Dear Fellow Property Investor,
Australian home prices have surged to new heights in October, marking the 22nd consecutive month of growth despite ongoing affordability challenges.
National home prices increased by 0.26 per cent in October, with the combined capital cities now up 5.85 per cent over the past year.
Melbourne emerged as the strongest performer among capital cities, with prices jumping 0.49 per cent after six months of decline.
REA Group Senior Economist, Eleanor Creagh said price falls have started to reverse in Melbourne, with buyers out in force for the peak of spring selling season.
Here are some of Melbourne’s best performing suburbs in the September quarter of 2024;
Interested in getting educated on Australian property investing?
Reserve your place and join me and 55 like-minded property investors for the final Real Estate Investing Fast Track Weekend for 2024!
Click HERE to reserve your seat now!
Dear Fellow Property Investors,
Victorian government's stamp duty cuts on off-the-plan apartments, units, and townhouses offer significant savings for property buyers. Learn more about eligibility, how to benefit, and why now is the prime time to buy with these expanded concessions.
In a significant policy move aimed at stimulating the property market, the Victorian government has announced a major reduction in stamp duty for off-the-plan apartments, units, and townhouses.
Effective from October 21, 2024, the expanded concessions will apply to all eligible off-the-plan purchases and will remain in place for one year.
This initiative, designed to address the state’s housing affordability crisis, opens a window of opportunity for prospective buyers, particularly investors and owner-occupiers, to secure substantial stamp duty savings.
Key Changes to Stamp Duty Concessions;
Previously, stamp duty on off-the-plan purchases was calculated based on the total price of the property, including the construction value. Under the new scheme, stamp duty will be calculated solely on the land value before construction begins. This shift in policy significantly reduces the financial burden for buyers, particularly in metropolitan areas where property prices continue to rise.
For example, a Victorian purchasing an off-the-plan apartment valued at $620,000, with the land component valued at $77,500, will now pay just $4,000 in stamp duty—down from $32,000. This $28,000 saving represents a significant reduction in upfront costs for property buyers, potentially unlocking the market for a wider demographic.
The changes also eliminate the previous cap on concessions, expanding eligibility beyond first-home buyers to include any purchaser of off-the-plan apartments, units, or townhouses within a strata subdivision.
Who Benefits from the Scheme?
The new stamp duty concessions are aimed at boosting sales in Victoria’s off-the-plan sector, which has been slowing due to high taxes and market uncertainty. The scheme covers properties that are part of a strata subdivision. However, it excludes house and land packages or dwellings not part of a strata subdivision.
Existing concessions for first home buyers remain unchanged. Homes valued up to $600,000 will continue to benefit from full stamp duty exemptions, and concessions apply to properties valued up to $750,000.
A Limited-Time Opportunity for Buyers
The stamp duty concession is a time-sensitive initiative, with the expanded benefits available only until October 21, 2025. Buyers who are considering entering the market are urged to act promptly to take advantage of the scheme, as the concession will revert to its previous structure after this period.
For developments currently under construction, buyers are also eligible for reduced stamp duty, although the exact savings will depend on how much of the construction has been completed at the time of purchase.
What Buyers Need to Know;
For those interested in purchasing an off-the-plan property, feel free to contact Konrad Bobilak CEO of www.investorsprime.com.au via
Summary of Eligibility:
Interested in getting educated on Australian property investing?
Reserve your place and join me and 55 like-minded property investors for the final Real Estate Investing Fast Track Weekend for 2024!
Click HERE to reserve your seat now!
Richard Swanson faced a tough choice: sell the South Yarra investment property he had owned for six years for a loss, or hold on and hope it recovered in value.
He chose to hold. That was five years ago and since then prices have only fallen further. After about 11 years, he has just sold the apartment for $156,000 less than he paid.
This is the puzzle at the heart of Melbourne’s housing affordability crisis: property prices have soared over the long term, but not for all properties. There aren’t enough homes, but there are too many of the wrong type of home. Young families have increasingly been locked out of home ownership, but there are few willing buyers for well-located, entry-priced apartments.
The Victorian government this week unveiled fresh plans to increase housing density in areas close to transport and amenities, along with a range of proposals to unlock land in the outer suburbs, speed up subdivisions and offer relief on stamp duty to address affordability.
Of the 25 new activity centres, eight are in the City of Stonnington, one of the most desirable areas to live in Melbourne.
And yet, that puzzle: of the homes that sold in Stonnington in the June quarter, 25.8 per cent traded at a loss, figures from research firm CoreLogic show. Stonnington runs second to the Melbourne City Council area, where 39 per cent lost money.
Split by property type, 32.4 per cent of Stonnington apartments that sold in the June quarter lost money. Only 2.1 per cent of houses met the same fate.
Since nearly one in three apartment sellers in Stonnington are losing money, stories like Swanson’s are not unusual, even if many owners are reluctant to speak publicly.
The Beechworth-based public servant, 63, and his wife bought their two-bedroom apartment off the plan about 11 years ago for $691,000. They will settle to the new buyer on Monday for $535,000.
Taking into account holding costs, he estimates conservatively they have lost $200,000.
The property is near South Yarra train station, where a cluster of high-density apartment blocks have been built. It was rented out but the tenant relocated after the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Then the apartment was competing for tenants with its similar neighbours.
Once interest rates jumped, the rent no longer covered the mortgage repayments. Then the Victorian government increased land tax on second home owners.
“It’s a lovely apartment in a lovely complex where we are in South Yarra but what we weren’t aware of is at the same time, there was a lot of other developers who were also building lots of apartments,” Swanson said.
“I think the apartment market is overcrowded. I know there’s a lot of people needing rental accommodation … it’s a catch-22 in a way.”
He sold through Woodards South Yarra, which handles sales of a mix of properties, from apartment towers and art deco unit blocks to multimillion-dollar houses. Director Luke Piccolo says large two-bedroom boutique apartments can cost close to $2 million.
There are much more affordable options in the Forest Hill precinct near the train station, where some towers have had cladding issues, water issues, or lesser-quality builds.
Buyers could associate some of these homes with uncertainty and risk if they had heard they might have to pay for cladding repair or they might face a drop in value, Piccolo said.
“Some first home buyers have bought a one-bedroom apartment for $450,000 to $500,000 and it’s now worth in the high $300,000s or $350,000,” he said.
“Losing $100,000 on your first purchase sets people back a long way, a very long way.”
Interested in getting educated on Australian property investing?
Reserve your place and join me and 55 like-minded property investors for the final Real Estate Investing Fast Track Weekend for 2024!
Click HERE to reserve your seat now!
Dear Fellow Property Investor,
Australia’s housing market has had a mixed start to spring, but PropTrack data has revealed a number of suburbs around the country that have seen massive growth over the past 12 months.
The data looked at Melbourne suburbs with at least 100 sales for the year, revealing that some areas had experienced boom-like growth cycles.
Melbourne’s housing market shows resilience with significant growth in suburbs like Ivanhoe, Diamond Creek, and Coburg North. Ivanhoe leads the housing growth, while Blackburn, Box Hill, and Surrey Hills witness strong unit growth driven by overseas interest and skilled migrants.
Melbourne’s market has faced unique challenges, including unfavourable investment taxation and changes to tenancy laws making investment properties less attractive.
Leading house price growth over the last 12 months was Ivanhoe (17.3 per cent), Diamond Creek (13.2 per cent) and Coburg North (12.8 per cent).
Blackburn (22.1 per cent), Box Hill (11.1 per cent) and Surrey Hills (11 per cent), led unit growth.
“With higher interest rates, we’ve seen sales at higher price points and a higher turnover in the top quartile.
“With units, Blackburn, Box Hill, and Surrey Hills have all seen significant overseas interest, especially since the Covid lockdowns – skilled migrants have been arriving in these areas and the hospital precinct.“
So let me ask you a question…
Do you have a game plan for 2024?
Or will you watch savvy, educated, market-ready investors snap up all the bargains at the recovery phase of the Melbourne property cycle (which, in my opinion, is RIGHT NOW!)
Or, will you join them?
The choice is yours!
So, what are you waiting for?
Reserve your place and join me and 55 like-minded property investors for the first Real Estate Investing Fast Track Weekend for 2024!
Click HERE to reserve your seat now!
Dear Fellow Property Investor,
They say a picture can be worth a thousand words….
Check out the latest HTW Australian National Property Clock for Melbourne!
That’s right, Melbourne has been slowly moving though the bottom of the housing market property cycle and is now in the best possible section of the property clock – 8:00 o’clock, moving onto 9:00 o’clock which coincides with the BOOM phase!
The BOOM phase starts at 9:00 o’clock and peaks at 12:00 o’clock…
Remember…
You will ONLY get one opportunity like this every 10 years!
So let me ask you a question…
Do you have a game plan for 2024?
Or will you watch savvy, educated, market-ready investors snap up all the bargains at the recovery phase of the Melbourne property cycle (which, in my opinion, is RIGHT NOW!)
Or, will you join them?
The choice is yours!
So, what are you waiting for?
Reserve your place and join me and 55 like-minded property investors for the last Real Estate Investing Fast Track Weekend for 2024!
Click HERE to reserve your seat now!
Dear Fellow Property Investor,
Sydney has long been Australia’s most expensive city for homebuyers, but the price difference between Sydney and Melbourne has reached unprecedented levels.
PropTrack’s Eleonor Creagh said that as of August, Sydney’s median house price is 70% higher than Melbourne’s, with Melbourne homes now 41% cheaper – a $600,000 difference, marking the largest price gap in 20 years.
Housing supply and land constraints drive Sydney’s premium.
One significant factor behind Sydney’s rising premium is its constrained land supply.
Sydney’s natural features, including its harbor and surrounding national parks, limit the availability of developable land. In contrast, Melbourne has seen a higher rate of new home completions per capita.
Over the past decade, Victoria averaged 9.5 new dwellings per 1,000 residents per year, compared to just seven in New South Wales, PropTrack reported.
Higher building costs in Sydney
A recent report by The Centre for International Economics (CIE) also highlighted Sydney’s higher construction costs. Red tape, taxes, and other fees make building new homes in Sydney more expensive, with 50% of these costs tied to such charges, compared to 37% in Melbourne.
“Waterfront properties and international appeal have kept Sydney’s market strong,” Creagh said.
Melbourne’s market struggles post-pandemic
Melbourne has lagged behind other cities since the COVID-19 pandemic, losing population and experiencing less dramatic price increases than other Australian capitals.
Since March 2020, Melbourne has been the weakest performing capital, with house prices still 4.7% below their peak. The city has even dropped to fourth place among Australia’s most expensive capitals, with Brisbane and Canberra surpassing it.
Investor confidence declines in Victoria
Several factors are contributing to Melbourne’s continued underperformance.
Higher land taxes for investment properties have made Melbourne less attractive to investors, while stock levels remain high. In July, Melbourne listings were the highest since November 2018, providing buyers with plenty of choices.
The future of the Sydney-Melbourne divide
Looking ahead, Melbourne’s housing market is expected to remain subdued compared to Sydney, Creagh said.
The combination of a high inventory of homes and softer economic conditions may cause Melbourne prices to fall further. However, as Melbourne houses become more affordable, the price gap could eventually narrow.
While Sydney’s geographic limitations and global appeal may ensure it retains a price premium, the historic price swing may make Melbourne more appealing in the future.
“At some point, Melbourne may be seen as undervalued, given its current price levels relative to Sydney,” Creagh said.
Let me ask you something…
Do you have a game plan for 2024?
Or will you watch savvy, educated, market-ready investors snap up all the bargains at the bottom of the Melbourne property cycle (which, in my opinion, already bottomed out in November 2022), again?
Or, will you join them?
So, what are you waiting for?
Reserve your place and join me and 55 like-minded property investors for the last Real Estate Investing Fast Track Weekend for 2024!
Click HERE to reserve your seat now!
Dear Fellow Property Investor,
Melbourne homeowners are set for an up to $55,000 windfall that could usher in record house prices in the next year.
New PropTrack estimates have tipped the city for 3 per cent to 6 per cent home value growth, the biggest uplift in the past two years after multiple interest rate hikes since May 2022 put the Victorian capital’s housing market in the doldrums.
For Melbourne’s $921,000 median house price, the growth would mean a $27,630-$55,260 surge.
It would also add $18,500-$37,020 to the city’s $617,000 typical unit.
At the upper end of the forecast, the city’s home values would rise more than seven times the 0.8 per cent uptick they recorded this financial year.
PropTrack economic research director Cameron Kusher said Melbourne buyers have had more choice in stock than other states and the city was becoming more attractive to buyers due to its affordability.
“It’s the first time Brisbane is back in line with Melbourne in terms of affordability and the gap (of affordability) between Sydney and Melbourne, it’s one of the largest on record,” Mr Kusher said. “Although Victoria is still seeing a slightly greater loss of people to other states than it is gaining, housing affordability will drive people to want to come to Victoria.
“If you want to build your career you want to be in Sydney or Melbourne.”
Despite the scope for price rises, Mr Kusher said with the new financial year looming there were positive signs for buyers ahead.
“With the tax cuts coming next week we will see buyers borrowing capacity increase and then provided that we have interest rate cuts as well at some point, Melbourne will start looking more affordable and attractive,” he said.
“The state government in Victoria is still seeing investors selling out of the market which is creating space for first home buyers.
“It’s getting more expensive to rent and there is a lot of stock on the market.”
Ray White Craigieburn auctioneer and sales consultant Trish Orrico said 50 per cent of her sales lately had been landlords selling up due to tax hikes for investors, with first home buyers snapping up the residences.
“While these projected figures are positive, we shouldn’t be making assumptions on the property market, we don’t have a crystal ball,” Ms Orrico said.
“The market is the market we are guided by things that are happening within the economy now.”
The analysis from PropTrack revealed national home prices are expected to rise by up to 5 per cent in the new financial year in line with slowing price growth forecast for several capital cities, though more substantial price growth is still possible in Sydney as well as Melbourne.
Let me ask you something…
Do you have a game plan for 2024?
Or will you watch savvy, educated, market-ready investors snap up all the bargains at the bottom of the Melbourne property cycle (which, in my opinion, already bottomed out in November 2022), again?
Or, will you join them?
So, what are you waiting for?
Reserve your place and join me and 55 like-minded property investors for the first Real Estate Investing Fast Track Weekend for 2024!
Click HERE to reserve your seat now!
Did you know that Property Investors are swallowing up even more of the housing market?
In Australian politics there are relatively few issues outside of foreign policy that the two major parties can agree on. But there is one issue where both sides ostensibly agree: greater levels of home ownership.
In the run up to the last federal election, then Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese promised that a Labor government would help people achieve the “great Australian dream of home ownership”.
“For too long Australians who have worked hard have been locked out of the housing market by flat wages and rising prices, unable to even get a foot in the door let alone a roof over their heads,” Albanese said.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton shared similar views on home ownership with the press late last year: “the best way to empower Australians — to make them masters of their fate — is through home ownership.”
The leaders of the major parties sharing this view on home ownership is nothing new. Over 70 years ago there were debates in federal parliament not too dissimilar from todays, in which the leaders of the Coalition and Labor made their case on which party would do a better job building more new homes and getting more Australians into homes of their own.
Rhetoric collides with reality
The peak rate of home ownership was recorded 57 years ago as part of the 1966 census, at which time 73 per cent of households owned homes. More recently, the Australian Institute Of Health and Welfare (AIHW) recorded a home ownership rate of 71.4 per cent in 1995. As of the latest data from the 2021 census, the home ownership rate has dropped to 66 per cent.
This raises an uncomfortable question for the nation’s leaders. After spending more than $20.5 billion on grants, concessions and other cash grants to first home buyers in the decade to 2021, home ownership rates have not risen, but instead have continued to decline.
Solely based on the decline in the proportion of households who own homes, there around 560,000 households who are renting today who would have otherwise been homeowners if the home ownership rate remained as it was in 1995.
Rise and rise
Despite rising levels of home ownership being the stated priority of both the major parties their policies have achieved the polar opposite. The AIHW data instead illustrates a very different trend: the rise of the property investor.
In 1995, 18.4 per cent of households rented from a private landlord. As of 2020, 26.2 per cent rented from a private landlord and this is arguably somewhat distorted lower by the snapshot being taken during the pandemic.
If we extrapolate that on to the current number of households as determined by the ABS, private landlords have roughly 810,000 more tenant households today than they would have if the ratio of private landlord held housing to overall housing stock remained the same as 1995.
Today’s market
According to data from the ABS, over the last 12 months 33.4 per cent of new mortgages for existing properties have flowed to property investors. In terms of new mortgages overall including construction loans and brand-new properties, that figure rises to 34.3 per cent.
By dollar value the proportion of mortgage lending flowing to investors recently hit the highest level since 2017, hitting a share of 36.2 per cent of all new housing finance.
With investors holding 26.2 per cent of occupied housing stock, this level of activity implies a growing proportion of the nation’s housing stock once more flowing to investors, unless otherwise offset by a much greater proportion of owner occupiers making fully cash purchases or investors selling out of the market at a greater rate than they are buying in.
Which raises the big question in all of this, how is the home ownership rate going to rise when the current set of incentives and policies have delivered 25 years of strong growth in the proportion of investor held housing stock instead?
Aspiration nation
Both of the major parties like to paint themselves as the standard bearers for aspirational Australians, of folks who are trying to get ahead. But the simple reality is recipe for success is not what it once was.
In decades past, a household could work hard within the reality of their circumstances and work their way up to a median or well above median household income, then be able to purchase a home that reflected that.
In 1999, a household in the 80th percentile for income (higher than 80% of households), could purchase a home that was valued in the 80th percentile. Meanwhile the median earning household could purchase the median house. This is based a household having a 20 per cent deposit, additional cash for stamp duty and spending 25 per cent of gross income on the mortgage.
Today the median earning household can only afford 13 per cent of homes and even more affluent households in the 80th percentile are now competing for median priced homes. In states like NSW and Victoria its even worse. In NSW, households in the 80th percentile can only afford 1/3 of homes, while in Victoria less than half are affordable for these more affluent households.
Reality check
Both Labor and the Coalition speak of hard work and the importance of home ownership, yet neither has the makings of a credible plan that would see home ownership rates increase back toward levels seen in the mid-1990s, let alone the all-time peak.
It was once said that doing the same thing again and again, and expecting a different result was the definition of insanity. After spending over $20 billion on first homebuyer support mechanisms over the past decade and actually lowering the home ownership rate during that time, it’s clear a different strategy is needed.
Ultimately, where we go from here is in the hands of the electorate. For decades political leaders have talked the talk on home ownership, then failed to walk the walk. Up until now that arguably hasn’t had a major political downside for the major parties, but with the issue of housing fast becoming one of the hottest in Canberra and around dining tables, one wonders if that will change.
Dear Fellow Property Investor,
With property prices reaching record highs across the country, the humble home has become the main breadwinner in many households. In certain suburbs, homes are earning multiple times the average wage.
National property prices hit new record highs in February, up 6.15% compared to a year ago, the fastest annual rise since July 2022, according to PropTrack.
For hundreds of thousands of Australians, that growth means their homes may have generated more income than their own salaries over the past year.
New analysis has used PropTrack's automation valuation model (AVM) to reveal the suburbs around the country where the median property price has grown by more than the average Australian wage.
According to ABS data released in February, the gross weekly ordinary time earnings for full-time adults was $1,888.80 in November 2023, which translates to average annual earnings of $98,218. Given the family home is exempt from the capital gains tax, an increase in value stretches even further than the average annual wage on a dollar-for-dollar basis.
Almost 900 suburbs around the country saw their median property price grow by more than $98,218 in the year to February.
The suburbs that saw the steepest hikes in value were the premium pockets in capital cities, which is unsurprising according to PropTrack senior economist Paul Ryan.
"In exclusive suburbs the same percentage increase will lead to a larger increase in terms of dollar value. And remember too, some of those premium suburbs saw quite sharp reductions in prices in 2022 so this is prices snapping back."
But solid price growth also happened in more affordable areas, Mr Ryan added.
"Over the past year or so, we've seen even and consistent growth within cities. While we're still seeing strong demand and strong growth in premium suburbs, this is happening in more affordable suburbs too."
Melbourne property prices grew by a relatively modest 1.33% over the year, but in the exclusive inner-Melbourne suburbs of Toorak and South Yarra, houses gained $237,486 and $136,311 respectively.
Here are the suburbs in Melbourne where properties have earned the most this past year:
Let me ask you something…
Do you have a game plan for 2024?
Or will you watch savvy, educated, market-ready investors snap up all the bargains at the bottom of the Melbourne property cycle (which, in my opinion, already bottomed out in November 2022), again?
Or, will you join them?
So, what are you waiting for?
Reserve your place and join me and 55 like-minded property investors for the first Real Estate Investing Fast Track Weekend for 2024!
Click HERE to reserve your seat now!
Interested in learning more about property investing in Australia? Please visit our main website InvestorsPrime.com.au for loads of free resources, articles, videos and more to help you on your investing journey.