The Property Trio (formerly The Property Planner, Buyer and Professor)

https://propertyplanning.com.au/propertyplannerbuyerprofessor/ Weekly market updates 1. Cate and Pete's exciting auction weekend Tune in to hear Cate and Pete's thrilling experiences of each successfully securing a property over the weekend, despite the lockdown challenges and last minute changes of plans. 2. Tight rental vacancy rates The national monthly vacancy rate holds steady at 1.7%, from June to July. Not surprisingly, the Sydney and Melbourne CBD markets continue to experience higher vacancies, with Sydney increasing up to 6.1%, now higher than Melbourne's 5.7%. Brisbane is the only other capital city with vacancies above 1%. The tight vacancy rates have meant that rents have increased 13.7% over the last 12 months. The trio discuss why this is happening, given that international borders are closed and we're not seeing any population increases. Agent behaviours that buyer's don't like 1. Extending the negotiation or offer acceptance period The agent has given you a deadline to submit your offer, you wait with bated breath... Then the acceptance period gets extended. The reality is that there is no obligation for the agent to stick by a specific timeframe and the agent has full control of the process; they call shots. While buyers will be doing their best to shut down competition, it's the agent's job to bring extra players to the fold and create competition to bolster prices to great a great result for the vendor. The Property Buyer gives her tips and key questions to explore before you put pen to paper and submit your offer. 2. Asking if your best offer is actually that The Property Buyer estimates that 70% of the time when an agent asks you for your best offer, they will come back to you asking if that's your best. This is common practice. The trio discuss how to navigate this situation. 3. Not offering private inspections There may be many reasons why an agent declines a private inspection. They may be related to the vendor's circumstances or the agent could just be busy, (or lazy). Some reasons may be related to you! The agent may believe that your budget is nowhere close to where it needs to be or that you're not serious about the property. Strong conditions in a seller's market, where there is lots of interest in the property may mean that the agent doesn't have to go the extra mile and give prospective purchasers private inspections. In Victoria, if the property is tenanted, the tenants are entitled to rebates for every open and agents don't want to rack up a huge bill! 4. Not returning your phone calls In this market, agents are being inundated with enquiries and properties are selling in days, not weeks. The trio discuss the fundamentals of providing good service and getting back to people in a timely manner. Those that prosper are the ones that provide good service consistently. 5. Insisting on a signed contract and a deposit payment Agency practices can differ widely. One may be ok with an offer submitted via email, while another may insist on a signed contract with deposit. Agents and vendors no doubt have been burned in the past by receiving verbal offers from buyers that have then disappeared over night. The trio talk about the agent obligations in running a trust account, and recommend that buyers always ask for a receipt. Remember, an agent is only legally required to present your offer to a vendor if you've submitted a signed contract with a consideration. 6. Not disclosing sold prices on the internet This is a huge frustration for buyers and businesses in the property industry. It means that the quality of the data on hand...

https://propertyplanning.com.au/propertyplannerbuyerprofessor/ In this week's Ep#116, Dave, Cate and Pete take you through: Weekly market updates 1. The price of iron ore has dropped by 30% since the end of July and property growth in Perth wanes Looking at the daily CoreLogic index, Perth is the only city exhibiting negative growth this month. Although we don't place as much trust in the daily index, Perth has shown, (over 2021) to have the least growth of all capital cities, at 11%. The declining price of iron ore hasn't helped Perth as far as the economy and property market is concerned. It looks as if the Perth property market is flattening out. 2. Latest unemployment data for July ABS unemployment data has shown the unemployment rate drop to 4.6% from 4.9% in June, which is the lowest rate since 2008, (post the GFC). However, in the wake of lockdowns, the participation rate has fallen by 1.3 points over the year, which indicates that people leaving the job search yet not being picked up in unemployment statistics. This could be due to retirees hitting the go button or casual workers holding off on finding employment to take the opportunity to upskill. The effective unemployment rate could be actually 6%. 3. The lay of the land post lockdown As vendors put their plans to sell on hold, post-lockdown campaigns are going to bank up. It's likely that auction campaigns could be reduced to run for only two weeks, to accommodate for the back log and desire to sell prior to Christmas. This could be a good opportunity for purchasers to take advantage of. It is critical to be prepared and ready, have your finance approved so you can pivot quickly leading into the spring market. How much can I borrow? 1. Assessment of variable and rental income Eight out of ten people have some form of variable income, whether that's overtime, commissions, bonuses, sub-contracting or self-employed income. This is a key component for lender policy, as lenders have different methods of assessing and more importantly, shading, (moderating) variable income. However, there are second tier lenders who will consider 100% of your variable income, having significant impact on your purchase price, strategy and portfolio planning. Real estate agents are a perfect example, where they are typically on a modest salary and the majority of income earnt is in commission payments. 2. Rental incomes Much like variable incomes, lenders will usually shade rental income to 70-80% when assessing your borrowing power. This is to make allowances for rental vacancies and property maintenance. Similarly, to variable there are second tier lenders who will not shade rental income. 3. Vanilla or rainbow deals PAYG applicants, with no variations in income are referred to as 'vanilla deals' - plain, delicious and easy to get approved. However, if you have variable income, rental income, credit issues or you're an expat living overseas, (or any other challenging aspects to your application), it pays to have a strategic mortgage broker in your corner, who is an expert in the market and can find you the most favourable lender and product offering to maximise your borrowing power. 4. Interest only vs principle and interest When APRA implemented caps to interest only and investment lending, the way interest only loans were assessed also changed. If you elect to have an interest only period, the lender will assess your capacity to repay the loan based on the remaining P&I term. This means that if you have chosen 5 years interest only, you will be assessed based on your ability to repay the loan over a 25 year period, rathe...

https://propertyplanning.com.au/propertyplannerbuyerprofessor/ In this week's episode, Dave, Cate and Pete take you through: Weekly market updates 1. Sales outweigh listings Data from Domain shows that for every new listing, there are 1.4 sales. In simple terms, more properties are being sold than put on the market for sale. This spells a challenging buyer-seller imbalance and one that we can anticipate will be exacerbated by the impacts of lockdowns across our nation. 2. Correlating covid cases with housing sales Interesting data tracking the number of daily covid cases and the number of housing sales in the Northern beaches of Sydney shows that the higher case numbers, the higher the sales volume. Ability to trade during the pandemic is one key factor, but what is causing this buyer demand? The trio question whether it is happening across broader Sydney and whether it is a correlation or merely a coincidence. 3. Sharp decline in 'Time to buy a dwelling' index The Westpac-Melbourne Institute's "Time to buy a dwelling index" has posted a sharp decline of 8 points from July, down to 88.9 in August. This is the second lowest reading in the last 10 years. The index is a good forward leading indicator of what is likely to happen in the market and suggests owner occupiers are feeling the heat and the market is getting too heady for first time buyers and upgraders. Remember! When the rest of the pack are fearful can be a very good time to buy. How much can I borrow? 1. The age-old question - how much can I borrow? Often the first question our strategic mortgage brokers get from eager clients is 'how much can I borrow?". Rarely straight forward, it's a vexed question with various nuances to be worked through. Each lender has their own set of rates and policies, and mind you, there are about 60 lenders out there, all with varying products on offer! Which lender will treat your scenario the most favourably can be broken down into four key factors: 1. assessment rates. 2. variable incomes. 3. interest only vs principal and interest 4. how lenders mortgage insurance impacts purchase price. In this episode, the trio tackle the ins and outs of assessment rates. 2. What are assessment rates? The assessment rate is the rate that lenders use to assess your borrowing capacity and this rate is always higher than the rate you are actually going to pay on your mortgage. The purpose of the assessment rate is to stress test your ability to make repayments to account for future uncertainties such as: future rate rises, reductions in income, unemployment, change of employment, illness, divorce, expected events (having children) or other unexpected events that may happen during the loan term (which is often 30 years). 3. The floor assessment rate Floor assessment rates are mandated by APRA for the banks and also one of the tools that APRA used when trying to slow down interest only and investment loans. The floor assessment rate is the lowest rate that a bank will use to assess borrowing power. As an example, Westpac's floor assessment rate is 5.05%. When assessing borrowing power, most lenders will use the higher of your actual rate + 2.5% OR the floor assessment rate. 4. Why using online calculators is fraught with danger There are many different considerations which go into answering the question 'How much can I borrow?' Loan to value ratios, lenders mortgage insurance...

https://propertyplanning.com.au/propertyplannerbuyerprofessor/ In this episode Dave, Cate and Pete take you through: Weekly market updates 1. Rise of the regions The growth experienced over the last 12 months in our regional cities has taken the nation by storm. But is this driven by an escape from the cities or the prospect of buying bigger homes? There is certainly a correlation between larger housing/land and regional moves, particularly for those regional cities which are within commuting distance to the capital. 2. The experiment in New Zealand Over the last few months we've seen our friends in New Zealand abolish negative gearing, introduce macro prudential measures on loan to value ratios and more recently, there are talks of giving the RBNZ more power to restrict lending based on debt to income ratios. Quarterly value growth has more than halved since April as a result of these measures, rising 4.3% in the three months ending in July, down from 8.9% in the previous quarter. The New Zealand market is a good barometer for where Australia is heading, with unemployment down to 4.0% in NZ and inflation hitting 3.3%. Interest rates are almost certainly going to rise next month. We continue to watch the story unfold in New Zealand with keen interest. Olympic Games' impact on property values 1. Property price performance and major sporting events The trio discuss studies conducted on how major sporting events impact property price performance in host cities. The evidence shows that results are not uniform, and largely depend on the coordination and planning of developments and the scale of total investments. In other words, the development of infrastructure built for the purpose of the event and the longevity and repurposed use post the event. 2. When can you expect an uplift in prices? The Property Professor shares research conducted on the Sydney Olympics, which revealed that host suburbs experienced substantially higher growth during the bidding and pre-Olympic periods, but not after the Olympics were held in 2000. 3. Athlete villages across the world and post-Olympic planning The trio discuss the athlete villages built for London, Rio, Munich, Turin and Tokyo. Athlete accommodation in these cities has been repurposed with varying degrees of success, from selling to private owners, public and refugee housing and student accommodation. The key to understanding whether these dwellings will be a good investment, will largely depend on the post-event plan, execution and desirability. 4. The story of West Heidelberg and Wendouree after the Melbourne 1956 games West Heidelberg is on the fringes of Melbourne's affluent eastern suburbs, yet struggles with considerably higher levels of crime and poverty. Post the Olympic Games, the athletes village was converted to public housing, with 2,000 public housing residents living in the Olympic village today. It continues to be a low socio-economic area, similar to Wendouree West in Ballarat which hosted the rowing events. 5. Longevity of stadiums Nations hosting major sporting events are getting creative with their building of infrastructure, in particular, building temporary structures which will be demolished after use. For the Winter Olympics, South Korea built a temporary stadium which was used 4 times and immediately torn down. A stadium built out of shipping containers is being built for the Qatar 2022 World Cup. If you are going to invest, be sure that the infrastructure that lures you in the first place is going to stay on! 6. Infrastructure upgrades that drive values The trio...

https://propertyplanning.com.au/propertyplannerbuyerprofessor/ In this week's episode, Dave, Cate and Pete take you through: 1. Value growth tapers over July National housing values increased a further +1.6% in July. Although still a strong result, value growth has been tapering from the recent peak in March 2021, where value growth reached +2.8% for the month. The trio explore the drivers contributing to the dissipating steam in the market, from affordability, seasonal factors and recent lockdowns in major capital cities. 2. Annual growth rates inch closer record highs CoreLogic annual growth rates report +16.1% growth for the national market over the last 12 months. This is not far off the standout year of 2003, where growth reached +19.3%. The trio discuss the likelihood of 2021 topping this record high, where already for the months of January through to July this year, growth has achieved +14%. Annualised, a forecasted figure of +21% results, but what impact will the lockdowns have? 3. Hobart, Darwin and Canberra over 20% The nation's smallest capital cities of Hobart, Darwin and Canberra are leading the pack for annual growth. Interestingly, Darwin is at the top of the ladder recording a whopping +23.4% annual growth, but is also the cheapest capital city with a median price of $486,054. Darwin's history has been volatile in terms of property price increases and decreases, so no one is suggesting to jump on board the Darwin bandwagon. The trio wonder whether the large increase in property listings for Darwin, (which is up +39% from last year), indicates that Darwin property owners are taking advantage of the growth spurt to jump ship. 4. Housing boom takes on the world Of the 40 countries covered by the OECD, only 3 have experienced declining house prices in the first three months of 2021. This is the smallest proportion since the OECD began tracking this data in 2000. This global phenomena can be put down to all the stimulus money floating around, as countries fight off the economic impacts of the pandemic. Despite our friends in New Zealand abolishing negative gearing and implementing macro prudential measures to take the heat out of the market, prices continue to rise. This indicates that it's not investors who are driving up prices. 5. Lending indicators continue to show increased activity from investors Recent ABS data shows that new loan commitments relating to housing fell overall -1.6% in June. First home buyers took the biggest hit, falling -7.8%, while investors showed a modest increase of +0.7%. The trio discuss buyer fatigue, increasing unaffordability and the end of government incentives which mark the shift. However, investors make up 28.7% of the current residential property lending market, which is still a way off 2015 levels of 45% which sparked APRA intervention. 6. Regionals continue steady growth Regional cities continue their strong growth run, posting +1.7% growth vs capital cities +1.6%. Whilst covid certainly sparked an 'escape from the city attitude', the trio pose the question whether the increased dwelling sizes and affordability to purchase larger homes are actually what's driving regional interest. 7. Property listings tell the story of demand far outstripping supply The number of listings that have been on the market for over 6 months has reduced drastically, down 49.8% from the last year. This indicates that demand is so strong, less desirable properties are being snapped up due to the current level of competition in the market. The past 12 months has seen...

https://propertyplanning.com.au/propertyplannerbuyerprofessor/ Weekly market updates 1. NAB late to the property party - bumps up property forecast for 2021 In its quarterly report, NAB has recently adjusted its property forecast for national price growth to now hit 19% in 2021. This is bumped up from its prediction 3 months ago of 14%, (and 6 months ago of 8%). Just goes to show, that if you're not a specialist in the market, you tend to lag behind the data and we're seeing that consistently across banks and investment firm economists. And of course, being bold is not how many economists like to express themselves. 2. Labor reveals plans for property in the run up to the next election A collective sigh of relief was audible all over the nation, after Labor announced that it would not be pursuing changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax. This is an encouraging result, as we are currently facing a housing crisis in our country, and the most vulnerable are experiencing challenges in the rental market. It may come as a surprise, but more than 90% of property investment only own one or two properties. Signalling that it is mum and dad investors that make up the majority of these investors, and while some could say that they are and simply looking to better their retirement, the reality is that they are providing shelter to a significant percentage of our nation's population, and unlike many other nations, Australia doesn't have a social housing policy that provisions for shelter for the majority of renters. How our ageing population drives Australian property markets 1. Ikigai and retirement planning, what is your reason for being? The trio discuss the importance of retirement planning, which for our younger generations, may seem too far into the future to imagine. However, the proliferation of the FIRE movement (financial independence, retire early), has started to permeate and evolve traditional thinking around retirement ages. There are other options that investors can take to retire early, but this takes planning and sacrifice to make happen. Of course, a big part of retirement planning is ensuring that you have a reason for being (or getting out of bed each day), which the Japanese call 'Ikigai'. So much of our identity can be connected to what we do for work, and it is important in retirement planning to ensure that you have the ability to fund your interests once work slows down or stops. 2. Explaining our population pyramid Over time, the percentage of our ageing population has increased. In 1927 our population aged 65 and over was 5%, which moved to 9% by 1977 and is now 15% as at 2017. ABS Projections expect that this will have reached 22% by 2057 and 25% by 2097. 3. Global impacts of an ageing population Australia is not the only nation facing the challenges of an ageing population. Across the globe, Japan's economy has been stagnating for decades, due to increased costs for health and retirement funding. With it's one child policy, China was heading this way too, but have since evolved their policy to mitigate the effects. If China's economy stagnates, this could have international impacts. Thankfully, Australia has one of the best retirement funding schemes in the world, but many who are currently retiring didn't have access to Superannuation for their entire working life. 4. Historical and social factors that have contributed to our increasing elderly population The trio discuss the key changes in our society and economy that are driving our ever-increasing elderly population. From life expectancy, waves of migration activity, women in the work force, slower birth rates and families having less...

https://propertyplanning.com.au/propertyplannerbuyerprofessor/ In this week's Ep#111, Dave, Cate and Pete take you through: 1. Booms and busts The trio discuss the booms and busts from the years of 2003 to 2020. For each capital city and nationally, they cover the top performing 3 years and also the bottom 3 years during this time. Check out our show notes for a special excel visual with all of the key data. 2. 2003 the star performer 2003 was the best year nationally and made it in the top 3 for each capital city, except Darwin. Although not in the top 3 for Darwin, this capital city still clocked double digit growth for the year. Nationally, price growth for 2003 reached a whopping 19.3%. The trio explore the various reasons why 2003 recorded top results, from availability of finance, movements of baby boomers and first time buyers, the advent of mortgage brokers, introduction of government stimulus and property price stagnation in the years leading up to this boom. 3. 2018 the worst year Nationally, 2018 was the worst year during this period, recording home value declines of 5.5%. Interestingly, this was also the worst year for Melbourne and Sydney, and third worst year for Brisbane, but not for any other capital city. This speaks to the weight of the Sydney and Melbourne market, and their influence on national prices. The trio were happy to blame credit policy as one of the key ingredients for this particular year's woes in the residential housing market. 4. The astounding story of Hobart in 2003 Amazingly, Hobart exhibited median house price growth of 55.3% in 2003. How can that be? The trio discuss the pre-2003 environment on mainland Australia which saw Hobart quickly become a magnet for investors and retirees. As the population of Hobart is so low, any peaks or troughs in interest can have a great impact on property values. 5. Resource markets The early noughties saw the resources sector start to boom, which correlates to double digit increases for Perth from 2003 to 2006 and Darwin to 2007. These cities are greatly impacted by the health of their leading industries, which meant that unfortunately, prices have decreased since, and are yet to reach their previous peak. 6. Adelaide going slow and steady As a capital city, Adelaide doesn't have major economic drivers like resources, which can do wonders for property. It also lacks the overseas interest that Melbourne and Sydney are fortunate to have. Furthermore, if a property investor decides to purchase outside of their own capital city, they generally look to Queensland. The result is that price fluctuations in Adelaide are less severe, and there are only two years where Adelaide has experienced double digit growth. However, in its third worst year, Adelaide still experienced positive growth. 7. The property market is like a garden Just like a garden, there are many factors which determine the health and prosperity of the property market - location, sun, soil, water, plants, environment and the bugs! The property market is multifaceted market, and a micro version of the broader economy with so many inputs and outputs that determine the outcomes. The trio discuss the difficulties in being able to point to one factor which ultimately drives price increases and declines. It's important to remember that the market is not driven by investors, but majority owner occupiers, who are driven by personal factors and emotion. 8. The impact of government policy Arguably, the politicians are the bugs in the garden - which either pollinate to promote growth or eat away at the crop. One factor which always has a hand...

https://propertyplanning.com.au/propertyplannerbuyerprofessor/ In this week's episode, Dave, Cate and Pete take you through: Market insights 1. Latest unemployment figures exceeds expectations In the latest figures released by the ABS, the unemployment rate has come down to 4.9% in June from 5.1%. The last time we saw unemployment this low was in June 2011. On the other hand, underemployment has increased to 7.9% in June (from 7.4% in May). It's probable this was caused by the extended lockdown at this time in Vic. Notably, Vic has the lowest unemployment rate of all the states and territories, with unemployment at 4.40%. 2. Time to buy a dwelling index shows slight improvement The 'Time to buy a dwelling' index produced by the Westpac Melbourne Institute has shown an increase of 0.8 points to 96.9 from June to July. Although an improvement, it is still in negative territory, with the index down substantially from its peak in November 2020 of 132 points. The consistently weaker trends likely reflect concerns about the impact of sharp price increases on affordability, especially amongst prospective first home buyers and owner occupiers. 3. Lowest vacancy rates nationally since May 2011 National vacancy rates recorded by SQM research show the economy continues to move in a very positive direction. The vacancy rate fell from 1.8% in May to 1.7% in June, which is the lowest vacancy rate since May 2011. The Sydney and Melbourne CBD apartment market also shows positive steps to recovery, with Sydney falling 0.5 to 6.3% and Melbourne falling 0.3 to 5.8%. It is fair to mention that despite the oversupply of CBD apartments in our two capital cities, the overall vacancy rate is extremely tight and is illustrating a growing concern for the plight of renters. 4. NSW relief packages for residential landlords In an effort to assist NSW residential landlords, a grant of $1,500 or land tax reductions are available for landlords who come to an agreement with their tenants to decrease rent, to assist with reduced incomes due to Covid. The trio discuss the merits of this policy, which is able to offset some of the loss that generous landlords are shouldering. Rightsizing 1. Who are the baby boomers? The baby boomer generation were born between 1946 and 1964 and would be currently be aged between the ages of 57 to 75 years. Baby boomers make up 25% of the population, but own more than half of Australia's national wealth (53%). Given the baby boomer generation have the highest home ownership rate of all cohorts (above 80%), a lot of their wealth would be tied to property. Their economic footprint is twice as large as their demographic footprint, however, due to compound growth over time, it makes perfect sense that the older cohort should have proportionately more wealth than younger ones. 2. Effects on Australian residential property Unlocking the baby boomer's wealth in property (which could be around two trillion dollars), could be critical to the future of home ownership rates, and potentially also to the creation of seniors' accommodation, and to aged care policy. As our population is aging, there will be added costs associated with supporting the older generations, plus more demand for suitable property for our older generations (including aged care). Lower home ownership rates have been recorded in younger generations, no doubt due to other social reasons, including people choosing to get married and start a family later in life. A study by the productivity commission concluded that 60 per cent of...

https://propertyplanning.com.au/propertyplannerbuyerprofessor/ In this week's Ep#109, Dave, Cate and Pete take you through: 1. Property market acceleration is reducing, but still going strong June's growth rate of 1.9% is down 30 basis points from May 2021 2.2%, and 90 basis points from a recent peak in March 2021 2.9%. All capital cities except Canberra have posted weaker results than in May. Most notably Perth and Darwin are trailing, where they fell to 0.2% growth and 0.8% growth respectively. The trio discuss the reasons for reasons for deceleration, given that Perth was predicted to be on the top of the property ladder for 2021. 2. Upper quartile shows the largest deceleration Across the top 25% of dwelling values in the combined capital cities market, growth in dwelling values in the June quarter was 8.0%, down from 9.2% in the three months to May. While this 8.0% uplift was still the highest seen among the value tiers analysed, the growth rate also had the largest month-on-month deceleration. It's likely that we've hit the peak rate of growth and values will continue to decelerate. 3. Capitals vs regionals Combined capital cities are neck and neck with regionals since February 2021 this year. However, over the last year, capitals up 12.4% and regionals 17.7%. It's likely that we'll see some regions that will continue to flourish, particularly those that were on the rise pre-covid and that are within commuting distance to a capital city. 4. The emerging rental crisis All capital cities have seen an increase in house rents over the last year, with Darwin leading the pack with 23.6% growth. The story is similar for units, bar Melbourne and Sydney where the CBD apartment market has been most affected due to covid. The trio discuss the emerging rental crisis, where the most vulnerable will find it very difficult to get a roof over their head. A possible answer is increasing investor incentives, to get mum and dad investors into the market to share some of the housing load with the government. However, the government hasn't rolled out the welcome mat for investors and tax continues to be a hurdle, but possibly an area that could be re-evaluated. 5. Investor activity continues to increase ABS data shows that for 5 out of the last 6 months (Dec 2020 to May 2021) - investor activity has outstripped owner occupied activity for new lending. This could signal we're headed in the trajectory for more stock to be on the market for renters, which would increase rental affordability. 6. Profit making resales trending up CoreLogic data shows 9 out of every 10 properties are being re-sold for a profit, up from 89.1% in the previous quarter and the covid-induced low of 86.0% in the three months to June 2020. What can be seen is a large discrepancy between units and houses, with 16.8% of units selling for a loss vs 6.8% of houses selling for a loss in the March quarter. This is reflected in current growth rates as well, where all capital cities except Hobart showing houses increasing at a faster rate than units. The trio discuss how land to asset ratio will be a driving factor of this discrepancy. 7. Listings take a dive The number of new and total listings are looking pretty grim, with each capital city posting decreases except Darwin. Canberra and Melbourne have the biggest drop in new listings, with 10.1% and 21.7% respectively. These markets are more impacted by the colder months of winter, were stock on the market declines, due to the misconception that winter is not a good time to sell. The trio give an important tip to those...

https://propertyplanning.com.au/propertyplannerbuyerprofessor/ In this week's Ep#108, Dave, Cate and Pete take you through: Market insights 1. Race to the finish - Vic stamp duty concession is over The Victorian stamp duty concession for properties purchased under $1million ended on the 30th of June. This produced some last-minute scrambling for those trying to get the 25% discount for established property and 50% discount for new property. In Victoria, many auctions were brought forward and offers submitted, as the concession has greatly improved borrowing power for many, particularly first home buyers. This initiative was offered shortly after Melbourne's long lock-downs in 2020 in an effort to stimulate the property market. Little did our bureaucrats know that our market didn't really need external stimulus. Low interest rates would have been more than enough. 2. Latest unemployment figures exceeds expectations The ABS has recorded a drop in unemployment from 5.5% in April to 5.1% in May. Thankfully, Australia is one of only two nations that has more people employed now, than prior to when covid took hold. The lowest unemployment level reached in the last decade is 4.9% and we're not far away! Interestingly, despite Victoria's extended lockdowns, the unemployment rate in Victoria is 4.8%, while NSW sits at 5%. South Australia has the highest unemployment rate at 5.8% and ACT, the lowest rate at 3.6%. No surprises here, as the public service is less affected by downturns. The trio discuss the reasons behind the stellar unemployment result. Land tax 1. Land tax basics Land tax is an annual cost that is determined on the total value of the land you own, (with the exception of a principle place of residence). Unlike Capital Gains Tax, Land Tax is a state tax, with differing thresholds, tiers, rates and methods of calculation between each state. Another layer of complexity are the differing rates and thresholds for owning property in trusts or in a company. As you acquire property, you need to be mindful of your ever-growing land tax bill, and this is often not factored into cash flow costs when people make property decisions. The trio also discuss and explain how land values are calculated for tax purposes. 2. Tax on unimproved value Each year the Valuer-General evaluates the 'unimproved value' of the property, meaning the land portion without the dwelling. Funnily enough, the only time you want a conservative estimate of value is on your land tax bill and council rates notice. If you disagree with an estimate, you normally have 30 to 90 days to challenge it, and if found in your favour, this could save you thousands of dollars. More often than not, the value that the government apportions for your land is not what the market would give you. Where this will hurt, is in a falling market. Although you're more likely to be eligible for a re-assessment in this case. 3. The friendliest land tax states The trio outline the differences in land tax for each state. Which states have the lowest tax-free threshold? And which states offer the friendliest environment for building a property portfolio. Before you purchase your next property, you should be broadly aware of the land value component, and you should try to determine many properties you will accumulate over your life-time in each state. Having a plan that factors in land tax, helps an investor provision for cash flow obligations. 4. Tax decisions drive investment choices Political, financial and economic discussion is often centred around tax and it's implications. States may...