Sometimes the best clues about what will happen with property markets come from the things happening behind the scenes, often hidden from the view of the general public.

News media obsesses over the latest price data as the best way, indeed the only way, to chart what’s happening with property markets.

But, for everyday consumers, this is essentially useless information because it tells you what has happened recently – if you believe the dodgy data pumped out by the attention-seeking research companies.

What Australian consumers really want to know is what will happen with prices in the future.

What has happened in the past might be interesting, but the past often does not inform the future, which is what matters most to people.

So our focus at Hotspotting is examining and analysing forward looking indicators – sets of information which can provide a clue to the future.