Thursday, September 25, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Subbies Back on Site At Raptis "Take Over Tower"
Analysist says buy Sunland over Raptis!
Monday, September 15, 2008
Market Ripe for Buying
Home buyers are being urged to move quickly, with house prices across Queensland defying predictions of big drops and poised to take off again on the back of cuts to interest rates and stamp duty.
Real Estate Institute of Queensland figures for the June quarter, released today, show the industry weathered the effects of interest rate rises and big petrol price increases.
Median prices were steady across most of the state for the three months. Some areas – including the Gold and Sunshine coasts, Townsville and Mackay – registered falls, but Brisbane, Ipswich, Moreton Bay and Redland continued to grow.
A 1 per cent rise in Brisbane took the median price to $495,000 for the quarter, overtaking the Gold Coast which had a 2.4 per cent dip tip $490,000.
“These results fly in the face of some commentators who had predicted doom and gloom and substantial price drops for property markets across the country,” REIQ chairman Peter McGrath said.
“Brisbane particularly, was an extremely pleasant surprise.”
“Considering what the consumer had to go through during that quarter – two interest rate rises and the filtering down of earlier interest increases, massive spiked in petrol prices and general negativity about the economy – the market has shown a lot of resilience.”
“It’s set a very important platform for the market to ease forward late this year as interest rates begin to come down. The message is simple: the market has bottomed in real terms, interest rates have stabilised. So if people have the financial capacity to enter the maker, now is the time to start looking to go forward.”
In the southeast Queensland the median house price for Ipswich was up 1.6 per cent to $320,000, Moreton Bay rose 0.7 per cent to $379,000 Redland was $450,000 (up 0.2 per cent) and the Sunshine Coast dipped 1.2 per cent to $464,500.
Mr McGrath said figures for the current quarter, up to the end of September, would also be flat or marginally lower due to a lag effect, but four “building blocks” were now in place for growth by year-end:
- The Reserve Bank’s decision on Tuesday to reduce the official interest rate by 0.25 per cent – the first cut in seven years.
- Major bank’s passing the cut on immediately to customers.
- The removal of stamp duty on the properties worth up to $500,000 from the start of this month should encourage first home buyers back. The proportion of first-time purchases, usually about to 20 per cent of the total, had slipped to 17 per cent.
- The flattening of prices in the June quarter had given prospective buyers some breathing space.
“They haven’t been chasing their tails with big price increases as they tried to save,” Mr McGrath said.
The continuing mining boom and strong migration, especially from overseas, to Queensland underpinned the ability to escape the big falls that had been feared.
And results for the 12 months to end of June show strong growth, with prices across most of SEQ and major regional centres climbing between 10 and 20 percent, Logan 17.5 per cent, Moreton Bay 15.6 per cent, Gold Coast 13.6 per cent and Sunshine Coast 12.3 per cent.
With superannuation funds reporting their worst losses in two decades and the share market down 25 per cent for the year, Mr McGrath said the rise in house values was impressive. In the past decade, the Queensland median house price has almost tripled from $135,000 to $390,000.
Property analyst Michael Matusik says returns on residential houses have outstripped all other major investment options over 10 years and he predicts property prices will grow 8-10 per cent per annum over the next three years.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
We are in Perth this friday!
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
STATE POPULATION TO HIT 8 MILLION
Darrell Giles
POLITICAL EDITOR
Queensland’s population is expected to double to eight million within 50 years.
New State Government figures show Queensland will continue to attract record numbers of interstate and overseas migrants and remain the nation’s economic powerhouse.
Population Projections to 2056: Queensland Statistical Divisions also reveals that our population is ageing, which will put further strain on an over-burdened health service.
Premier Anna Bligh said the data suggested more than four million people would be living in the southeast corner by 2031.
“The number of people on the Gold Coast is expected to rise from 12.7 per cent of Queensland’s population to 14.1 per cent,” Ms Bligh said.
“Significantly, while western areas of the state are expected to have small growth, Mackay’s population is expected to rise to more than 255,000.”
Ms Bligh said Queensland has seen unpredicted growth in business, infrastructure and productivity in the past decade.
And it would continue to boom.
“It’s never been a secret that Queensland is a great place to live and work,” she said.
Treasurer Andrew Fraser said Queensland’s population would increase from 4.1 million in 2006 to almost six million within 20 years and reach a milestone of eight million by 2056.
“This is a growth rate of between 2.2 per cent and 2.3 per cent each year to 2011,” Mr Fraser said. “Along with having record low unemployment levels – making the state attractive to interstate and international migrants – we are also in the midst of a baby boom.
“The number of children in Queensland is projected to increase by 33 per cent to 1.1 million.”
The number of older Queenslanders was expected to double by 2031.
Mr Fraser said the changing demographic would have implications for the make-up of the Queensland workforce.
“Both of these factors need to be taken into account when planning for the future – and the future of our workforce,” he said.
Ms Bligh said the population projections pointed to strong growth in Brisbane, although an increasing number of people wanted a “sea change” or “tree change”.
