State Of The Nation Compiled By Kevin Lee of Smart Property Adviser

www.smartpropertyadviser.com.au E: kevin@smartpropertyadviser.com.au T: (02) 9980 1311 M: 0416 083 995

Disclaimer: This document is a compilation of recent articles published in the media. The media sources are quoted beneath their respective article capture. Smart Property Adviser does not claim to be the author of any articles included within this document.

Seasonality Doesn’t Explain Housing Rebound While 19 of 28 economists surveyed on Friday predicted the RBA would hold rates steady on Tuesday, there is an interesting unanimity amongst media commentators that they will, in fact,

pre-emptively cut before the third quarter inflation data is released. Today Alan Mitchell and David Bassanese suggest the central bank will ease, News Limited’s Terry McCrann argues a cut is “almost certain”, and The Australian’s David Uren says it is “widely expected”. The financial markets have retained their high, 70 per cent plus probability on this outcome. 1 October 2012. More.

Little-known Dudley Heads RP Data’s Top 100 Growth Suburbs, With Mining Towns Prominent And Prestige Suburbs Absent Dudley, the southern coastal suburb of Newcastle that started life as a coal mining town in the 1880s, has ranked as Australia’s number one location for house price growth, according to figures compiled by RP Data. The latest Top 100 suburb report, which examines median dwelling value changes for the 12 months to June 2012 is heavily populated by regional locations close to mining activity, which make up almost a third of locations on the list. 1 October 2012. More.

Public High-Rises Keep Prices Down The inner-city set may claim there is no stigma attached to living near public housing but property prices expose a more tawdry truth. The closer you live to public housing estates such as Richmond's

towering commission flats, the lower property values become. Data supports what is often an unspoken assumption among home buyers - namely, that properties farther from public housing estates generally sell for more than those close to them. 2 October 2012. More.

Capital City Home Values Continue To Rise, Signalling A Market Recovery Experts say there’s now little doubt a housing market recovery is underway following a 1.4 per cent increase in capital city home values in September. The RP Data-Rismark Home Value Index monthly results show the fourth consecutive rise and the single biggest bump since March 2010. Adelaide led the way with the

strongest result, where values are up 2.4 per cent, followed by Perth at 1.6 per cent and Sydney at 1.5 per cent. 3 October 2012. More.

Taking Stock - Apartments Less than 70,000 apartments/townhouses were up for sale last month, an increase of 1,800 or 3% – the same percentage rise as for houses. The figures show apartments are starting to sell faster than they are being replaced in Perth (down a whopping 440 or 12%), Darwin (down 127, an encouraging 20%) and also in Brisbane. 2 October 2012. More.

One In Five New Borrowers Fix Home Loans First home buyers are locking in more fixed rate home loans than they were four years ago as arrears rates continue to improve. Australia's largest mortgage broker, Australian Finance Group (AFG) says demand for fixed three-year loans reached a four year high in September, with 21.5 per cent of new borrowers choosing to lock in a mortgage rate. 3 October 2012. More.

Adelaide Property Values Soar, New Data Shows ADELAIDE property values have led the nation with a rise of 2.4 per cent in September, latest figures show. Capital city dwelling values around the nation rose by 1.4 per cent over the month, which was the largest month-on-month

rise since March 2010, according to RP Data-Rismark September

figures released yesterday. 3 October 2012. More.

Homeowners Are Clueless And Carefree, Finds Report Mortgage Choice has revealed a third of borrowers are still clueless about their interest rates. Its annual survey of 900 first homeowners found 32% are unaware of the rate they pay. It also found the level of concern over rates had dropped significantly from 2011, from 47% to just 13% in 2012. 3 October 2012. More.

Investing In Property? Get The Details Right The residential property market has been weak over the past couple of years but it continues to be a core investment, alongside shares, cash and fixed income securities. The lesson from the fall in prices since 2010 is that investors have to make sure they pay attention to all the details when they invest in real estate: get the right finance; be clear about all the costs they will have to pay and stay on top of tax issues. 2 October 2012. More.

Issue # 009 October 5, 2012

State Of The Nation Continued…

E: kevin@smartpropertyadviser.com.au T: (02) 9980 1311 M: 0416 083 995 Disclaimer: This document is a compilation of recent articles published in the media. The media sources are quoted beneath their respective article

capture. Smart Property Adviser does not claim to be the author of any articles included within this document.

If you would like to voice your opinion on any article you have read in the State Of The Nation Newsletters or elsewhere that has concerned you, please send the article and your opinion on it to us and we will include it in a future issue of the State Of The Nation. Send your opinion to kevin@smartpropertyadviser.com.au

Home In On Investment Hazards

You’ve finally found the ideal investment property, mortgaged yourself to the hilt and secured a good tenant - but it's not quite time to sit back. Don't forget to protect your new investment both

physically and financially. With a mix of insurance, good management and maintenance, you can almost wrap your property in cotton wool and ensure you have a contingency plan or compensation for almost every bad situation. 30 September 2012. More.

Are We Heading For A House Price Crash? Several commentators have suggested we are already in a housing bubble in Australia, with The Economist suggesting house prices were already 36% above their fair value, in its August update. Credit rating agency, Moody’s has warned the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and banking regulators that a housing bubble could leave Australia more vulnerable to a crash. 4 October 2012. More.

Ask Noel

My wife and I both have AMP allocated annuity/pensions and each statement lists the financial adviser we saw when we changed from a superannuation fund to an allocated pension/annuity. Since then, the adviser has left and joined a group that

sends us emails that have no relevance to us. 3 October 2012. More.

Recovery Well And Truly Underway Capital city dwelling values rose 1.4% across the country, according to RP Data Rismark's September Home Value Index. It was the largest month-on-month growth since March 2010, leading research director Tim Lawless to claim a recovery is "underway." Adelaide took the lead with a 2.4% increase, followed by Perth at 1.6%, Sydney at 1.5%, Melbourne at 1.4% and Brisbane at 1.1%. 3 October 2012. More.

Call For Banks To Act Now After Figures Reveal Slump In New Home Sales

New home sales dropped 5.3 per cent to 5,383 in August from 5,682 in July to reach their lowest point since 1997, the Housing Industry Association (HIA) said today. Sales of

detached houses fell in all states in August, with the largest declines in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. 3 October 2012. More.

New Satterley Blocks Released To Perth Buyers Satterley chief executive Nigel Satterley said the release of the blocks would help meet demand from first-home and move-up buyers. Mr Satterley said the company's mood was upbeat, with sales for the first six months of 2012 up more than 15 per cent on the same period last year. Mr Satterley said while sales at his various estates mirrored the vagaries of the real estate market, the estates favoured by first-home buyers only had a small number of untitled lots remaining. 3 October 2012. More. Photographer, Surfer And Budding Property Investor A brief rundown of who I am – Duane Robinson, a 35 year-old living in Maroubra, freelance photographer, part time surfer. My property investing journey really only started early 2011. One Catch was it was going to auction in a week. . However on the trip we came upon a doozie of an opportunity that I couldn’t walk away from. When I got back to Sydney I got on to my trusty mortgage broker Kevin Lee from Smartline (plug plug). He assured me I’d get finance one way or another. That’s exactly what I wanted to hear and that’s exactly what happened. No date. More.

Controversy Corner

Ex-HSU Boss Williamson Charged Former Health Services Union national president Michael Williamson has been charged and another five people are being investigated by police over allegations of corruption at a branch of the union, with at least one expected to face criminal charges. 4 October 2012. More.

Some Parting Advice

“Successful property investing isn’t rocket science; it hinges on doing

a bit of legwork to understand what you’re doing, developing a strategy that’s right for you, focusing on a few fundamental

principles, using some common sense and keeping your greed and ego in check.”

Until Next Time…. Kevin Lee

www.smartpropertyadviser.com.au