The Current Rental Market

When I am not being asked about sales, the next question is ‘what is happening in the rental market?' and 'is now the time to buy an investment property?'
Activity in the investment market has been quite flat but with positive signs in the share market and interest rates low a lot more enquiry and interest is now being generated.

When looking at where you might like to buy always look at the average rental yield, try to purchase 20% below the median price and make sure your cash flow projections cover items like repairs, body corporate, tenant placement costs etc.
The median rent for metropolitan Adelaide sits at $340.00, with the average time taken to rent in SA being 30 days (December quarter).

Properties are now taking less time to rent than in the September quarter. By comparison in Tasmania it is 40 days and in WA it's 25 days.

Contact us at anytime and we will be happy to assist in advising regarding any properties you may be considering as an investment.

Coastal Properties on the Improve

Lifestyle coastal properties bore the brunt of the GFC. Agents are now reporting the market is turning with increased sale and activity in the December Quarter (2012).

Housing markets which showed the greatest proportion of houses sold for a loss were Gold Coast, Queensland (39.4%), Sunshine Coast (34.5%) and far North Queensland (33.8%). Statistics released did not show any SA arises
in the first 20 regions.

Tips for Buying an Investment Property

With the huge uncertainty surrounding superannuation and tax issues. People are turning to investment properties.


Just a couple of tips for when you are looking to buy an investment property:


- Look for suburbs with yields of 8-16%.
- Purchase 20% below the median price.
- Look for units within 3km of a university.
- Make sure your cash flow projections cover other costs like repairs,
  body corporate, tenant placement costs etc.


Contact myself on 0418 825 222 or our property management team on 8364 1700 for advice prior to purchasing.

Australian Household Unaffordability

Hard to fathom that even though Australia is booming related to the majority of countries, we are still one of the most unaffordable housing markets in the world. Out of one recent study we were ranked 3rd after Hong Kong and Canada out of 337 cities (Demographia, Wendell Cox, 2013)

Affordability was determined by dividing median house price with the median household gross annual income before tax. Credit Rating, Agency Fitch says we are the least affordable in the world but says things are improving.

We now spend 32% of our household income on our mortgage repayments compared to 44% in 2008. To draw a comparison, in America it is about 16% and in the UK about 17%.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

It has been a busy time in the Adelaide Real Estate market in the last month, with more people attending opens with offers on properties and many sales for good prices being achieved.

For Sale, by tender, offers closing is the preferred method of sale in most circumstances with the auction market flat and not doing justice to some of the beautiful homes who have chosen this sale option.

The latest available Real Estate figures show clearance rates for auctions last weekend in Adelaide was 48%.

House approvals for October fell sharply to be 7.6% down when pundits had expected only a slight drop of 1.6%. A reflection, I think, of consumer confidence which is still pretty low out there… not helped when you see an Australia icon like Rosella tomato sauce go into administration. Great today to see the Reserve Bank has lowered interest rates which should stimulate the retail market leading into Christmas.

Enjoy the frenetic race into Christmas with all the fun and catchups involved, but most importantly leave lots of energy and time for the most important part of your life, your family and friends.

Good news if you are wanting to update or extend your home...
With demand cooling, the big price jump experienced in building costs in the early 2000's has plateaued or only increased slightly.
More good news, Adelaide is one of the cheapest places in Australia in terms of building. A full brick quality home in Adelaide of 150-350sqm costs $2,080/sqm approx, while in Brisbane, the most expensive to build to this standard is $3,240/sqm. That is a whopping 55% more!

We at JGRE have experienced a huge start to Spring, after a flat but steady Winter. Buyer interest and attendance at opens is up, which is concrete (excuse the pun!) confirmation of a Westpac report stating home buyer sentiment ('When is the time to buy a dwelling') surged by 9.6% in October.

Please join us at our office at 60 Kensington Road, Rose Park for our next Gallery At 60 opening, where we sponsor emerging artists.

Brogan Stanley-Best is an incredibly talented young portrait artist. Come along and commission one for your children or family.

Janice Lane is fresh back from exhibiting in New York, while Mal Wass' striking symbolic paintings on wood and his stunning sculputures would be a standout in any setting.

By popular demand, Todd 'Romy' Romanowycz is joining us again with new works and ideas.

The organisation being supported is Sight For All.

You are invited to the opening on Thursday 25th October 6-8pm.

Appreciating What We Have

“I love a sunburnt country, A land of sweeping plains, Of ragged mountain ranges, Of droughts and flooding rains...”.(Dorothea Mackellar)

Living in Australia, and particularly Adelaide is the envy of the global community.

Yet despite our laid back attitude, polls show that we are a country ready to see the glass half empty, and often in the case of the printed media... There is no water in there at all!

Yes, real estate prices have flattened, and in some areas, and with some properties, prices have come back. I think we need to note, however, prices of property in SA have enjoyed spectacular rises in the last decade and provided a significant nest egg for those owners.

The flip side is that it has meant home ownership, let alone upgrading, has become an impossible dream for many.

Traditionally, owning your own home has been a goal to which all Australians have aspired. With interest rates steady after significant reductions, there are signs of increased activity and more buyer confidence. Dwelling values across Australia increased in July for the 2nd consecutive month.

If house prices remain flat for a while, so be it.

We live in a city rated the 6th most liveable in the world...BORING??

To quote Mike Smith, CEO ANZ, ‘Boring is the new black and we are happy to be boring’.

Look what is happening elsewhere.

Isn’t it ok to be boring for a while?

With Winter having come to an end it is time to reflect on the previous three months.

According to RP Data, home values in our capital cities rose by 1.6% over the last three months.

Sydney and Melbourne both saw positive results, with an increase in capital growth of 2.4% and 2.5% respectively.

Adelaide and Canberra also saw gains of 1.4% and 1.2% respectively.

Let’s hope Spring brings more positive figures!

Love the terminology which constantly emerges.. The latest... 'Bank Rage'.

More than half of Australians have experienced Bank Rage: Anger or significant frustration towards their financial institution it has been claimed.

Your thoughts...

Exciting times for Adelaide with the development of the Festival Theatre precinct. With our casual lifestyle it is not surprising we have been voted Australia's most liveable city for the 2nd year running.

Interesting to see number of sales transactions to March was 42,000. 3000 less than 27 years ago in 1985. Just trying to source how this compares with the last year, but finding the figures is proving to be a challenge!

Interesting to see that units have been more resilient than houses in the flat market.

Units actually rose 1% in the last month.

The current median selling price of a house over a unit is more than $55,000.

In Sydney and Melbourne, our 2 most expensive cities, it is $148,450 and $94,450 respectively.

Sadly the trees out of the front of our office have received a haircut :( These branches were in danger of dropping onto busy Kensington Road. Thanks to our great tree men, who were so careful and caring, and did not live up their name of Slaughter :)

It's Not All Doom & Gloom

Look on the bright side.. 89% increase in Australian capital city prices over the last 10 years to March this year. This keeps in perspective the 4.5% fall in Australian capital city prices in the year ending March 2012

Rental Property Owners - News Update

The SA Real Estate Insitute is lobbying SA Water to make a change to our current system of charging out water rates. At the moment, the account remains in the owners name, and they are responsible for payment of all accounts. The tenant then reimburses the landlord for their portion of water used according to the lease agreement. In the eastern states the water account is changed into the tenants name, as is done with gas and electricity supplies. Bringing SA in line would simplify it for all concerned.

Some Web Fast Facts - Goodbye Print

5.06 million Australians were unique browsers on real estate search engines in February. The most searched areas in SA were Norwood, Adelaide, Prospect and Mawson Lakes.

Staying Put and Reducing the Mortgage

House sales nationally have dropped by 37% since 2001.Since about 2005, the average house has cost around 5 times the average capital city household income.

In Adelaide they have dropped by 33%, and in Brisbane it has been a huge 54%!

Prior to 1990 it was consistently around 3 times the average income.

Don't forget... Earth Hour this Saturday 8.30pm - Turn off your lights for an hour.

Good old Sydney started this, and now 135 countries and 1.8 billion people are participating.

Earth Hour is organised by the World Wildlife Fund, and is an initiative aimed at uniting individuals, businesses, and governments to reduce society's impact on our planet.

It is not just about turning off your lights for an hour, Earth Hour is about uniting together to protect the planet. Why not plan something fun, like a candlelit dinner party, or a BBQ with friends and get involved in protecting the planet.

Spotlight On Kensington Park

Ranked best in suburb performance in Adelaide in 2011.

House prices increased by 9.9% with 22 sales to $830,000 median price.

Median house rent was $420.00, while the average age in the suburb was 38 years.

Borrowers Were On Holidays Also

Nationally home lending figures dropped in January 2012 for the first time in 10 months.

They fell 7.1% for established homes, reversing a similar rise in December 2011.

Loans for newly built homes fell by 6%