15. May 2015 10:51
/
swanvalleyrealtyblog
Comments (0)
The Federal Budget has some incentives for the Real Estate sector as explained in this article by REIWA. The Real Estate Industry of WA also welcomed the retention of the stamp duty exemption in the State Budget. REIWA President David Airey said the exemption on stamp duty for homes under $430,000 is a huge benefit to all first time buyers.
Real estate sector comes out on top in Federal Budget
NEW
14 May 2015
Wins for small businesses and the retention of key tax arrangements that benefit housing investment are the big positives for real estate in the 2015-16 Federal Budget.
The Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) haswelcomed the Federal Budget, announced Tuesday, with Chief Executive Officer Amanda Lynch congratulating Treasurer Joe Hockey on listening to the real estate sector.
“The Government is to be commended for ensuring stability within the sector in continuing the current tax arrangements as they relate to both Capital Gains Tax and negative gearing.
“With other sectors of the economy slowing, housing will play an increasingly important role and it is pleasing to see the Government has not tampered with tax arrangements that have been proven to help stimulate housing investment in Australia,” said Ms Lynch.
Ms Lynch said if negative gearing had been abolished, it would have resulted in a dwindling supply of properties for rent, escalating rent prices and reduced opportunities for low to middle income earning Australians to create wealth for self-funded retirement.
The wins for small businesses included tax cuts, immediate deductibility for professional expenses, capital gains tax roll over relief for changes to entity structure, changes to the fringe benefits tax system for work related electronic devices and expanding accelerated depreciation.
“We strongly welcome the small business package that will give business owners meaningful incentives to hire, invest in equipment and importantly grow their livelihood,” Ms Lynch said.
REIA also commended the Federal Government for listening to the real estate industry on the issue of foreign investment.
“We welcome the commitment of $67.2 million over four years to improve compliance and strengthen enforcement. We have long argued the Foreign Investment Review Board was caught asleep at the wheel. Compliance is now in the hands of the Australian Tax Office (ATO) to the funding needed to ensure the ATO has some teeth in enforcing the new regulations,” Ms Lynch said.
Infrastructure was another positive out of the 2015-16 Federal Budget, with the Australian Government committing to providing Western Australia with $499.1 million towards economic infrastructure projects in WA for 2014-15.
The Government has also pledged to establish a five billion dollar Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility that will be available for major infrastructure projects such as ports and railways in WA, the Northern Territory and Queensland.
View the 2015-16 Federal Budget.
2. April 2015 10:54
/
swanvalleyrealtyblog
Comments (0)
The following article is by Kate Jones and was published on the realestate.com.au website on 1st April 2015;
Interest rates are widely tipped to drop again this year, but experts say it won’t happen in this month.
The Reserve Bank of Australia is likely to keep rates steady at its monthly board meeting as it takes a watch-and-see approach to the economy.
Kirsty Lamont, director of finance comparison website Mozo, says the RBA is still judging the impact of its 0.25 per cent rate cut in February.
“I expect the Reserve Bank to cut rates again in the first half of this year, but having said that April will be too early,” she says.
“The Reserve Bank is still watching how the February rate cut will flow through the economy.”
While rates are low, smaller lenders hold more sway in the finance market. This means homeowners have a golden opportunity to secure a low home loan rate and get stuck into paying off their mortgages, says Lamont.
“Pay down as much of the home loan as possible because interest rates are at record lows,” she says.
Fierce competition in the lending market has prompted more homeowners to leave the big four banks for lesser-known lenders, Lamont says.
“There’s a real gap between the best rates on the market and those offered by the big four,” she says.
“That gap is almost 1% and that makes a huge difference. A lot of people are switching from major lenders to small lenders like challenger banks and online lenders.”
Financial planner Scott Haywood says surging property prices in Melbourne and Sydney will influence the RBA to keep rates on hold in April.
“The Reserve Bank made it clear they’re concerned about property prices in Melbourne and Sydney with clearance rates over 80% (on the middle weekend in March),” he says.
“So to cut again now after such a high clearance rate would be too aggressive.”
The RBA remains concerned about business and consumer confidence with governor Glenn Stevens telling the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia recently: “Australian businesses and households seem to be getting less optimistic about the future”.
Lowering interest rates will stimulate the economy, but Haywood says this cannot be done too quickly.
“A rate cut of 0.25% doesn’t have the power and impact on the economy as it did, say during the global financial crisis,” he says.
“But the Reserve Bank doesn’t want to spook or scare the Australian public by doing a 0.5% cut.
“As soon as it sees business confidence pick up, the cuts will stop.”
Haywood, who tips a 0.25% rate cut in May, expects unemployment to rise this year and the Australian dollar to continue its fall against the US dollar.
4. February 2015 15:42
/
swanvalleyrealtyblog
Comments (0)
Although research is showing a trend to online house hunting (more on this in next post) research also confirms that print advertising is still influential in selling properties faster.
Research by CoreLogic RP Data through its Media Maximiser product recently confirmed that properties advertised in print and online mediums sell faster and for more money than properties offered in online media alone.
In an information release prepared and released by not-for-profit trade media publication Newspaper Works, the data shows that homes in Perth were on average 8.7% (almost $50,000) higher for properties advertised in print and online, compared with houses and units advertised on digital channels only.
Houses across the country advertised on both mediums sold on average seven days faster compared with those only advertised online.
Extracted from CoreLogic RP Data on January 30, 2015 in Marketing, Real Estate Agents
At Swan Valley Realty we focus on both print and online advertising.
3. September 2014 10:46
/
swanvalleyrealtyblog
Comments (0)
WELCOME TO THE FIRST ELLENBROOK PROPERTY MARKET UPDATE PROVIDED BY SWAN VALLEY REALTY.
Each month this update will focus on sales in either Ellenbrook or Aveley or the Rental Market in both suburbs. When sales are the focus in this update will track what price houses are selling for, how long it takes to sell a house and the capital growth of properties in Ellenbrook and surrounds for the previous 12 months. The rental Update we will cover the average prices properties are renting for in Ellenbrook, Aveley and surrounding suburbs and look at the vacancy rates for these areas.
Ellenbrook focus from 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014
In the upper quartile houses are selling for $495,000
In the lower quartile houses are selling for $400,000
The median sale price in Ellenbrook for the last 12 months is $435,000
On average it takes 46 days to sell a house in Ellenbrook
The approximate market variance in the past 12 months for Ellenbrook is 4.8%
Growth of nearby suburbs, Aveley 6%,The Vines 9%, Henley Brook 6.6%
These figures were obtained from REIWA (The Real Estate Institute of Western Australia) and are based on settled sales as at 30 June 2014.