During this recent election campaign the Real Estate Institute of Australia was pushing for the grant to be permanently upped to $15,000, noting that a decade’s passed since the amount was set and in that time Australia’s median house prices have jumped from $220,000 to $519,000. So when introduced the grant was 3.2% of a home price and is now 1.5%.

The other idea the Institute has been running is for first home buyers to be able to access their voluntary superannuation (not employer contributed funds) to buy a home.

“The REIA proposes that a scheme be established which would encourage young Australians to contribute to voluntary superannuation by allowing access to these resources for the purposes of raising a deposit for a first home. The scheme would be an adjunct to the First Home Savers Account but would allow flexibility for the saver to decide whether all or part of the voluntary superannuation payments was needed to augment the home purchase.”

We remember visiting pollies in the mid 1990’s as part of an Institute push for policy change for a similar idea back then. Nothing changed and from what we can tell neither of the major parties have had much time for this idea now.

We’re not sure how many buyers would take advantage of it, but to have a great tax vehicle like super as the place to save for your home seems a great idea.

Your thoughts?

We’re delighted to see Fair Trading Minister Peter Lawlor’s move to amend the Act and bring back some predictability to body corp fees. The current Act says lot entitlements must be equal unless you have a good reason and despite knowing the fees when buying in, there’s been a run of apartment owners over recent years going to the Tribunal to ask for a reshuffling of lot entitlements (the numbers used to set your fees). Their own fees have gone down at the expense of their neighbours and in some cases resulted in penthouse owners getting a whopping discount, 1 bedder owners a skyrocketing bill. It made headlines early last year when shots were fired in one Gold Coast building.

The proposed amendments are open for public consultation until September 23rd, and when adopted will lock-in your lot entitlements. Developers will again set interest entitlements according to value of the apartment (as they used to) and we’d expect levies will pretty much follow suit. And importantly the Minister is stopping the ability to move the goalposts later.

Mr Lawlor says, “In the future, the ability to adjust contribution schedule lot entitlements will be limited to all lot owners in a scheme unanimously agreeing to make an adjustment through a resolution without dissent or by unanimous agreement between two or more lot owners to redistribute the lot entitlements for their lots amongst themselves.”

Nice to see some common sense prevailing.

Has your building had its lot entitlements changed? We’d love to hear your experiences.

So what can a landlord do to attract more tenants and keep the good ones? Presentation and maintenance upkeep of the home is critical. Allowing pets is a biggie – lots of people have their surrogate child/lap warmer and aren’t allowed to bring them to their rental home. And there’s a list on our website of other items tenants always look for.

One idea that landlords often forget is the offer of a long term lease. Tenants don’t enjoy moving (help me carry the fridge down the stairs anyone!) and if they’ve been there for a term, they like it, you’re happy with their payment history and regard for the home, why not offer them an extended lease of 2 years?

Bees Nees head of Property Management Annie von Rudzinski says the stability of a long lease can be a big attraction to tenants.

“If they are happy with the property a longer lease might just be the reason they need to put down their roots. A home is a personal thing to all of us and some landlords probably overlook the connection a tenant can make with the property. Offering a long lease means they can enjoy a greater sense of security and pride in their home and that is a positive thing for all parties.”

Annie says annual or bi-annual rent increases can be agreed in advance. “In this quieter market they might not agree to big jumps in the future but an investor can consider that against the costs of turnover of tenants.”

I’d kill for a Nobel Peace Prize;

Half the people you know are below average.

A conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel so good.

A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

If you want the rainbow, you got to put up with the rain.

All those who believe in psychokinesis, raise my hand.

The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

When everything is coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane.

I intend to live forever…. so far, so good.

If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?

What happens if you get scared half to death twice?

A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.

Experience is something you don’t get until just after you need it.

The hardness of the butter is proportional to the softness of the bread

If your car could travel at the speed of light, would your headlights work?

That’s not to say that there aren’t plenty of properties in the area that have the capability to reach the mark, it’s just that most of them haven’t been for sale for a number of years. Of those that have sold my favourite is a property on Albert Street that sold for $1.13 million back in 2006. It was on a large block and featured a combination of old world charm on the outside with a tastefully designed modern interior. The finishes were exceptional and I think the buyers got good value from a home that had been thoughtfully renovated.

From dealing with a number of buyers at the moment I’d suggest there is definitely potential for Woolloongabba houses to sell at $1m plus this year. We just need more people to sell!

Generating revenue of $19 billion in 2009, a BRW Magazine report says Australia hosted 751,000 international students last year. Those who watch Brisbane’s CBD rental market closely will tell you much of our housing demand has been from this group. It’s no exaggeration to say that whole residential towers depend on students for survival. Take a walk down Albert Street yourself. And this isn’t a new trend. 

Not to mention the food, travel, entertainment, retail and other industries that benefit. Many of these students are great spenders! Access Economics estimate that for every $1 on education they spend $1.90 elsewhere. Brisbane’s Lord Mayor says this is our city’s largest export service industry and Universities Australia’s CEO says a 50% drop in international students would cost us 60,000 jobs. But Labor’s Sustainable Population Minister says cuts in numbers are warranted and many use their student visas as a “pathway for permanent residency”. The LNP’s Tony Abbott says they’re the “largest contributor to net overseas migration”.

Politics and race aside this is big business for inner Brisbane and especially for property owners. Yes the trend to inner city living is strong but a big chunk of our demand is from international students, especially in the CBD itself. Drop them and we may see a big reduction in rents.

What do you think? We’d love to have your comments.

There’s good reason residential property is considered “safe as houses”.

Ask a banker which security they’ll lend on. Residential property is king to them. We understand the merit of a balanced portfolio but do sometimes wonder if some investors have simply forgotten the strength of property?

For those of us too time-poor to track and research, property doesn’t rely on scientific analysis to determine the right time to buy or sell. Rismark’s Christopher Joye says price volatility of property is just 3 or 4% compared with 19% for shares. It’s no surprise you may be feeling giddy watching the All Ords of late.

Matusik Property Insight’s Michael Matusik says Australians on average hold 80% equity in their dwellings, and higher for their principal place of residence. There’s no great risk in that and shows the strength of our nation compared to others. Our love affair with bricks and mortar does continue, even if some of us have had a wandering eye in recent years.

I today attended the monthly Gabba Business Association meeting which featured guest speakers Mr Gary Lee (Planning Manager of the Urban Development Authority) and Mr Luke Franzmann (Project Director of Cross River Rail). It was a chance for members to hear first hand about the changes that are going to occur in the Gabba in the coming years.

Most of the information that was covered in the meeting has already been widely reported in the media or on the websites of each organisation but if you haven’t had a chance to see it already you can access it through these links.

http://www.crossriverrail.qld.gov.au/

http://www.ulda.qld.gov.au/01_cms/details.asp?ID=34

Probably of all the information we received on the evening the largest note of conjecture from the members was in regards to proposed road changes to allow a greater area of the Go Print site to be developed. The concern was that the planners hadn’t thoroughly thought through the ramifications of traffic movement in the area and that the proposed changes would make travelling through the Gabba during peak times more congested in the future. It will be interesting to see if the UDA takes any notice of these objections and come up with a better solution.

Bees Nees head of Property Management Annie von Rudzinski said a more balanced market had replaced the strong rental growth of 2007-2008.

“In postcode 4101 for example we have the same median rents for a 2 bed apartment that we did in September 2008 at $450 per week. The appeal of South Brisbane, West End and Highgate Hill is still very much on the rise but saving money in tougher times has drawn some tenants into cheaper areas further out.”

The RTA shows rents are flat right across Brisbane and Ms von Rudzinski believes landlords are reluctant to push for rent increases. “Rising interest rates do make some landlords nervous and that has a flow on effect. To see a drop in popular spots like Fairfield and Annerley (down $10 to $310 per week for a 2 bed apartment) suggests tenants are getting good value. A typical house in that area is still $400 per week, the same level as September 2008.”

One of the few inner city areas to see a rise in the June quarter was a $10 increase for Woolloongabba/Dutton Park apartments.

It was even included in the Council plans for the urban renewal of  Woolloongabba and would presumably have gone ahead were it not for the tougher financial times. This is one of Brisbane’s largest development opportunities – certainly the largest inner Brisbane has seen for some years.

The receivers have now moved in and the land is to be separated into 6 individual parcels ranging from the extremely small 387m2 up to 11,837m2.  It’s  a wonder that the receivers don’t think that the land is worth more as a single entity. The likely explanation being that it will be far easier to sell quickly to various buyers than over a longer period of time to one.

Artist's impression of the failed Phoenix development