There’s quite a bit of economic data circulating in the news right now that I thought needed to be brought to your attention. So, I jumped on a call with my former co-editor for Cycles, Trends and Forecasts , Callum Newman, to discuss all that’s happening that could bear effect on the remainder of this cycle. We cover… The record property price boom in WA that has seen total residential values explode to a whopping $768 billion. Victoria’s property market bubbling upwards, wi

You don’t need to reside in Australia for many years before adopting the firm belief that the economy is choreographed around the property market. It’s touted in the media as the key to the great Australian dream — the apparent right of every citizen to own their own home. Turn on talk radio, and you’ll likely hear much wailing from land-owning baby boomers who fear that their children will never be able to get a foothold onto the mythological property ladder. Except that’s n

I ran across this headline the other day… Source: AFR The story focuses on the recent change in market conditions. It’s resulted in a vendor at the top end of the market achieving their $2.35 million wish price after their property passed in for $50,000 less six months ago at auction. That’s not surprising. Market conditions have improved. Punters are still budgeting for rate increases and are holding back some in reserve. However, clearance rates are now pushing above 70

A few weeks ago the chief economics commentator at the Financial Times in London, Martin Wolf, penned an excellent article called ‘ The Case for a Land Tax is Overwhelming ’. Here’s an excerpt: ‘ I have long been a supporter of taxing land value. Such a tax would be economically efficient and morally just. But it has been politically impossible: the landowning interest, which now includes a large part of the population as owner-occupiers, has been too strong. This is a trage

An article caught my attention this week in The Australian about owners selling the air above their apartment blocks for profit. Take a look: ‘ Eight owners of a Sydney apartment block recently banded together to sell off the airspace above their building for almost $1m and the idea is catching on. ‘ Rooftop property development specialist Warren Livesey estimates the airspace above strata unit blocks in Australia is an untapped $100bn plus market. ‘ He has been selling Sydn

I want to pay tribute to Dame Vivienne Westwood, who passed away at the age of 81 on 29 December. Her passing received wide media coverage. The global icon was responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashion into the mainstream, helping launch and clothe the Sex Pistols, and having a tremendous influence on how thousands of men and women dressed throughout the years. However, Westwood was, at heart, an activist. In her autobiography, Vivienne Westwood , written with