I wrote an article recently wherein I summed up how fee and taxes (please include Stamp Duty too) are among the prime buying concerns today. Well! I assume this article then will have its fair share of readers. While you can always claim a few tax benefits as a real estate investor, you should be ready to pay a few taxes just as well (I guess more than a few).
Tracey's Property News
What You Need To Know About Responsibilities Of A Landlord
The role of the landlord begins once your owner-occupier or investment property goes in the hand of tenants and ends when – Well! It never really ends. As a landlord you are expected to comply with guidelines provided by the State, not to mention the need to strictly adhere to various laws.
Houses And Units Engage In A Keen Tussle
There is something really nice going for the unit apartments but for the moment they will have to contend with the fact that detached houses have outperformed them. Data furnished by the Property Pulse (RP Data) exhibits that detached houses have grown in value by 8.2% in comparison to units’ value growth of 5.9% (over 12 months to October 2013). An article on the website Real Estate Business observes the occurrences.
Detached houses have a big asset on their side- the value of underlying land, something which is clearly not the case with units. This being said, five-year figures in recent past have shown a keen tussle between the two types of dwellings.
In fact, the statistics pertaining to growth in values for November 2008-November 2013 suggests that units (4.0% p.a) had outstripped detached houses (3.7% p.a) by 0.3%. Having said this, it merits a mention that detached houses had outperformed units in both the previous five year phases; 1998-2003 and 2003-2008.
In coming times, units may become more prominent, especially as affordability becomes a big question mark for detached houses and CBD-centric urban living becomes more desirable.
You can read the original article here.
Do you think changes to the strata by laws may affect older units?
Sydney Market Peaks: Value Growth Slumps In November
Prolifically growing property markets of Sydney and Melbourne have steadied in the month of November. Experts think it is nothing unusual and these high-performing capital cities may just have peaked. An article on the website Real Estate Business observes the trend.
Compared to the annual value growth rate of 12.5%, Sydney has recorded 0.9% growth in November. This however does not imply that the “cynosure” city will not witness further growth. It is just that we may not find those really big numbers for Sydney for some time, now that it has apparently peaked.
You can read the original article here.
Cash Rate Hike May Succeed Spurt In Fixed Rates
Venessa Paech, in an article for the website realestate.com.au, observes how fixed rates have picked up over the last couple of months. More than 50% of four year and five year fixed rate loans have witnessed a hike. Nearly one-third of three year fixed rate loans have also seen an upward adjustment. Interestingly, one year fixed rate loans have held their ground or have even fallen by whiskers.
Such adjustments are likely to precede cash rate hikes. Buyers are advised to see the larger picture and budget for interest rate hikes when they calculate their mortgage liabilities. Paech gives an instance where she says that a hike of one basis point (0.25% percentage point) can increase the monthly mortgage by $45 for a $300,000 home loan.
You can read the original article here.
Do you think splitting the loan liability between “fixed rate” and “variable rate” can work better?
NSW Boosts New Dwelling Construction Figures
New dwelling constructions have got a shot in their arm, thanks largely to NSW and WA. At a time when chronic housing shortage is a topic for heated debates, an 11% hike in dwelling constructions nationwide is surely a cause for celebration. Venessa Paech for the website realestate.com.au observes the trend.
We will however do well, says Paech, not to jump to erroneous conclusions. Truth be told, the whole nation is not displaying momentum. In fact, if you leave out NSW and WA, the remaining parts of the country have together exhibited only 1% spurt in new constructions. NSW’s figures (31% growth) compensates for the overall weak performance considerably.
You can read the original article here.
By when do you think we will have enough houses to meet the chronic shortage (especially in capital cities)?
