Friday, September 12, 2008

REAL ESTATE FORECAST - A REALITY CHECK


Jock Gilbert comments on the state of the national and local market and the new legislation:

· In recent years, local and national real estate has experienced major capital growth with regular conversations over coffee focusing on ‘how much the property down the road sold for’. This was not sustainable. Just think where prices would have been in five years time had this continued.

The last year alone saw Adelaide median house prices increase 15.87% to $365,000. During the last quarter they remained stable, but home owners should be happy with the significant capital growth they have achieved.

Nationally, Adelaide continues to demonstrate its housing price stability with strong realistic gains achieved without the fluctuations, of the larger cities like Perth, Melbourne and Sydney. Here median house prices fell in the last quarter.

Look at the current situation in Palm Beach, New South Wales. Recent sales (58) indicated a 5.6% decrease over the last 12 months. However during the past 4 years Palm Beach has enjoyed a 62% gain to a median price of $2.55m. Property investment has to be judged in terms of years not months.

· The biggest challenge will be in the outer mortgage belt where interest rate rises and petrol price increases are likely to have an impact.

Overall analysts feel that with the S&P ASX 200 down by 10.5%+, the property market locally and nationally is holding up very well.

· Looking forward to 2010 & 11, BIS Shrapnel are predicting good growth across the board in national residential property prices, with Adelaide expected to be amongst the best performers.

On another note, July 28 heralded a new era for South Australian Real Estate with the introduction of The Statutes Amendment (Real Estate Industry Reform) Act 2007.

· The legislation aims to raise professional standards and increase consumer protection.

· For the vast majority of agents, it will be business as usual. Buyers and vendors will notice some changes in the quoting of prices and will no doubt take a while to get used it. Like any change there is a period of adjustment.

Buyers are reminded that in order to bid at an auction you are legally required to formally register with the agent on the day by completing a Bidder Registration Form, showing sufficient photo I.D. and obtaining a bidding paddle.

Do you have any questions regarding the new legislation, or do you have any general real estate queries? Our panel of real estate professionals are available to answer any and all of your questions.

Jock Gilbert Real Estate is fully committed to any measure that ensures the industry operates at the highest possible standard.

Closer to home, we have recently launched the gallery space at our office on Kensington Road. If you wish to be on our emerging artists exhibitions mailing list please email narellek@jockgilbert.com.au

Thursday, August 14, 2008

SALA Festival - Gallery Opening

Jock Gilbert Real Estate opened its doors to the South Australian Living Artists Festival last week when they officially launch their first SALA Gallery season on Thursday 7 August.

“We are very excited to be part of this fantastic festival” said Diana Gilbert, Company Director at Jock Gilbert Real Estate. “Our office was purpose built with this sort of event in mind and it has been a huge aim for us to support local and emerging artists in this way”.




Athanasia Savvoudis, Sam Jeffries, Sharon Gray, Megan Field


The works of Stefan Maguran and Salvador Loreto have been handpicked and will be displayed throughout the SALA Festival, Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm at 60 Kensington Road, Rose Park.

In keeping with the ‘local’ feel, the Don Dunstan portrait painted by Salvador Loreto will be on display and is a must see for any and all South Australians.

“This is just the first of many exhibitions we intend to hold at our Kensington Road office, and we expect it to be a highly successful event.”


Sally Chapman, Margie Fox, Skye Jarvis








Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Jock Gilbert Real Estate proudly supports Australian Sponsorship 4 African Kids Ltd.


Australian Sponsorship 4 African Kids (AS4AK) Ltd was initiated in 2006 by the irrepressible Television Chef, noted Food Anthropologist, Author and Public Speaker, Dorinda Hafner, in memory of her mother, Awula Elizabeth Naa Lamiley Bannerman-Addy, a life-long champion of children, especially the underprivileged.


AS4AK is a sponsorship fund which will continue to raise money for the advancement of kids in need in not only Ghana, West Africa, but eventually, projects all over Africa, and those that Elizabeth Bannerman-Addy's vision and passion would be proud to support.


As a humble beginning, in 2006 AS4AK first raised money for the children at VisionPort International School founded by the proprietor, Joy Addy and situated at the family home at Mamprobi, Accra in Ghana, West Africa.


In 2008 AS4AK's work in Ghana continues with support for another local and very worthwhile children's centre - BASICS, headed by Ms. Pat Wilkins. Jock Gilbert Real Estate is proud to support such a well rounded organisation who are dedicated to making a positive change in the lives of African kids.


For further information on AS4AK visit their website http://www.as4ak.com/

20’s Party To Celebrate 20th Birthday!

The glitz and glamour of the 1920’s were well and truly alive at the Jock Gilbert Real Estate midyear sware this past week. Sales consultants and admin staff transformed into flappers and gangsters, golfers and smooth customers to celebrate the company’s 20th Birthday. With the night in full ‘swing’, many were seen attempting to do Charleston to the period jazz music which played through to the early hours of Saturday morning.




(Matt Walsh, Adam White and Di Gilbert)



(Paul Lea, Anne Frearson Lea and Jock Gilbert)


(Kim Haines, Andrew Wilton and Jock Gilbert)



(Narelle Kavanagh, Adam White and Di Gilbert)

Jock Gilbert Real Estate opened its doors in 1988 and has since become one of South Australia’s most respected real estate agencies.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Messenger Community News – Mortgage Choice Rising Star Award Sharon Gray

The highly competitive field of auctioneering has a new star… and the boys had better watch out!

Sharon Gray, one of the few practicing female auctioneers in the business, has had her talent and skill recognised, taking out the 2008 "Rising Star" Golden Gavel Award.

Sharon, of Jock Gilbert Real Estate, received the accolade at last month’s glittering awards night, hosted by the Society of Auctioneers and Appraisers (SA) Inc. at the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra’s Grainger studio.

While Sharon has a decade of experience in the real estate industry, she’s only taken on the role of auctioneer in recent years, and now there’s no doubt her star is on the rise.

Sharon says she’s honoured to receive the award, particularly as the standard of competition was so high, and she encourages all practicing auctioneers to take up the challenge and enter in next year’s event.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Jock Gilbert has just been out and about in St Petersburg

Upon arriving during the summer time we found it snowing!

This is a city of amazing culture, of people very proud of their heritage and contact with the west and of spectacularly preserved historic architecture, mostly consisting of Baroque and neoclassical buildings of the 18th and 19th centuries, like the Church of the Savior on Blood designed in the Russian revival style commemorated the place where Alexander II of Russia was assassinated in 1881.
Founded in May 1703, St Petersburg became the capital of Russia on May 8, 1713 and whilst the city has had a few name changes and only as recently as September 1991 was renamed St Petersburg, the city’s proximity to the border and anti-Soviet armies forced the Bolsheviks under Lenin to transfer the capital back to Moscow in March 1918. This has created a strong competition between the 2 cities, but it seems that St Petersburg has no desire to become the capital city again. The rivalry between the 2 cities was likened to that of Melbourne, Sydney but covering 3 centuries!

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

A Very Big Welcome to Bernie Altschwager!

A very warm welcome to Bernie who has joined the Jock Gilbert Real Estate sales team this week! We hope your journey with JGRE is a successful and enjoyable one.


Welcome!

Friday, April 11, 2008

Welcome!

A very big welcome to Kimberley.

We are all looking forward to working with you.

Farewell Karen


It's been an absolute pleasure working with you.
Your help and support throughout the years has been greatly appreciated.

The Team at Jock Gilbert wish you all the best!
Keep in touch.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Sturt Tee Ball

The Sturt Tee Ball All stars were due to have their final round 4 on Sunday 16 March, but unfortunately the record run of hot spells has again caused its cancellation.

(this round had already been postponed once and with Easter, holidays and impending winter sport commitments a rescheduling wasn’t possible)

So! An unfortunate end to a great season. On count back of wins and losses, Sturt’s 4 year winning streak has come to an end, with Kensington taking out the trophy for 2007/08.

However, the squad should take great pride in their performance throughout the season – it is particularly satisfying to hear the constant comments from other coaches, parents and members of the clubs of the
visible improvement each and every player has shown during the year – I look forward to watching their development up through the Sturt baseball ranks!

I’d like to take this opportunity to record my thanks for the terrific support from all the parents of the tee-ballers with scoring, equipment, umpiring etc. – of particular note Andrew Johnston and David Brooks who have both given a great amount of time and support to the All Stars – and to Sturt Teeball generally over the years.

It’s particularly satisfying to see how many All Stars are now playing in the higher age groups…may it continue!

Again, our thanks to Mark Goldsworthy and Jock Gilbert Real Estate for their sponsorship over the years!

I would also like to advise that Glen Young has kindly agreed to take on the role as All Stars coach for 08-09 – over the years he has been a tireless supporter and coach of the regular Tball teams and I am sure will do a fantastic job with our representative side! For those who aren’t aware, Tee Ball is played on Sunday mornings at Waite Uni grounds from October through to March and is an ideal team sport for boys and girls aged 5 to 11 years…. Do get involved if you can – President Brett Tucker and his committee would welcome your involvement and support! See http://www.sturtteeball.org/ for details.


All the very best for an enjoyable year!

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Cancer Care Centre


On a beautiful night in February, I was invited to be the charity auctioneer to help raise funds for the Cancer Care Centre, an innovative non profit organization providing complimentary health care services to people affected by cancer. Organised by Pam and Trevor Nielsen and hosted by Glenys and Jeff Berry at their wonderful home “The Quarry” in Stirling. Themed a “Hippy Night” and best described as a “Mini Womad,” the night was packed with belly dancers, fire jugglers, community drumming, local vocalist and an old time rock and roll band. Overall, the evening raised over $6000-00 and was a credit to everyone who helped organize this inaugural event.







Monday, March 3, 2008

Going green…

What happened to the promise of a paper-free office? One that was run purely on the wonder and marvel of electronic devices? We’ve got the technology; handhelds, laptops, Blackberries and super doper new wave web software, but it seems no matter what is invented, the paper monster always seems to have his fill.

In a day and age when conservation of our resources is critical as we face the global issue of climate change and attempt to carbon offset our lives, one tree at a time, technology really can become our friend again with the ability to create paper-less tools to save the planet – one brochure at a time.

The real estate industry has long been synonymous with being large producers of paper materials; whether they be flyers, brochure, property books and so on, the ability to sell one’s property has largely relied on the delivery and distribution of information, data and photography through hard copy. But, it’s at a cost. Not only to the vendor as part of their property’s marketing plan, but to the planet.

Consumers are searching for alternatives to printed materials. Banks are offering statements online, bills are being emailed, subscription fees and account details can be viewed online – it seems that technology has become the best way to starve out our need for ‘hard copies’ by making the computer-user-interface friendly, reliable and most importantly attractive.

Enter our new property marketing strategy. Going Green has been introduced as an option when selling your home with Jock Gilbert Real Estate and it promotes itself as the ‘need it, print it Eco Web Solution’. Marketing includes inclusion on our website and subsequent property search engines including realestate.com.au and domain.com.au, Feature Property Of The Week spot on both the Jock Gilbert Real Estate website and in house on our fantastic interactive LCD screen, promotion of your property through our New Listing Alert e-mail database as well as direct telephone contact with registered buyers.

It’s a win win solution for you and your contribution to winding back the clock on climate change.

If you are interested in this package please contact our agents to discuss how this would suit the marketing of your property.

Yours eco-kindly,



Friday, February 8, 2008

Hi all

Welcome to our first blog!

We look forward to hearing from you all through this medium and will no doubt enjoy sharing our stories of success and achievement with you, as well as explain a little further where the South Australian property market is heading in 2008.

After a hectic and successful finish to 2007 we enjoyed a quiet and relaxing January. Di and I spent 2 weeks absorbed in the amazing culture of Laos - a hidden, untouched country with the most wonderful, spirited people - majority of whom are living in extreme poverty. Through our travels we discovered that the US dropped approximatley 1 tonne of bombs for every man, woman and child living in Laos during the Vietnam War, many of
which had not yet exploded. With such devastation and cruelty inflicted on both the people, their country and their livelihood you might expect the Laotians to be anything but warm and kind, however we found them to be charming, welcoming and spectacularly friendly.

Highlights from our trip including travelling down the Mekong in a fishing boat and venturing 6km through a cave river system in the rainforest.

Remember, if you ever visit Laos take some items for the orphanages and the children as many have absolutley nothing.

__

On the real estate front we are ready to go for 2008!

Adelaide continues to be the standout performer, with house and unit prices increading by an outstanding 20.2% over the year ending December 2007. Even with such impressive growth, Adelaide prices are still the second lowest of any capital city, with the median dwelling value now at $364,824.

If you are not already in the market, keep a tight budget and get in as soon as you can.

According to Andrew Donnelly, from Braxton Chase Adelaide is likely to show a huge amount of growth in 2008 with history showing a traditional 12 month lag behind the Melbourne market.

Weekend Auction results proved to be outstanding, with this row cottage in the heart of Adelaide acheiving a huge price with lots of competitive bidding. Our Adelaide specialist, Guy Measday should be your first port of call if you are interested in buying or selling in Adelaide. Click here to e-mail Guy.

Again, I look forward to sharing information on the real estate market and the happenings at Jock Gilbert Real Estate on a frequent basis and hearing your thoughts and feedback.

Cheers,