularly useful trading item in the camps. Gold teeth/jewellery kept many prisoners alive on the starvation rations, as it would be traded with the local Poles who worked along side the Jews in forced labour. The Greeks were rather good at this trading system.
I would've thought gold has inherent value in much the same way as land. They ain't makin' any more of it so it's the perfect alternative to money.
What would you say if you thought your tenants were a bit dodgey, every time you received the rent the ink was still drying on the notes? I'd say 'pay me in gold!' Which is aparaently what the french said to Nixon right before he took the U.S. off the gold standard in 1971.
What would you say if you thought your tenants were a bit dodgey, every time you received the rent the ink was still drying on the notes? I'd say 'pay me in gold!' Which is aparaently what the french said to Nixon right before he took the U.S. off the gold standard in 1971.
You're not with the program PeterRead up on "Fiat money".
"Fiat" means "by law" and the notes in your pocket only have value by an act of parliament. US$s, although worth about the same as ours HAS NO LEGAL STANDING here. No one is obliged to accept them as payment. Gold is the only currency which is not someone else's liability, ie It has no counter-party risk.
We live in an unstable world and people who feel insecure look to gold, not governments.
I agree. To continue my WW2 reference the German Riechmark was worthless as Germany collapsed and lost. Ironically, now valuable as collector item.
My point is: land, can be farmed to grow food which we all need. You cannot eat Gold. But really, this is off topic point.
What I do think is IMO you cannot use the reference of Gold Movement or whatever macro factor to apply to the future of AUS property market.
The Australia Property Market is a myriad of many markets all influenced my so many factors, local, regional, employment, supply, demand, social economic, etc that any attempt to predict is vague at best.
Mining town get enormous rents for dumps. Yet 100km away in a non mining town the homes are vacant?
Toorak or Double Bay rents for $$$$ when Melton or Penrith rents for $. Yet both provide a home?
What we have seen develop is the culture of "economic information overload". Anyone can post, release, commission a study that says X to go UP, DOWN and then the media runs with it. Bugger the parameters of the study, etc.. all news is media worthy.
Case in point: Median Prices in Victoria. State wide drop 3-5%. The region I live down 1-3%. The town I live up 25%.
The difference is because we have some low rent towns and some wealthy towns in our region. Those with cashed up ex yuppie white collar professional like me are not hurting so all is good. But the media does not care about that. It is either all gloom or all boom.
So without knowing that, would you invest here?
I am not preaching I am simply stating my investment strategy of find the best you can, secure you risk and take a punt. I am no guru. The moment you think you are a guru is when to get out.
regards Peter 14.7
I am looking to buy my PPOR in Melbourne very soon (within the next two weeks) and have short listed a few. This is just my take of what's happening in some suburbs.
I started researching sales in specific suburbs (inner east) and then in certain streets within those suburbs since Dec 2009. I've since painstakingly collected sales data over the past 2 years independently, auctions, passed in and private sales.
To get a feel feel for the market, we've (partner and I) now been attending 7-8 auctions each every week for the last month or so (the one we're interested in goes to auction in a few weeks time). I've also inspected several properties on open days. The market is quite dead and there are simply no bidders. Although to be fair, a couple have been sold soon after auction through private negotiations. The really well done up/fancy properties have managed to sell.
Property prices have definitely fallen well over 20% over the past 6-8 months in some cases. In specific streets that I am closely monitoring they're down as much as 35-40% since the peak (December 2010).
I started researching sales in specific suburbs (inner east) and then in certain streets within those suburbs since Dec 2009. I've since painstakingly collected sales data over the past 2 years independently, auctions, passed in and private sales.
To get a feel feel for the market, we've (partner and I) now been attending 7-8 auctions each every week for the last month or so (the one we're interested in goes to auction in a few weeks time). I've also inspected several properties on open days. The market is quite dead and there are simply no bidders. Although to be fair, a couple have been sold soon after auction through private negotiations. The really well done up/fancy properties have managed to sell.
Property prices have definitely fallen well over 20% over the past 6-8 months in some cases. In specific streets that I am closely monitoring they're down as much as 35-40% since the peak (December 2010).
That also applies to properties in the inner east suburbs of Melbourne yielding 1.5-2% p.a. and falling capital values....
what price range or rough area are we talking about??
ive got my eye on a few suburbs, ranging from median $250k regional to $700k median East in a fairly blue chip area
Ive only noticed a probably 10% drop in the $700k median suburb, the others more like a 5-7% drop, and some regionals, barely a drop, just taking longer to sell
I don't own any property there, and wouldn't buy at those yields anyway.
I don't own property in Melbourne at all.
$2M - $7M,
boroondara council - Kew, Hawthorn, Hawthorn East and thereabouts.
I dont think i have ever seen prime suburbs in melbourne trading on a good yld, especially for houses.
They have a high scarcity value (because they are prime), and their price will be determined more by economic prosperity than by rental ylds.
They have a high scarcity value (because they are prime), and their price will be determined more by economic prosperity than by rental ylds.
Oh Sunfish! Now you're being pedantic.
Hope of capital growth on a ppor is not an investment - it is a speculation. However, many consider a ppor an asset because they can use the equity to buy investments.
Hope of capital growth on gold is not an investment - it is a speculation. Gold may also not even be an asset because you can't leverage any equity out of it to buy investments. However, in the current market it is a good speculation.
Shares giving of healthy dividends and IP's giving of positive cashflow are both investments.
A negative cashflow property can be an investment if it is expected to turn positive in the near future ... however, if someone is waiting for their negatively geared IP to churn up some capital gain, with no regard to achieving positive cashflow then it is speculation.
My opinion on how it all works anyhow. I've done both speculation and investing ... I like investing better. Speculation both made, and cost, me a lot of money.
Hi Sunfish,
I don't consider my PPOR purely as an investment.I plan to live in it for at least the next 15 years and it will be left for my children.
But you're absolutely right,if I were considering an investment property then yield would be highly relevant to me - the reason why I'm not inclined to buying any IPs in Melbourne at the moment. I'm happy to wait as long as it takes to buy one, if at all
I don't think of "my house" it is "my home".
I think of it has "my castle"...
I consider my house/home/PPOR/IP/anything else I own/whatever, for sale to whoever is willing to give me a good price.... except for family members I suppose ... and pets ... but that's all. Everything else is merely a material possession that can be replaced with the next good deal.
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i dug a hole, dad!
Same meaning for me as far as I'm concerned
