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.