THE URBANISATION OF POPULATIONS AROUND THE WORLD IS CREATING CHALLENGES FOR BOTH CITY PLANNING AND THE DETERIORATING ECONOMIC BASE OF REGIONAL TOWNS. Having recently returned from New Zealand it is clear that they too are facing this global phenomenon. It is projected that nearly ninety percent of New Zealand’s total population growth to 2026 will […]
THE PREMIER’S STATEMENT THAT THE BIGGEST PRESSURE POINT IS ON THOSE FAMILIES WHO ARE RENTING ACCOMMODATION OR YOUNG PEOPLE RENTING ACCOMMODATION FAILS TO ADDRESS THE BROADER ISSUE OF HOUSING AFFORDABILITY “We have had dire predictions by one of Australia’s leading banks that Western Australia will have a shortfall of 90,000 homes by the middle of […]
RENTAL PRESSURE AND DECLINING MORTGAGE COSTS DROVE HOUSING CONSTRUCTION IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA TO ITS HIGHEST LEVEL SINCE 2010 Data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics today show dwelling starts in the September quarter 2012 increased a seasonally adjusted 23.6 per cent to 5,166, its highest level since December 2010. UDIA (WA) CEO Debra Goostrey […]
IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA, 2012 WAS THE MOST ACTIVE YEAR FOR FIRST HOME BUYERS SINCE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S TEMPORARY STIMULUS ENDED IN 2009 Figures published yesterday show that the number of First Home Owner Grants (FHOG) paid in Western Australia increased 28 per cent to 17,171 in 2012. “Throughout 2011/12 first home buyer momentum drove the […]
REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR, THERE ARE NUMEROUS OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR POTENTIAL NEW HOME BUYERS. With summer well and truly in full force and the return to work imminent, people often have a good look at their lives and, in some cases, make the New Year’s resolution to start looking for a new […]
GOVERNMENT AGENCIES PUBLISHED MYRIAD STRATEGIC PLANNING DOCUMENTS IN 2012, NOW THEY MUST BE THOUGHTFULLY IMPLEMENTED. This week the Minister for Planning released the State Planning Strategy, a worthy volume which outlines how we will move towards 2050 when our population is expected to have doubled to more than 5.6 million. The release brings to 23 […]
2012 POSED A NUMBER OF CHALLENGES BUT ALSO OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT SECTOR. It was the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse, unless of course you live in Perth where the rental vacancy rate has dropped to less than two percent and you […]
STAMP DUTY IS WIDELY CONSIDERED INEFFICIENT AND INEQUITABLE, BUT ANY MOVE AWAY FROM THIS TAX NEEDS TO KEEP ALL OPTIONS ON THE TABLE. In a recent article published in South Australia, commentator Jessica Irvine described stamp duty, on “a scale of one to evil, as the green vomit-spraying head spinner of the tax toolbox.” When […]
WESTERN AUSTRALIA IS HEADING TOWARDS A SEVERE HOUSING SHORTAGE AS THE STATE CONTINUES TO EXPERIENCE RECORD POPULATION GROWTH. According to well respected economist, Paul Braddick from the ANZ, we are likely to be 90,000 dwellings short in Western Australia by the middle of this decade. According to the National Housing Supply Council we were already […]