A Small Observation

[Mr. Fabulous]

Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that the amount of posting on here has decreased significantly in the last three to six months, around the same time the property market started to cool off.
In my opinion the quality of the posting (in general) has risen also. At one point there for a few months I was reading the forum once or twice a week, simply because there wasn't a lot that was worth reading, quite frankly.
Nowadays however, I am back to reading everyday and seeing many many more great posts - just like how it used to be. I'm always in support of change, but in this case, I'm quite comfortable to revert to familiarity!

 

[Rolf Latham]

Hi ML

Id wager there some seasonal component in it, but there is no doubt that numbers are down from the same time last year.

As you also point out the content hasnt suffered, that is the quality is there even though the quantity has decreased somewhat.


ta

rolf

 

[geoffw]

A feeling I have (not backed up by any analysis) is that people are posting less property specific questions (and especially not so many newbie questions) and more general type postings.

Energy, economics, and coffe lounge traffic is perhaps higher. (and I plead guilty on the last )

 

[Sim]

Unfortunately, the statistics part of the forum was reset when we upgraded to v3 back in February - I'd have to do some database queries to get more data, which I don't have time to do right now.

Anyway, here is the data from March until now...

Registrations per month:

Posts per month:

New threads per month:

... basically what I am seeing is that we are getting fewer new people along, and fewer new threads - but those threads we are having are getting a lot of posts in them. Winter is always a slower period on the forum - I do expect it to pick up a bit in Spring, but I do also agree that traffic has slowed quite a bit from this time last year - web stats show that "visits per month" are possibly down by as much as 40% from August 2003.

 

[househunter]

Hi Mark,

I have been reading this forum for a year now and to be honest I read it for about an hour a day. I enjoy reading everyones posts whether good or bad as it helps to learn. You are right in what you say but I think for some of us we are quite happy to sit back and read . I know that is taking a back seat approach but for me I don't like to comment unless I have something to say or I have a question.

The reason I am writing this is that only yesterday I was talking to a friend of mine who wants to go partners in renovations. He is a builder and I am a painting contractor. We are both property investors and very good friends.My point is that he asked me a question regarding wraps and I told him what I knew and then referred him to the somersoft forum. He has never heard about it and I was surprised. I gave him and his wife the address and told him to look up some information about wraps. The knowledge you can gain from this forum is very valuable whether you post or not. I guess I am guilty of not sharing what I know but I always think I don't know that much. I must try harder to keep in contact. It does help everyone if we all share information.
Househunter

 

[Peter Parker]

I've noticed this as well. There's much less discussion about particular places to invest also.

More dramatic has been the space occupied by property books at my local bookshop (I like this measure as the amount of shelving is fixed and trends can be discerned by looking at changes in % space given to various topics).

Though there's a few new books (Margaret Lomas and updated editions from NE Renton and Anita Bell) the shelf space devoted to property has fallen. Personal development and success books have taken up the space. Even property authors have responded - Anita Bell's latest book on success in 5 years for example.

It seems that there are various waves, that last about 2 years each eg since the late 90s:

shares
IT/dot com shares
property
personal development/success (being the current one)

Regards, Peter

 

[Jacque]

Well,

Let's not forget that property is no longer the "flavour of the month/year" and that less and less people are discussing it around the country at BBQ's, particularly in NSW Bloody exit tax, land tax.... grumble grumble

PI has fallen out of favour, if you believe the media and the general public sentiment. Because the big gains aren't being made anymore by every man and his dog, there is no longer a reason to talk PI and its huge benefits. We are now back to a more stable (and possibly stagnate) phase of the cycle, and its just not as exciting to the majority of people. Therefore, less people investing means less ppl knowing about such forums as this one and wanting to learn all they can.
That's my theory anyway
But I still love this forum and learn something new every time I log on.

 

[Aceyducey]

PI has fallen out of favour, if you believe the media and the general public sentiment. Because the big gains aren't being made anymore by every man and his dog, there is no longer a reason to talk PI and its huge benefits. We are now back to a more stable (and possibly stagnate) phase of the cycle, and its just not as exciting to the majority of people.

Ironic in a way. All the legitimite property authors & gurus say it takes at least 10 years to get wealthy via property - and the public have abandoned it enmasse within a few years simply because it's no longer exciting.

Just shows you that old wisdom still holds true - you can lead a human to a long-term investment, but they'd prefer to get rich quick!

Cheers,

Aceyducey

 

[XBenX]

With me at home for the rest of the snow season I would have thought my post count would have increased dramatically...

But I dont seem to post all that much anymore...

I would of thought with me around more the amount of crap would have increased again =P

 

[Jas]

We're back to the top 20 of us, talking about nuances. Having long converstations, not answering newbie qs.

In the past 9 months, my posts have dropped off as I was getting tired of answering hte same questions time and time again. I stopped reading every post. In the past month or two, that's turned around.

Jas

 

[sbe]

Have to admit, I've been busy too lately, so only respond to stuff that interests me greatly.

 

[Peter Parker]

bookshop update

More dramatic has been the space occupied by property books at my local bookshop (I like this measure as the amount of shelving is fixed and trends can be discerned by looking at changes in % space given to various topics).

Just visited the bookshop today and the number of property books has continued to fall sharply, if anything at an accelerating rate. I couldn't even see some of the best selling staples, eg McKnight or Somers. There was a Bell or two and a new title from a RE guy I'd never heard of but who claims to be Australia's top.

Business titles continue to be strongly represented, and I think there's more stuff on sharetrading as well. And Kiyosaki's comic book (based on RDPD) is a bit of fun to browse through.

As this bookshop is a small local business with limited shelf space, I'd imagine they'd be more responsive to reader trends than the big chains and hence a better indicator of market interest.

Peter

 

[geoffw]

a new title from a RE guy I'd never heard of but who claims to be Australia's top.

John McGrath?

He would be one of Australia's top agents- but perhaps there are others who are better who wshy away from the limelight.

 

[Peter Parker]

John McGrath?

He would be one of Australia's top agents- but perhaps there are others who are better who wshy away from the limelight.

Yes, that's him.

I must admit I dislike claims like 'Australia's top...' unless one can devise some fair method of assessment and have a participation rate of 100%.

Until you have that others can legitimately differ and all such claims are devalued. For instance Perth's Rory O'Rourke, whose books mention RE Institute Awards recieved for the most number of properties sold may claim himself to be a contender (although he's had his ups and downs).

Peter

 

[Aceyducey]

I must admit I dislike claims like 'Australia's top...' unless one can devise some fair method of assessment and have a participation rate of 100%.

Perhaps we should do this by altitude. At least that remains relatively consistent. The 'top' agency in Australia would be on Mt Kosciosko.

Agents have people moving in and out regularly so 'top' is a moving feast.

Cheers,

Aceyducey

 

[geoffw]

Perhaps we should do this by altitude. At least that remains relatively consistent. The 'top' agency in Australia would be on Mt Kosciosko.

Well, there is a Canberra agent, I am told, who has his own jet (ex military I think) who would be a contender. But he hasn't written any books. Yet.

 

[wish-ga]

I had noticed that there seemed to be less traffic... thought it was just me that noticed it... glad someone else thought so too.

Thanks to those stickin' 'round, I need you here so I can ask questions.

THANK YEW!

 

[TomL]

I'm still addicted to this place.

Quality of info is still fantastic, the longer you are on here the more you can filter out the noise.

T.

 

[Dos]

"My" generalisation would be that, during the sharp rise in interest in property investing, the forum was flooded with questions and queries about what people should do because they were about to or had already purchased. Most of the talk now seems centred around where to now and how can I maximise my current situation.

As others have said, I check the site regularly during the day to see what is happening and is one of the first thing's I check up on after I have been away. I would like to offer more views and opinions but being new-ish to the game doesn't really qulify me, in my book anyway. Certainly happy to put forward thoughts on things I know are factual though!

Anyway, be sure to all hang around in case we need each and just think, in x years time, I am sure we will be overrun by newbies again!!

Keep up the good work team!

Dos

 

[Merovingian]

I went into Borders on Rundle Mall in Adelaide the other day, and had a quick visit to the money/investment section.

Most of the property books were shifted to one side, mostly displaying the book spines, rather than displaying the front covers. The front covers were mainly general investment books, and a couple on shares, for memory.

Obviously Borders noticed a decline in sales of property related investment books, and reshuffled the shelves accordingly. No matter...