mrd

In the 1st half of last year I said that by the end of 2006 our market would begin to take off and the West Australian market would ‘come off the boil’.

I don’t think anybody would argue that 2007 has seen the East Coast property market begin to soar while property in the the West has levelled off. When it comes to investing for your future, you will have to contend with the many competing voices and conflicting opinions. But it’s not that hard to ‘block out’ those voices and opinions when you understand that:

RESIDENTIAL real estate (unlike any other form of investment) is dominated by home owners (i.e. not investors) and everybody has to have a roof over their head.

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Foreign buyers are spending more on residential property on the Gold Coast than anywhere else in Queensland, according to research conducted by Lynda Campbellof Colliers International.Compiled by Colliers’ Gold Coast office, the report indicates that of the $547.7 million spent in Queensland by foreigners in the last financial year, the Gold Coast represented $269.2 million, or 49% of the total. Brisbane City followed in second place, receiving $111.8 million,while Cairns replaced Noosa for third place.

Source: ITP – Matusik Report, www.apr.com.au, 17 December 2007

THE Gold Coast needs more than 100 new houses a week to cope with its huge population growth.

The city’s population increased by 17,374 people in 2006.

Between now and 2011, when the city is expected to hit 643,000, about 55,000 people — roughly equivalent to the population of Mackay — will have been be added to the Coast.

To deal with the massive population boom, the Gold Coast needs 133 new homes a week, according to a new report by real estate agency chain PRDnationwide’s corporate office.

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Friday 20th July 2007 was an exciting day at Robina. The Federal Minister for Vocational & Further Education, the Hon. Andrew Robb AO MP turned the first sod of soil on the new Scottsdale Drive site for the Australian Technical College – Gold Coast. This College is part of a National Federal Government initiative to establish 28 such facilities around Australia to assist and support trades training for the youth of Australia.

This $10 million investment further indicates the appeal of Robina as a major Commercial hub in South East Queensland’s development.

Source: Robina Land Corp

When Peter Beattie said last week that if Australia’s capital was chosen now Brisbane would be the winner, plenty of Sydneysiders probably sniggered.

After all, Sydney snobbery still leads us to think of Brisbane as just a big country town. But those who know something about property investing share the Queensland Premier’s enthusiasm.PRDnationwide Research says south-east Queensland’s population growth – about 55,000 new arrivals a year – has led to a shortage of houses in inner-city Brisbane that should see prices continue to rise.

“Since January 1 this year, house prices have risen about 10 per cent across the board,” says Kyle Woodbine, principal of Ray White Wynnum-Manly in the bayside suburb east of the city. “We are in a mini-boom.”
According to the Real Estate Institute of Queensland, the housing shortage is good news. “Investors are returning to the market because, with upward pressure on rent they have expectations of a better return compared to what was achievable in the past,” says the institute’s managing director, Dan Molloy.

Capital growth has been strong all along the Gold Coast, with several suburbs topping 10 per cent a year for the past five years and Beenleigh and Eagleby bettering 20 per cent.

But according to the institute, north Queensland had the strongest growth last year, due to a mining boom led by high international prices for resources. House prices at Mt Isa leapt 34.2 per cent, Rockhampton was up 32.6 per cent, Emerald rose 30 per cent, Mackay increased 19.4 per cent and Cairns 13.6 per cent.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

Housing affordability is the barbecue stopper of today. Or, at least it would be if inner-city residents had the space for a camp stove, and if outer-suburban families had the time to spend around the turbo six-burner that drove them into mortgage distress and a third job.

More experts believe Australia is moving into a post-mortgage era. The future, they say, is more European, with greater numbers of long-term renters spending their lives as tenants.

As they gather momentum, it’s clear the great Australian dream is entering the twilight zone. “The horse has bolted on home ownership.” That comment was made by Julian Disney, chairman of the National Affordable Housing Summit. But the same words were used by someone at the other end of the spectrum, Macquarie Bank’s interest rate strategist, Rory Robertson: “The horse has bolted and there’s no getting it back”.

“Renting your home and staying flexible does wonders for your chances of always finding an interesting job,” the report concluded. Disney agrees that the need for mobility – “which will become more and more important with globalisation” – is just one of the many reasons why “renting will be crucial in this debate”.

And the contagion has spread: what was once confined to Sydney is now felt countrywide. For instance, the Matusik affordability index shows that an average income earner in Brisbane can only afford 7 per cent of the housing in Brisbane (down from 74 per cent five years ago). It’s not just a problem for the mortgage belt. This week, Australia’s rental vacancy rate fell to the lowest level in 40 years – 1.36 per cent – leading to an even-tighter rental market and higher rents.

Source: afr.com

SOUTHERN Cross University is set to establish the country’s first cross-border campus, with plans to build an initial $20 million campus next to the Gold Coast Airport.After an unsuccessful bid to gain approval for expansion of its overflowing Tweed Heads campus, the university’s vice- chancellor, Professor Paul Clark, has been given the green light to pursue the cross-border project.

“This is an exciting prospect for the university,” he said. “The buildings are only a starting point. The site location is ideal for growth and expansion down the track and the transport infrastructure will be a major attraction for students with the Tugun bypass and rail link.”

The southern Gold Coast and Tweed are expected to cash in on the economic bonanza with the campus uniquely straddling the NSW and Queensland border, making it the first of its kind in Australia.

More than 14,000 students attend Southern Cross University campuses across northern NSW and many of them travel from the Gold Coast to study in niche courses, with the university boasting one of the best marine science centres in Australia.

Source: Gold Coast Bulletin

SYDNEY is in the grip of a second property crisis with the supply of new houses falling to levels not seen since 1975 and research forecasting rents to rise by as much as 40 per cent within two years.The results of a study, by BIS Shrapnel, has shown construction of new homes in Sydney has hit an historical low, rivalled only by the slump of the mid 70s.

Coupled with housing affordability, low to middle income earners are being warned that prices are likely to spike again within four years with “steep price increases”.

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QUEENSLAND’S love affair with poker machines is set to wane but an unrelenting population boom will continue to boost State Government coffers.

Interstate and overseas migration is tipped to continue unabated this financial year, delivering a tax bonanza through increased stamp duties, payroll and land taxes and fuelling hopes for tax cuts.

Acting Premier Anna Bligh yesterday released the mid-year review of the Budget, which revealed Queensland was growing at nearly twice the rate of the rest of the nation. Queensland’s growth is now expected to hit 4.75 per cent, nearly double the national rate of 2.5 per cent.

Source: Courier Mail

The latest Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) rental vacancy figures confirm that Queensland’s rental market is in crisis.

The REIQ September quarter figures show people across the state – from the inner and outer suburbs of Brisbane, Maryborough and Gladstone to the southern Darling Downs, Townsville and Rockhampton – are struggling to find rental accommodation.

“With an additional 1,200 people coming to the Sunshine State from interstate or overseas every week, there are simply not enough houses to accommodate everyone,” Mr McGrath said.

“Demand is one of the key drivers of higher rents and this trend is likely to continue with Queensland’s population and resources boom not showing any signs of abating.”