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 interesting reading.

Chief Economist: New development suburbs bursting with homes for sale

New development suburbs are bursting with homes for sale.

This article from Realestate.com.au looks at what’s going on.

The number of people emailing real estate agents to enquire about homes for sale on realestate.com.au is up more than 70% over the past 12 months, but despite an increase in properties for sale, we are not seeing anywhere near an equivalent change in listing volumes.

With the market heating up, you would expect that the number of properties available to buy would see a comparable increase, however this is rarely the case.

There are structural factors that lead to listings slowly falling long term: people holding properties for longer, a lack of alternative options in which to invest and more people owning more than one property are just some of them.

However, a very strong market also makes sellers more hesitant, particularly those who are planning to buy another property.

While there is a relative shortage of properties available compared to the number of people who want to buy them, there are some locations where there is a lot more choice.

For houses, it is no surprise that new development areas dominated the list of top 10 suburbs with the most properties for sale in February 2021, such as Tarneit and Wollert in Melbourne, Austral, Box Hill, Leppington and Marsden Park in Sydney and Baldivis in Perth.

Read the full article here. 

Who’s in arrears?

In this Blog, Pete Wargent looks at who’s behind signs of stress in the mortgage belt.

Who’s behind?

There are some signs of stress in the mortgage belt, but mainly the mortgage arrears have come about in relation to high-rise units in the inner cities, in particular where investors are grappling with rental vacancies.

Here are a few choice graphics from S&P Global’s latest report:

Read the full article here. 

These types of Sydney properties are passing in at auction, even in a boom market

What types of Sydney properties are passing in at auction?

This article from Domain.com.au has the answer.

As Sydney continues its record run of sky-high clearance rates, there are not many homes being passed in at auction — but the leftovers are stock-standard units or homes with unrealistic seller expectations, agents report.

The median price for a house at auction in Sydney reached a record high of $1.68 million by the end of February and has shown no signs of abating since Domain Group recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 86.5 per cent on Saturday night.

Tracking down a property that does pass in at auction is like finding a needle in the haystack, according to Oasis Skeen Property senior buyers agent Paul Wilcox, and most of the time they are units.

“The ones struggling are vanilla-ish, properties in high rises,” Mr Wilcox.

“The generic two-bedroom units are the ones that are copping a bit of a hit,” he said.

In one instance, a Mascot apartment was bought off the plan but was going under the hammer with a $790,000 price guide, Mr Wilcox said, adding suburbs with high density were seeing fewer buyers, which meant owners were being forced to moderate their prices.

Unreasonable seller expectations were another factor in the small proportion of homes failing to sell under the hammer, according to Porter’s House buyers’ agent Cameron Porter.

On the north shore, a run-down house that needed extended renovations passed in at auction on the weekend for that very reason, Mr Porter said.

“The seller expectations were far too high, it needed quite a bit of work to it and the floor plan was not ideal,” Mr Porter said.

“But, more importantly, they wanted far too much for it. It was out of kilter with the market.”

Read the full article here. 

More than a third of Aussie homeowners considering putting property up for sale

Results show more than a third of Aussie homeowners are considering putting property up for sale.

This article from 9news.com.au looks at the results.

More than a third of homeowners are planning to sell their property in the next five years as historic-low interest rates and extraordinary buyer demand sends prices soaring.

New data from big four bank Westpac found seller confidence was higher now than it was prior to the pandemic, with 35 per cent of homeowners considering by 2026.

One in ten were already in the process of putting their home on the market or planning to do so in the next 12 months.

Several major banks – including Westpac – have forecast property prices to rise by as much as 10 per cent this year and then 10 per cent again in 2022.

Despite the favourable forecasts, Westpac’s research found the majority of homeowners said they are actively holding off from listing their property straight away.

Anthony Hughes, Managing Director of Mortgages at Westpac, said the bank has seen a lot of buyers opting to purchase homes that prioritised outdoor spaces.

“Home ownership preferences have evolved since the start of the pandemic, with Australians seeking more space, peace and quiet, as well as properties which offer outdoor living like backyards and balconies,” Mr Hughes said.

“This is fuelling buyer demand and motivating more Australians to think about selling their current property so they can purchase a new home to better meet their future needs.”

The flipside to incredible buyer demand, explains Hughes, is that it may prompt more owners into selling and will therefore open up more supply.

“The low interest rate environment, upbeat consumer sentiment, and improving economic outlook is also underpinning stronger seller confidence as we head into 2021,” Mr Hughes said.

“This will no doubt be welcome news for buyers eagerly awaiting more homes to come on the market.”

Read the full article here. 

35 Morning Journal Prompts to Inspire the Day Ahead of You

An article on www.developgoodhabits.com looks

35 Morning Journal Prompts

Writing in a morning journal is helpful because it can help you reflect on not only what happened yesterday but also set you up for success during the day ahead.

Some of the top prompts that you may want to follow if you are thinking about writing in your morning journal include:

1. What did you overcome yesterday that made you stronger? How is that going to help you today?
2. What is the one thing you are most grateful for yesterday that you will carry forward to today?
3. What is the biggest challenge that you are going to face during the day ahead? How are you going to overcome it?
4. What is your favorite song right now? Why do you think that song is stuck in your head at the moment?
5. What is the one thing that people do not know about you that you want to share with the world today?
6. What is one thing that made you laugh yesterday? Why did it make you laugh?
7. If you have time today, what is the one place you would like to go? Why do you think you want to go there so badly?
8. What did you do yesterday that inspired you? How is that going to serve you well today?
9. What is the one thing in your life that makes you the happiest right now? Why do you think that is?
10. What is one future goal that you are working toward? How are you going to get there?
11. What is the one thing you are going to do today that is solely for yourself? Why do you think that is important for your work-life balance?
12. What is one bad habit that you are working hard to break? How are you going to place yourself in a position to break that habit?
13. What are your most positive qualities? What type of impact do you think those qualities have on others?
14. Is there a specific challenge that you are working to overcome? How are you going to accomplish that goal?
15. When you look to the future, what do you think about? Why do you think you are focused on that?
16. What is the one thing yesterday that stressed you out the most? How are you going to be able to deal with that stress?
17. What are the top things that make you smile? What are you going to do to force yourself to smile today?
18. What are the biggest victories you have had recently regarding your mental health? What are some of the disappointments you have experienced?
19. What are you going to do to make sure that you have time to eat today? How are you going to set aside time for yourself?
20. How do you feel right now? What are you going to do to protect your mood? What are you going to do to prevent yourself from getting down?
21. Who are the most important people in your support system? How can you improve your support system?
22. Write about someone you love. Why do you cherish them so much? Is there anything you can do to spend more time with that person?
23. Forgive yourself for something. What are you going to do to forgive yourself? How is this going to help you move forward in your life?
24. When have you been at your happiest this month? What are you going to do to help yourself stay that happy during the remainder of the week?
25. What is the one thing that made you sad yesterday? Why do you think that one thing brought you down?
26. Make time to exercise today. What are your goals for exercise? Why is exercise important for your overall health?
27. What do you need most today? Why do you think you need it? How are you going to get more of that one thing in your life?
28. What is the one thing that you are most excited about today? Why do you think that is making you excited?
29. What is the one thing that you need more of in your life right now? What are you going to do to get more of that one thing in your life?
30. What are the things that you are most grateful for today? List the top three items.
31. If you are going to do one thing to help someone else out, what is that going to be? How are you going to make time to make that happen?
32. I’m going to say thank you to one person today. Who are you going to say thank you to? Why do they deserve your gratitude?
33. At the end of the day today, how do you want to feel? What are you going to do to help yourself get there?
34. What are you going to do today to make it a little bit easier to accomplish everything on your to-do list?
35. One of the obstacles that I am anticipating today is… ? I am going to deal with this obstacle by doing what?

Read the full article here

from Property UpdateProperty Update https://propertyupdate.com.au/must-read-articles-the-last-week/