Weekend reads – Must read articles from the last week
There are more interesting articles, commentaries and analyst reports on the Web every week than anyone could read in a month.
Each Saturday morning I like to share some of the ones I’ve read during the week.
The weekend will be over before you know it, so enjoy some weekend reading.
Property outlook 2020: Australia’s property market set to keep rising but will peter out mid-year, experts say
What can we expect from property this year?
This article from Domain.com.au presents the 2020 outlooks.
The Australian property market looks set to keep rising in 2020, experts say, but price gains could peter out by mid-year if a new affordability problem emerges.
Last year ended on a remarkable high after the fastest turnaround in history with soaring prices and high clearance rates. Sellers and buyers can expect more of the same for at least the first six months of the new year.
The market will continue to be buoyed by lower interest rates and improved lending conditions but the state of the national economy could slow the pace of gains.
Sydney and Melbourne
Sydney and Melbourne will continue to lead the recovery in 2020, according to Ray White NSW chief executive Jason Andrew.
“We’re seeing phenomenal activity right across Sydney but even into the summer … the results are flowing on quite incredibly,” Mr Andrew said. “We see no reason for that slowing down into the new year.”
He said Melbourne is mirroring the harbour city but it is not as strong a rebound.
“[Sydney and Melbourne] prices haven’t rebounded back [to] previous heights and I can see them rolling into next year with people confident they aren’t over-paying.”
Mr Andrew said the second half could also yield strong results if more homes are not added to the market in winter.
“It might continue that momentum; then we might be in for a fabulous 2020 … [or] it might just be an okay winter and plateau towards the end of the year.”
But AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver said the two cities’ price growth would moderate in the latter half of the year as they are on track to hit all time highs on the current trajectory.
Foreign investors have been given the green light to buy more than $100 billion worth of Victorian homes over the past decade.
Since the 2009 financial year, the Foreign Investment Review Board has approved almost 70,000 Victorian property sales to offshore buyers — the majority to buyers in China and the US.
These accounted for a whopping $146.36 billion worth of commercial and residential property across the state.
Of this, more than $107 billion was for homes and housing development sites.
Figures for the 2018-19 financial year are yet to be disclosed. But even half the $12.8 billion spent in the prior 12 months would be enough to tip the state’s total international property investment for the decade past the $150 billion mark.
Victoria has remained foreign homebuyers’ state of choice for years, accounting for 46 per cent of the authorised residential purchases Australia-wide in the most recent financial year documented by FIRB.
New South Wales came next, at 23 per cent.
Realestate.com.au chief economist Nerida Conisbee said the “unprecedented” demand — particularly from China — had been “a good thing, in that it led to increased (housing) supply”.
“But it probably went a little bit too far,” she said.
International investment for homes is now limited to new builds, and has consistently fallen since 2016.
Ms Conisbee warned local developers and investors would soon need to fill the gap left by international money, in order to keep house prices and rents from spiking.
Morrell and Koren buyers advocate David Morrell said FIRB going after offshore buyers who breached rules that prevented them from buying established homes had caused noticeable change at the top end of Melbourne’s property market.
The suggestion comes as the latest New South Wales building approval numbers reveal the state isn’t building anywhere near enough houses to satisfy demand.
Property developer group Urban Taskforce said it should come as alarming news for the state.
“The approvals numbers released by the ABS today show a welcome improvement in the approval rate for residential apartments. But the number of houses approved was the lowest in a single month since August 2013,” CEO Tom Forrest said in a release.
That’s well below the building levels laid out by the Greater Sydney Commission (GSC) and the New South Wales government.
“In order to reach the new housing target of 36,000 housing completions each year, over 60,000 approvals per year are needed to meet the GSC target. Over the past 12 months, only 50,000 approvals have been granted and today’s release consolidates that downward trend.”
The shortfall ranks the state well behind Victoria and, according to Forrest, “can mean only one thing: prices [will] go up”.
Australian house building approvals (ABS Data, Urban Taskforce)
It echoes a warning made last year by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) that Australia wasn’t building enough homes for the future.
“Demand will continue to grow given population growth but supply is going to decline. So there is quite likely to be a shortfall again in the foreseeable future,” RBA deputy governor Guy Debelle said in October.
“The growth in demand without a meaningful supply response will lead to a larger price response.”
Property investors are licking their lips for the year ahead with 2020 set to deliver growth to every capital city in the country.
Of particular note is Australia’s two biggest markets in Melbourne and Sydney, which are set to record in excess of five per cent growth in housing values over the next twelve months.
A new report by fixed-free agency Upside predicts Sydney’s suburbs to regain the growth they experienced during the “boom year” of 2017.
“Property prices in Australia’s capital cities are on the rise again after a two-year slump.
Australia’s two biggest housing markets, Sydney and Melbourne, recorded quarterly growth of 6.2 percent and 6.4 percent respectively to last month, according to CoreLogic’s Hedonic Home Value Index,” says Upside founder Adam Rigby.
“Nationally, house prices surged 1.7 per cent higher over December 2019 and delivered the fifth consecutive monthly increase, coupled with the largest monthly gain in the national index since 2003.”
Mr Rigby has identified five key Sydney suburbs he believes present incredible opportunities for investors and first homebuyers alike – and they’re not all blue-chip locales.
Today viewers share inspirational moments from bushfire crisis
The devastation of the bushfire has been felt around the country and the world.
Yet it has also shown the very best in our community as seen in this article from 9now.nine.com.au
All around the country, Australians are flocking to support those affected by the bushfire crisis.
The displays of generosity have been inspiring, and Today viewers have been sharing their own beautiful interactions. Below are a few of our favourites.
A beautiful handwritten note for the tooth fairy. (Supplied)
After losing her tooth, Luci Mannix, a five-year-old girl from Melbourne, wrote a beautiful letter to the tooth fairy and offered to donate her funds to the bushfires; proving it’s not how much you give – it’s the thought behind it that counts.
Just another small act. (Supplied)
A small jewellery business in Geelong called Ernest and Joe is donating the profits of two of their jewellery pieces. The family-run business have raised more than $70,000 in about four days – and will be happily working for free to make the pieces over the coming months.
NSW residents rally around the fire-hit south coast. (Supplied)
Pauline Windley shared an inspiring photo of members of the public helping to unload private boats full of food in Bendalong on the NSW South Coast.
Centres are being overwhelmed with donations of goods and supplies and are now encouraging people to donate money over physical things.
Tim Davies and Michelle Babington Ulladulla Civic Centre Manager at the Milton showground basketball court, which is chock-full of donations (Supplied)
A florist in Bargo, NSW, has delivered flowers to every resident in Yarran Road after fire blackened the street. Nicole Maher shared an image of the touching gesture, writing: “Their gardens, lawns and plants are all gone, so this lady who has lived in Bargo for decades, delivered these to the whole street to try to bring some colour back.”
A splash of colour for a devastated street. (Supplied)
These moments come as authorities warn the short window of favourable weather condition is set to close as fire and emergency services prepare for a spike in temperatures over coming days.
Australian house building approvals (ABS Data, Urban Taskforce)
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