Empower Blog Property & Financial Investment

“NETTELS” Grow Property Values

Intrigued by the headline? - What are NETTELS? Well it is the new demographic term used for higher income earners with kids yet no time, as termed in a recent article I read written by Bernard Salt. So what does the abbreviation NETTELS stands for? Not Enough Time to Enjoy Life. They are aged between 30 & 49 years of age and both work full tim...

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‘Mixed Economic Messages – Is this a V Shaped Recovery or a Hidden W for equity markets

Economic forecasting is ‘Rocket Science’ which is my way of saying that the forecasters and experts don’t always get it right.  Take for example the latest forecasts below from three major banks, who all have access to the same data and most likely same resources, yet their cash rate forecast for the next 12 months are significantly differen...

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RBA Rates Decision – November 2009

The Reserve Bank has lifted interest rates by another 0.25% in November as they move to more sustainable cash rate levels, believing we are past the worst of the Global Financial Crisis.  The RBA believes the Australian economy has weathered the global storm well, and will be one of only a few countries that will to lead the rest of the developed ...

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Laziness Costing Borrowers

Last month saw Infochoice release their first quarterly cost-of-banking research report.  It claimed borrowers are throwing away billions of dollars to the major lenders because they are paying interest rates that are too high on their mortgages. We agree, and as interest rates start moving higher and it hits the hip pocket, it is important to kn...

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Cash Flow You Didn’t Know You Had…..

The management of cash flow and the provisioning for future cash flow is critical in helping to build a long term wealth base. There is no benefit in buying real estate and not being able to hold onto it for a traditional full value cycle, because the entry, holding and exit fees are usually high, so you are reliant on the value to compound signifi...

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The Affordability Question

Most people will agree it has done its job of getting more home buyers into the market and the follow on effect will be a mini-construction boom, once the land titles are registered and the new homes are under construction. Couple this with record low interest rates and it’s only natural that a spike in sales and demand would lead to price val...

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Home Prices on the UP & UP!

Australian home prices grew by 3.7% in the September quarter - the highest quarterly growth seen in six years, are the results being reported in Australian Property Monitors – Septembers Quarterly House Price Series Melbourne led the country with a 6.1 per cent increase over the June quarter.  The average house price in Melbourne was $487,249...

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RBA Rates Decision – October 2009

The Reserve Bank has lifted interest rates by 0.25% from their historical 40 year lows, due to rebounding economic outlook and change in sentiment.  The RBA believes we are past the worst of the economic downturn, yet the historically low rates were originally implemented with the view that the economy and unemployment were going to get worse than...

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Buy now or wait ‘til Post First Home Owners go?

The evidence is in, property prices are on the rise, as I predicted at the start of the year. Demand, due to low interest rates, improved affordability and the First Home Owners (FHO) Scheme’s has lead to a recovery in the price of residential property. Yet the big question is will they been sustainable or will demand drop off post FHO’s? Well ...

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Owners Corporations…..

Body Corps’ as they used to be known are important entities with important responsibilities. The Owners Corporations Act 2006 [the Act] commenced on 31 December 2007. The new regulatory regime aims to improve transparency and financial accountability in the management of owners’ corporations, as well as new dispute resolution provisions. ...

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Lender Mortgage Insurance Prices to Increase by up to 20%

This is terrible news for those looking to get into the market for buyers looking to borrow greater than 80% of the value of the property.  Our two mortgage insurers, who work in conjunction with all lenders by insuring the borrower as a risk to the lender, are increasing this Mortgage Insurance premium to the lenders.  There is already evidence ...

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‘Time is Profit’

Last month I wrote about how timing of a purchase was not so critical if you have a long term view of your investment property and you bought in a sound location, such as a major city like Melbourne close the major employment centre. This month I am focusing on the message that time is profit when it comes to the capital growth measure for property...

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State of the Property Market – Melbourne & Sydney

Congratulations to those holding property anywhere where the majority of sales are occurring via Auction, because your house or unit value is on the rise. Based on Property Market Activity its going to run pretty hard for the next 3 months, until interest rates increase from these record lows and market sentiment for property declines, but this is ...

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