Property developer One Living, backed by former Macquarie banker turned investment manager Chris Green’s investment firm, has unveiled plans to bring more institutional capital into housing to help address the national supply crisis.

The New York-based investor has focused his firm, GreenPoint Partners, on addressing the supply shortage hitting middle market housing in Australia.

It is backing the new One Living business to develop more than 1000 units along the eastern seaboard. The new firm is starting with a development on Mona Vale Road, on the border of Mona Vale and Pymble, in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, with around 140 apartments planned. They are eyeing off more sites across the city.

With cost pressures rising in the industry, One Living’s model is to be a vertically integrated developer-builder, so it can respond directly to the housing gap by removing the cost inefficiencies embedded in traditional residential delivery.

“We are building a platform designed to operate at scale and starting in a market where there’s a clear need for quality, attainable housing,” One Living joint managing director Joseph Scuderi said.

“It’s that missing middle – it’s that attainable end of housing… that’s what most Australians invest into and what Australians can actually afford.”

<img alt="Mona Vale" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="798dfa93-4941-4db6-a696-31e9dc18e81c" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-05-28%20at%202.31.50%E2%80%AFPM.png?VersionId=mKBqi5C_DmeiXS.AtJkcR8LQIxqCqmFi" />

GreenPoint Partners brings years of experience assembling and scaling real estate operating businesses across major markets. And Green sees a big opportunity in Australia.

“For its size, sophistication and importance to the community, Australia’s living sector has remained largely under-institutionalised, which represents significant opportunity,” Green said. “GreenPoint identified that gap, assembled the right team, and is backing One Living to build a platform that is aligned to market needs.”

Green said being a builder-developer would give the company the capacity and flexibility it required to deliver reasonably-priced homes.

“We want it to be at that attainable level; not super high end luxury but at that attainable level,” he said.

<img alt="Mona Vale" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="74a5344a-4b26-4d4a-ada3-056b1220be77" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-05-28%20at%202.32.15%E2%80%AFPM.png?VersionId=vY8hXHO4reBMdO8ZXMWCNtGZJofUPQ3j" />

&nbsp;

One Living will undertake a component of affordable housing in its schemes, which it will own and operate, and it could also run build-to-rent on some sites.

Green praised local policy settings.

“The NSW government is being very supportive, strategic and pragmatic in terms of how do we generate more supply of housing,” he said. “We think it’s actually positive for development and the bit that’s been lacking at that attainable level is that it’s lots of relatively small private developers, whereas we want to create an institutional platform.”

One Living is also&nbsp;looking at high-density projects and could take on more institutional funding in the future.

“The way we will be able to achieve economies of scale is through size,” Green added.

Joel Robinson

One Living enters Sydney's new apartment market with Northern Beaches site acquisition

It's been several years since there's been an opportunity to buy a brand new townhome in Melbourne's coastal suburb of Mordialloc. Even apartment developments in recent times have been few and far between in the area.

Local developer LDS Property identified the gap in new housing, securing a site on White Street, directly opposite&nbsp;Woodlands Golf Club Mordialloc. They've recently launched&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-townhouses/wm-residences-mordialloc-102-white-street-mordialloc-vic-3195">WM Residences</a>, just 13 townhouses which they have already started building.

Projects by Buxton Director Heath Thompson, who is selling WM Residences, says the townhouses x that perfect middle ground be

"Mordialloc residents have had limited options to downsize within the suburb, often forcing them to look elsewhere despite long-standing ties to the area," Thompson says.

"With very little comparable new supply coming to market, projects like WM Residences are well placed, particularly as buyers look to capitalise on current conditions amid constrained supply."

[smartcode_project:default project_id=134646 project_image_fid=6109]

The development, designed by regarded architecture firm&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/ewert-leaf">Ewert Leaf</a>,&nbsp;adopts a deliberately restrained architectural approach, focusing on simplicity, durability and liveability rather than overt design gestures.

The boutique scale is central to the offering. With only 13 three-bedroom residences, each home is configured to prioritise functional layouts and everyday use, supported by private terraces and secure two-car garages.

Ewert Leaf’s design response leans into a calm, neutral material palette. Interiors are defined by oak flooring, white walls and soft finishes, creating a consistent and understated backdrop. The approach avoids trend-driven detailing in favour of longevity, with an emphasis on natural light and spatial clarity.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=134646 project_image_fid=6110]

Beyond aesthetics, the homes are designed to meet contemporary performance expectations. Each residence targets a minimum 6-star energy rating, incorporating double glazing, comprehensive insulation and all-electric Bosch appliances.

The project’s location supports a walkable coastal lifestyle, sitting within close proximity to Mordialloc’s foreshore, Main Street retail strip and the train station. Local cafés and dining venues, including Suburbia Deli and Hendriks Café, are within a short walk, reinforcing the area’s established neighbourhood character.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=134646 project_image_fid=6116]

While <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/mordialloc-vic-3195">Mordialloc</a> is often defined by its beach and pier, the project taps into other areas of day to day living, offering easy access to local food, casual dining and transport, rather than positioning itself purely as a lifestyle retreat.

WM Residences reflects a continued trend across Melbourne’s coastal suburbs towards smaller-scale, design-led townhouse developments, particularly on infill sites where proximity to amenity is already established.

With construction commenced prior to its market entry, the project aligns with a growing preference among buyers for developments with visible progress and defined delivery timeframes.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=134646]

WM Residences fills gap in Mordialloc townhouse market

&nbsp;

Developer GURNER™ Group has revealed $1.65 billion in residential sales nationally across the 12 months to December 2025, driven largely by the continued momentum of its Docklands wellness-focused precinct, Elysium Fields.

The sales result was generated across seven projects in Victoria and New South Wales, headlined by Elysium Fields, GURNER™’s $2.75 billion mixed-use precinct planned for Harbour Esplanade in Docklands.

The project has recorded more than $500 million in sales across the first three towers, equating to around 580 apartments sold.

The first tower, Helios, has now sold out of its 240 private residences, with GURNER™ preparing to release a premium penthouse collection comprising 15 three-bedroom penthouses in coming weeks.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=144441 project_image_fid=370975]

Elysium Fields is being developed on the long-held 20,000 sqm Docklands site at 208-226 Harbour Esplanade, which had remained undeveloped for more than two decades prior to GURNER™ taking over the project around four years ago.

Construction has now commenced across four towers ranging between 18 and 30 storeys, with Hamilton Marino and Maxcon appointed as builders.

Once complete, the precinct is expected to comprise around 1,100 residences, alongside retail, hospitality and public realm uses integrated throughout the site.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=144441 project_image_fid=370981]

Designed by Fraser &amp; Partners in collaboration with GURNER™ Design House, the project has been positioned around the developer’s broader focus on wellness-led residential living.

“We don’t sell apartments. We create a true luxury lifestyle that simply doesn’t exist elsewhere in the market today,” Founder and Executive Chairman Tim Gurner said.

“To deliver that requires an extraordinary level of detail, coordination and discipline across multiple verticals, from design and hospitality through to wellness and service.”

“We’ve always believed that living extends far beyond the physical residence. It’s about how you feel the moment you arrive, how you live day-to-day, and the ecosystem that supports that.” 
[smartcode_project:default project_id=144441 project_image_fid=370977]

The project’s design places a heavy focus on landscaping, wellness amenities and biophilic design principles.

Plans include around 3,700 sqm of landscaped gardens and open space throughout the precinct, alongside a retail and dining offering spanning approximately 5,000 sqm.

The broader public realm strategy centres around what GURNER™ describes as the “Path of Life”, an urban forest and landscaped pedestrian environment intended to connect the various buildings and wellness spaces across the precinct.

The apartments themselves will incorporate a range of wellness-focused inclusions, including purified air and water systems, circadian lighting, antimicrobial surfaces, and optional in-home wellness upgrades.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=144441 project_image_fid=370980]

Gurner said the company’s experience through its Saint Haven wellness clubs had directly informed the residential offering now being incorporated into Elysium Fields.

“We’re seeing a clear global shift toward longevity, performance and proactive health,” Gurner said.

“Our role is to deliver that in a way that feels seamless, highly private and beautifully resolved within the environments we create.”

A large component of the wellness offering is planned through the resident amenity and health facilities proposed within the precinct.

That includes plans for bathing and recovery facilities spread throughout the towers, incorporating mineral pools, saunas, steam rooms, flotation therapy, red light therapy and wellness lounges.

The developer is also seeking approvals for what it describes as a “reverse ageing medical clinic” within the precinct.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=144441 project_image_fid=370978]

According to project information released by the group, the proposed facility would include cryotherapy, IV infusion therapy, infrared and dry saunas, PEMF beds, MRIs, DEXA scans, brain scans and blood analysis services.

Within the first tower, Helios, residents will also have access to a dedicated amenity offering known as the Sky Private Club.

The upper 15 levels of the building will include private lounges, dining spaces, rooftop amenities and optional private wellness studios integrated within residences.

The Helios tower itself comprises 260 apartments ranging between 60 sqm and 300 sqm, including a collection of penthouses.

That includes a planned two-storey penthouse spanning around 600 sqm with uninterrupted bay views.

The Elysium Fields precinct is being delivered in partnership with Digital Harbour Holdings, a consortium that includes the Liberman family, which controls the development rights across the Docklands site.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=144441 project_image_fid=370979]

The sales result comes as GURNER™ continues expanding its national development pipeline beyond Victoria.

“We have a strong pipeline across Australia and are now focused on scaling into key markets including New South Wales and Queensland, while continuing to build on our Melbourne base,” Gurner said.

“We currently have more than $3 billion in the market, growing to over $5 billion by October, and expect to materially outperform last year in the 2026 calendar year.”

The result also reflects the continued strength of the upper-end apartment market in Melbourne, particularly for owner-occupier-focused product with large-scale amenity and lifestyle offerings.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=144441]

Record result anchored by the Group’s “utopian” Elysium Fields precinct – defying market headwinds in Docklands.

Elysium Fields drive Gurner to $1.65 billion in apartment sales over 2025

National Australia Bank (NAB) will fund <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/palmera-residences-gold-coast-18-garfield-terrace-surfers-paradise-qld-4217">Palmera</a>, a $1 billion, 52-level luxury residential tower being developed by Central Equity in one of the Gold Coast’s most tightly held coastal locations at Northcliffe.

The project, launched recently by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/central-equity">Central Equity</a>, one of Victoria’s largest private residential developers, comes at a time when construction funding for large residential developments has become increasingly competitive as lenders tighten exposure to the sector.

Multiplex has been appointed the builder, and construction is now underway.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=108274 project_image_fid=365784]

Since its first project, Central Equity has delivered more than 85 residential developments with a combined end value exceeding $8 billion.

Palmera reflects Central Equity’s growing focus on the Gold Coast luxury apartment market and continues a relationship between Central Equity and NAB that dates back to the late 1980s, when the bank funded one of Melbourne’s earliest inner-city residential towers at a time when high-rise apartment living in the CBD was largely unproven.

“NAB’s funding of Central Equity’s $36 million CBD development in the late 1980’s to the financing of the billion-dollar tower today highlights the long-term relationship between the two organisations in delivering major residential projects” said Central Equity Founder and Chairman Eddie Kutner.

He said NAB’s early support was instrumental in helping establish the company’s development model.

“When we commenced our first residential tower in the late 1980s the concept of funding off-the-plan apartments was still largely untested in Australia,” Kutner said.

“NAB recognised the opportunity early and supported the project when others were uncertain. That relationship has now continued for more than 37 years across many developments.”

[smartcode_project:default project_id=108274 project_image_fid=365771]

Central Equity was established in 1987 when Melbourne’s CBD and Southbank precinct were still dominated by warehouses and commercial buildings. Fewer than 100 residents lived in Southbank at the time, and large-scale residential development in the inner city was not widely considered.

Recognising changing demographics and lifestyle preferences, the company began developing high-rise residential projects designed to bring permanent residents into the city centre.

Central Equity has provided accommodation for approximately 40,000 residents across Melbourne’s CBD and Southbank, while also incorporating supporting infrastructure including essential lifestyle facilities like retail spaces, childcare facilities and neighbourhood activity centres.

Central Equity has spent many years assembling the Palmera development site on the corner of Garfield Terrace and Frederick Street in Northcliffe, creating a supersite of around 3,300 sqm.

The developer said the Palmera apartment tower reflects its long-term view of the Gold Coast as a growing and increasingly diversified economy.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=108274 project_image_fid=365768]

Supported by infrastructure including the light rail network, major road upgrades expanded education, hospital and medical facilities and continued expansion at the Gold Coast Airport with more international and domestic flights.

Positioned in the tightly held Northcliffe precinct, the 52-level tower will deliver 347 apartments, targeting buyers seeking a high-end coastal lifestyle, from downsizers to interstate investors.

Designed by Marchese Partners with interiors by DBI, Palmera has been conceived as a next-generation residential offering, featuring a collection of oversized apartments, with premium three-bedroom residences offering sweeping northern views stretching from Surfers Paradise through to Burleigh Heads.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=108274]

NAB funds $1 billion Surfers Paradise apartment development, Palmera

Two years after completing one of the newest developments in North Sydney, developer <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/aqualand-australia">Aqualand</a> is turning its attention to the rapidly evolving St Leonards apartment market.

The developer, which completed AURA by Aqualand on North Sydney's Walker Street, has lodged plans for a 5,918 sqm site at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/33-37-herbert-street-st-leonards-nsw-2065">33-37 Herbert Street, St Leonards,</a> seeking approval for a pair of residential towers rising above a shared podium opposite Royal North Shore Hospital.

The proposal forms part of the broader transformation underway across the St Leonards-Crows Nest precinct, where former industrial and commercial sites are increasingly being redeveloped into high-density mixed-use projects tied to major transport infrastructure.

<img alt="Aqualand" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="2cc428cf-fe70-4cac-9cd5-264ad53af62c" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-05-28%20at%209.51.56%E2%80%AFAM.png?VersionId=otKSnHtbjAvAddOnovyXQMgcAwE6DMe1" />

According to the planning documents, the site sits “within the St Leonards–Crows Nest Strategic Centre, identified by the NSW Government as a key area for accommodating future jobs and housing across Sydney.”

The proposal has been designed by fjcstudio, formerly FJMT Studio, and is being progressed through the State Significant Development pathway due to its scale and affordable housing provision.

The scheme would comprise 413 apartments, including 46 affordable housing units, alongside retail and commercial uses fronting Herbert Street. The project would also include communal open space, landscaping, a swimming pool, gymnasium, children’s play areas and podium-level resident amenities.

Planning documents show the development would consist of a part-13, part-39 storey tower form positioned above a four-storey podium.

“The development comprises a unified podium that activates the street interface, and two setback towers to accommodate new housing supply while maintaining an appropriate human scale at ground level,” fjcstudio noted in its Design Report.

The northern and southern towers have been shaped to respond to the surrounding skyline while also limiting overshadowing impacts to nearby public open space, particularly Talus Reserve.

The design report said the differing tower heights were intended to “contribute to a varied skyline while responding to the surrounding built form context and solar access considerations.”

<img alt="Aqualand" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="36da62dc-ff9e-41f2-a7e3-7be38373751c" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-05-28%20at%209.51.45%E2%80%AFAM_0.png?VersionId=Mo6Rp2r.XRLTzIfg_PEEpw8NepDH8UBs" />

The site sits directly opposite Royal North Shore Hospital and within walking distance of both St Leonards Station and the new Crows Nest Metro station.

While the site itself sits just outside the formal Crows Nest Transport Oriented Development boundary, the planning documents repeatedly reference its alignment with the broader TOD objectives reshaping the Lower North Shore.

“The site is located adjacent to St Leonards Station and in close proximity to Crows Nest Metro which is within the Crows Nest Transit Orientated Development Accelerated Precinct which has been identified by the NSW Government to support housing delivery,” the Design Verification Statement noted.

According to fjcstudio, the project has been designed to respond to the broader transition occurring across St Leonards, where increasing residential density is being concentrated around transport infrastructure and employment hubs.

“The broader precinct is undergoing significant change, with a mix of existing mid-rise buildings and newer high-density developments,” the report stated.

“Recent and approved projects indicate a consistent shift toward taller built form, typically organised as tower-and-podium typologies with more active ground levels.”

The proposal includes close to 6,000 sqm of retail and commercial space across the ground floor and podium levels, designed to create a more activated street edge along Herbert Street.

Aqualand’s plans would also introduce a landscaped podium shared between the two towers, with communal open space in the form of a podium rooftop designed to support resident interaction and improve urban greening outcomes. The scheme would also introduce pocket parks at the northern and southern ends of the site, including a landscaped area at the corner of Herbert and Ella streets designed to improve pedestrian amenity and soften the streetscape.

&nbsp;

The proposal is being progressed through the NSW Government’s Housing Delivery Authority pathway, which was introduced to accelerate housing supply across the state. The application was declared State Significant Development in April 2025 following an expression of interest process.

<img alt="Aqualand" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="faf6d97d-2671-454f-b85a-fe1c6a7be608" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-05-28%20at%209.51.49%E2%80%AFAM.png?VersionId=diVd28OBVr5.YV.7prrOz.uAanwwwm7a" />

St Leonards has been particularly active with new developments in recent weeks. Developer SP Setia’s <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/news/nsw/first-look-sp-setia-targets-st-leonards-skyline-with-40-storey-tod-tower">plans for a new 42-storey tower</a> recently went on exhibition through the same pathway, while <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/news/nsw/first-look-stockland-plans-52-storey-538-apartment-st-leonards-tower">Stockland’s 52-storey tower proposal</a> was also recently unveiled.

Aside from the St Leonards project, which is expected to take around nine months to move through the approvals process ahead of a potential 2027 launch, Aqualand is also preparing to launch Boronia, a new apartment project in Roseville comprising around 111 apartments on Larkin Street.

The developer also has approvals in place for the next stage of the Barangaroo precinct, which will feature new residential, retail, hospitality and community uses, alongside a new metro entry across the five-hectare site.

More than 50 new retail destinations are planned for Central Barangaroo, alongside a 270-metre-long boulevard connecting Hickson Park to Nawi Cove. Together with Harbour Park, more than 50 per cent of the precinct will comprise public open space and parkland.

First look: Aqualand joins St Leonards apartment party

Terry Ryder

<html><body>
ABC News 24 seems determined to overtake the Sydney Morning Herald as the nation’s leading source of real estate misinformation.
Following recent instances of badly misinformed comments on property issues by presenters Michael Rowland and Virginia Trioli, News 24 did a dangerously inept report on Melbourne's inner city apartment market on Thursday last week.
The report characterised the situation as an exciting boom. Not a word about inflated prices, two-tiered marketing practices, high vacancy rates and potential for market decline - and only the slightest reference to the possibility of oversupply.
The report allowed spruikers and marketers to eulogise the building boom as an endless summer of possibilities, without asking those with vested interests a single hard question.
In essence, developers are throwing up towers and peddling apartments to distant investors at inflated prices.  You might think: well, who cares? If Asians with too many dollars and not enough sense pay silly prices for bad real estate, that's their problem.
<blockquote>
There’s a shakeout of major proportions in the offing and you really don’t want to be part of it.
</blockquote>
But it's everyone's problem. Australians own property in these markets. I regularly meet people who have bought apartments in inner-city Melbourne - and can't get tenants, because the market is oversupplied.
I recently met an investor who owns three investment properties, all of them off the plan apartments in Docklands and only now realising there might be a problem.
These people will have to settle contracts at prices much higher than their property's market value. It's a disaster in the making. It has the ability to drag down the wider Melbourne market, to the detriment of families and the nation.
The inner Melbourne “boom” is toxic growth if ever I’ve seen it. Vacancies in the Melbourne CBD, Southbank and Docklands have been fluctuating between 5% and 10% recently - and will get worse, given the weight of new construction.
State Planning Minister Matthew Guy appears determined to aid and abet any developer who wants to build another tower, to the point where you have to wonder about his motives.
There was no sense of any of that in the shallow piece put together by the ABC News 24 team. 
At the end of the item, Jim Middleton weighed in with misplaced comments on foreign investors in Melbourne high-rise forcing up general Melbourne real estate prices and forcing Aussie battlers outs of the market.
Middleton also prattled on about price bubbles, putting the finishing touches to a consummate piece of misinformation. He made a goose of himself but will probably never know.
I urge all investors to stay away from the inner Melbourne apartment market. There’s a shakeout of major proportions in the offing and you really don’t want to be part of it.
Paying $700,000 for a two-bedroom generic apartment, in a market with tens of thousands of identical products, is the essence of bad investing.
You can contact Terry via <a href="https://mailto:ryder@hotspotting.com.au" target="_blank">email</a> or on <a href="https://www.twitter.com/hotspotting" target="_blank">Twitter</a>
Photo courtesy of Vincent Q/Flickr.
</body></html>

terryryder-YECXbqmri2

The inner Melbourne “boom” is toxic growth

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Whenever there's a perceived crisis in real estate, those who enjoy blame games will demonise negative gearing.
Top of the list of crises that exist in the minds of the paranoid and the misinformed is the affordability crisis. Affordability for buyers and affordability for renters.
There's a vast pile of research data disproving the idea of an affordability crisis for buyers - an idea that's largely the result of Sydney-centricity in mainstream media.
Equally, there is no rental affordability issue, except for people living on welfare benefits or the minimum wage, as outlined by Kasy Chambers of Anglicare Australia in a interview on ABC News 24 earlier this week.
One of the most interesting of current real estate phenomena is the lack of rental growth in capital cities in the past 12 months and in the past three to four years. Only Darwin and Perth have had strong rental growth in recent years and even there it has dissipated in the past 12-18 months.
One of real estate' core issues is the low level of residential yields in the major cities. This is because residential rents are too low, relative to sale prices.
<blockquote>
Eliminating negative gearing may slow down investor buying, but it won't cause prices to fall.
</blockquote>
But perceptions of poor affordability persist.
The cure-all beloved by many with loud voices attached to soft brains is to eliminate negative gearing tax benefits.
In terms of my personal situation, I don't care whether negative gearing exists or not because I don't own negatively geared properties. I prefer assets that pay their way.
But removing negative gearing would solve nothing. Rather, it would make many matters worse.
The fuzzy logic that leads some to believe it would do good is that price rises are caused by investors - and that property investors are essentially driven by negative gearing benefits.
But price rises are not caused by investor activity, in most cases. Investors are a minority force in the market and are motivated to buy, without emotion, at the lowest possible price.
The biggest force in residential real estate, and the sector with the motivation and financial capacity to pay a high price, is the group known as 'next time buyers' - i.e. home buyers other than first time buyers. People upgrading to a better home, often driven by emotion. If anyone drives up prices it's them.
So eliminating negative gearing may slow down investor buying but it won't cause prices to fall.
What it will do is cause rents to rise - a lot. Without the tax offset, residential property as an investment will lose its appeal for some, especially those buying in the major cities. A shortage of rental properties will develop quite quickly, as happened last time negative gearing was eradicated (before being rushed back in). Sharp rises in city rents will follow.
I note that Kasy Chambers of Anglicare, in calling for government action to improve rental options for those on very low incomes, <a href="https://www.anglicare.asn.au/site/medrel_5.php" target="_blank">stopped short of advocating an end of negative gearing</a> because she recognised the problems it would cause.
The other factor never discussed in this increasingly wacky debate is the longer-term impact for the nation. Australia wants its citizens to invest to create retirement nest-eggs, thereby easing the growing budget burden from paying pensions to an aging population.
I’ve heard people argue that the federal budget could save billions each year if it wasn’t paying out on negative gearing tax breaks, but the long-term cost would be far greater if Australians stopped investing in residential property to provide for their retirement.
You can contact Terry via <a href="https://mailto:ryder@hotspotting.com.au" target="_blank">email</a> or on <a href="https://www.twitter.com/hotspotting" target="_blank">Twitter</a>. 
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Removing negative gearing would only make matters worse

<html><body>
We're not asking the right questions. That's why the property industry is getting so many misleading answers about important issues.
I think this explains, in part, why so many believe we have an affordability crisis and a housing shortage, when so much of the research data contradicts these widely-held beliefs.
Surveys of prospective first home buyers usually ask whether they think they can afford a home. The answer is meaningless, or at best misleading, unless there are further questions.
Those might include:
<ul>
<li>
Why do you think you can't afford to buy? 
</li>
<li>
Have you tried to buy? 
</li>
<li>Where have you looked? </li>
<li>Are you willing to compromise to get into the market?</li>
</ul>
The big problem, as I see it, is not an affordability problem but an expectation problem.
If you read between the lines in industry surveys and street interviews by media, it's clear many wannabe home buyers have a perceived problem because they've absorbed newspaper headlines and looked no further.
Why bother when you read daily that prices are through the roof (when in reality this is true only of Sydney)?
Others have a problem because they want their dream situation in their first purchase. People are quick to complain they can't afford a home but then we discover they want to live in a million dollar suburb.
Many commentators on real estate issues such as affordability apparently believe nothing ever changes. The assumption is that the current generation of young adults want what their parents wanted and should behave accordingly. That assumption is wrong.
<blockquote>
The big problem, as I see it, is not an affordability problem but an expectation problem.
</blockquote>
When the market share of first time buyers declines, it's assumed there's an affordability problem. No other option is considered. The possibility of demographic change is overlooked.
This is the nub of the issue because it's clear that today's 20-something's have different priorities to their parents. Married with kids and a mortgage before the age of 30 is not on the bucket list. Lifestyle takes priority and commitments can wait.
There's a similar issue with the idea of an undersupply of housing. Individuals and organisations stating under-supply as a fact (one that's accepted by many journalists without question) also fall into the trap of believing nothing changes.
Their analysis is flawed because they're using out-dated models about how many new dwellings are needed for a particular level of population growth. The assumption is that the average household size is X and if you divide population growth by X, that's how many houses should be built.
But a lot has changed. Young Australians are staying longer at home with their parents. Overseas migrants comprise a major chunk of population growth but it's coming from non-traditional sources with different household patterns.
Household sizes are rising again. Whereas in the past the typical household was a small family in a big house with surplus bedrooms, people are now buying homes that reflect their actual needs - e.g. opting for a two-bedroom apartment rather than a large, expensive and wasteful four-bedroom house.
The bottom line is that housing demand is created when someone buys a block of land and engages a builder. If that's not happening to the degree many expect because of what their formula tells them, then the formula is flawed.
The industry that complains about the alleged housing shortage is the industry whose job it is to build houses. If the vast undersupply they claim is real, there's a massive opportunity being missed by the industry doing the grizzling.
The industry will continue spinning its wheels until it starts asking the right questions. If there's a shortage, where are the queues at housing estates? And why is there no rental growth? And what are the real reasons young people have stopped buying in numbers?
You can contact Terry via <a href="https://mailto:ryder@hotspotting.com.au" target="_blank">email</a> or on <a href="https://www.twitter.com/hotspotting" target="_blank">Twitter</a>. 
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The problem with first home buyers isn't affordability, it's expectations

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The latest Image of Professions Survey by Roy Morgan has the usual results: most of us trust health professionals and teachers, while few of us rate anyone involved in selling, whether it be cars, real estate or advertising.
Those who bring us the news, or their version of it, and our elected representatives also have low ratings on ethics and honesty. No great surprises.
I’d love this survey, which from time to time adds new professions to the poll, to include a rating for economists. I’m sure they’d be right down there with real estate agents and advertising people who score single-digit trust ratings.
The problem with economists is that they thrust themselves in front of TV cameras and radio microphones to present themselves as expert analysts and forecasters. Their dismal track records don’t phase them.
The problem is exacerbated when they insinuate themselves into areas beyond their alleged expertise, real estate being a prime example.
An even bigger problem is that journalists let them do it.
Chattering economists and lazy journalists combine to create the greatest source of misinformation in the nation.
This week presented the latest example. Apparently unable to await the release of key data by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, media springs to life in the days preceding the publication of the real figures to present the forecast of economists to a breathless public. This week’s example was the official data on inflation.
<blockquote>
Chattering economists and lazy journalists combine to create the greatest source of misinformation in the nation.
</blockquote>
A gaggle of 12 economists surveyed by media earlier in the week allowed journalists to pump out a warning that inflation was about to shoot beyond the 2% to 3% range beloved by the Reserve Bank. This was serious because it might influence a decision to raise interest rates. The annual inflation rate, we were told, would be 3.2% after a big rise in the March quarter.
I would have bet my house they would be wrong, because they are with unerring consistency. And of course they were. The annual inflation rate is still below 3% and we can all sleep easy at night.
But neither this nor all the other instances of faulty analysis and mis-forecasting will deter the average economist, described by one observer as “an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didn’t happen today”.
Economists are most dangerous when they lecture us about matters outside their speciality. And don’t economists love to pontificate on the Australian property market. The first clue that they’re frauds is that there is no such creature as the Australian property market.
The single biggest message in the latest price data on big city Australia, Australian Property Monitors’ House Price Report covering the March Quarter, is the high degree of segmentation from one market to the next.
Economists discussing the APM figures focused on the 2% rise in the “national” median house price for the quarter and the 11.3% annual rise.
It sounded like evidence of the much-trumpeted national property boom but proper analysis shows it isn’t so.
While the weighted average across the eight capital cities is a quarterly rise of 2% in house prices, three cities had declines in their median prices, one recorded no change and two had increases around 1%. Only two cities, Sydney and Melbourne, recorded significant increases.
The weighted average rise in annual terms is 11.3%, but six of the eight capital cities had growth well below that figure. Half the cities grew 4% or less. The weighted average was inflated by Sydney’s 17% annual increase.
There are similar variances in the figures for apartments. In the March quarter, three cities recorded median price decreases and three others recorded increases below 0.3% - but when economists talk about “the 8.3% annual rise in apartment prices” it creates the false impression of a raging market.
In truth, Sydney is the only city with a strong apartment market, with an annual rise in the median price of 12.7%, according to the APM figures. Every other city recorded an annual result below 5.5%, including two where median prices fell and two others where annual growth was 1% or less.
Sydney’s having a property boom but the nation is not.
There’s certainly no boom in Canberra, where median prices have dropped for both houses and apartments. Nor in Hobart, where the median apartment price is down 8.4%. Nor in Darwin or Adelaide where median prices have risen only marginally. Perth and Brisbane have had solid growth, but well short of boom status.
But flick on morning television tomorrow and you’ll see economists babbling about the national property boom and the need for governments to take action to stop foreign investors, or eradicate negative gearing, or deal with the alleged housing shortage, or the other imagined evils that are causing this national crisis.
As someone once observed: “Economists are like cross-eyed javelin throwers: they don’t win any accuracy contests but they keep the crowd’s attention.” For all the wrong reasons.
You can contact Terry via  <a href="https://mailto:ryder@hotspotting.com.au" target="_blank">email</a> or on <a href="https://www.twitter.com/hotspotting" target="_blank">Twitter</a>. 
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Economists are most dangerous when they lecture us about matters outside their speciality

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Seven years ago a real estate professional in Tasmania sent me a bottle of whiskey because he liked what I wrote about his area.
I don’t particularly like whiskey and I don’t want gifts for writing positive things about a location, because it carries a whiff of corruption. But it was an expensive brand of liquor and I do remember receiving it, the name of the person who sent it, who he worked for and the fact that I sent him a thank-you note – although it was seven years ago.
I’m certain that if someone sent me a $3,000 bottle of wine and I sent that someone a hand-written thank you note, I would remember it.
So I’m incredulous that some sections of the media are painting NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell as a noble statesman who sacrificed himself at the altar of ethics in politics after a memory lapse. Give me a break; he is merely the latest politician to be mired in the cesspool that is the Australian Water Holdings, which is shaping up as Australia’s Watergate. More big names will fall before this one has played out.
Favours to businesses and property developers, in return for gifts or party donations, are all too common in Australian politics. It’s the single most likely explanation for the unnatural enthusiasm of the Victoria state government for approving more and more apartment towers in a vastly oversupplied market, often over the top of local councillors who said ‘no’ to the project.
If you want to understand how the politics of property development work in Melbourne, read the novels of Peter Temple, which have been turned into a series of television movies starring Guy Pearce and currently running on ABC TV.
But back to New South Wales, which now has a new Premier. Whatever the reality of the Barry O’Farrell situation, there’s no doubt that the state economy and the Sydney property market have benefited from his governance.
For almost 10 years, most of it under an ALP government that gets my vote as the worst in my lifetime, the Sydney market went nowhere and was the chronic under-achiever of capital city Australia. Then last year it sparked to life and showed the first meaningful growth since 2003.
<blockquote>
Suburbs will rise not so much because they’re near the airport, but because they have rail or motorway links that previously did not exist.
</blockquote>
The single biggest difference is that money is being spent on infrastructure. As I have often remarked, infrastructure spending is the number one game-changer in residential real estate.
Until recently Adelaide, a city a quarter the size of Sydney, had more new infrastructure happening than did the nation’s biggest city. But now Sydney is receiving belated impetus from long-overdue spending on infrastructure, included rail links, motorway upgrades and hospital expansions.
Many investors are asking whether they’ve missed the boat in Sydney. The short answer is that they should have been buying in 2012, when prices were down and competition was scarce. The 2013 upturn was highly predictable – and now many areas have had double-digit annual growth. I would be focusing on regional areas of NSW with strong growth prospects and a much higher degree of affordability, including <a href="/news">Wollongong</a> and <a href="/news">Dubbo</a>.
The longer answer is that there is still more growth to come to Sydney and the key to finding it is to follow the infrastructure trail.
There will a considerable boost to locations out towards <a href="/news">Rouse Hill</a> as completion of the North West Rail Link draws closer. Plans to build the missing link motorway in the north of Sydney will impact suburbs in that area. And now a whole new series of impacts have been introduced with the possibility that the Badgerys Creek Airport may actually happen.
Don’t be in too much of a rush to exploit the airport plan, because the best clues about where to buy are yet to be revealed. The most influential aspect about that facility will be the transport infrastructure to be built around it – the road and rail links feeding into it.
Suburbs will rise not so much because they’re near the airport, but because they have rail or motorway links that previously did not exist.
You can contact Terry via <a href="https://mailto:ryder@hotspotting.com.au" target="_blank">email</a> or on <a href="https://www.twitter.com/hotspotting" target="_blank">Twitter</a>. 
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Follow the infrastructure trail to find future growth suburbs

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Already the questions are streaming in: how will the new Sydney airport impact on property markets?
Will Badgerys Creek make Penrith become a boom town? Will Liverpool surge? Where should I buy to benefit?
Many issues are evident here. One is that investors are constantly trawling for opportunities and for events that will be game-changers. Some are looking for shortcuts to wealth and see an announcement like Badgerys Creek as the door to a rapid windfall, if they can zero in on the best places to invest.
Another issue is about risk in real estate. And another addresses the elements that generate out-performance in real estate investment.
Let’s take the last issue first. There’s no doubt infrastructure is the biggest creator of real estate wealth. New infrastructure is the ultimate game-changer.
And the most influential is transport infrastructure.
<blockquote>
I suspect more people will waste money buying in haste than make money by getting it right.
</blockquote>
Hotspotting research shows that suburbs with commuter train stations have higher capital growth rates than those without. A new motorway or bridge can revolutionise the appeal of a location by making it more accessible. The intersection of two motorways is a magnet to warehousing and logistics real estate – and other forms of property spin off it, including residential.
The thing about a major new international airport is that it’s a double-edged sword, it can create problems as well as opportunities. Property under the flight path may suffer while others will benefit from the economy generated by the facility.
It’s similar with a commuter train station: the ideal is to be within walking distance but not so close as to suffer from the noise and the traffic.
The most direct real estate beneficiaries of a new airport are outside the residential sphere. A new airport creates, firstly, demand for hotels and secondly, for warehousing and other light industrial property.
Residential is an indirect beneficiary because an international airport creates a new economy with tens of thousands of jobs, and people like to live close to their work.
But perhaps the core issue is risk. When a project like Badgerys Creek is announced, lots of people dash about looking for ways to make a killing from buying strategic real estate. But the airport may never happen. This is the ultimate political football and there will much upheaval along the road to construction. Plans for a second Sydney airport have been talked about for close to 50 years. The Prime Minister’s announcement does not make this a certainty.
If it does happen, Badgerys Creek won’t be reality for maybe 10 years – although the Prime Minister hopes construction will start in 2016. But before that can happen, big issues need to be sorted, including funding, road and rail links, project partners and the issues of noise and flight paths.
Long-term, the impact of a new airport at Badgerys Creek would be enormous. Short-term, many investors will expend considerable energy trying to find out how best to turn the federal government’s decision into a personal windfall.
Many will feel they need to act urgently or they’ll miss a major opportunity. My advice is to take a cold shower, settle down and watch what happens.
I suspect more people will waste money buying in haste than make money by getting it right.
You can contact Terry via  <a href="https://mailto:ryder@hotspotting.com.au" target="_blank">email</a> or on <a href="https://www.twitter.com/hotspotting" target="_blank">Twitter</a>. 
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Sydney's new airport at Badgerys Creek will be a double-edged sword for investors

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Many have nominated Brisbane as the growth city for 2014. That certainly has been a core Hotspotting theme since the latter part of last year and nothing has happened to alter our view.
Brisbane was a moderate performer in 2013 (as were most of our cities, contrary to the media image of a national boom), only sparking to life with a return to price growth late in the year.
This happened on the back of increases in sales volumes. Brisbane ended the year with many suburbs and precincts rising on a pattern of increased market activity, pointing to price rises in 2014.
My Price Predictor Index revealed one precinct as the one most likely to lead Brisbane’s price growth revival in 2014: the northern suburbs of the Brisbane City Council area.
In most of our cities, dozens of local councils govern small portions of the metropolitan area. In Sydney, the City of Sydney encompasses only the CBD and a small number of near-city suburbs (only 4% of Greater Sydney’s total population) and there’s a similar situation is other big cities.
But Brisbane is different. The Brisbane City Council covers a major chunk of the metro area and there are only five LGAs governing the entire area of Greater Brisbane. And it’s the northern suburbs of the Brisbane LGA that have stood up as the market leader as 2014 rolls on.
Ipswich City in the south-west and Logan City in the south are also poised for growth, but the standout in terms of sales volumes is the northern portion of Brisbane City.
We rate Brisbane Northside as one of the top 10 municipalities across Australia for growth this year. Many of its suburbs have rising markets, including <a href="/news">Chermside</a> where consecutive quarters delivered 37 house and unit sales, then 80, then 101.
Others with ascendant markets include <a href="/news">Alderley</a>, <a href="/news">Aspley</a>, <a href="/news">Clayfield</a>, <a href="/news">Nundah</a> and <a href="/news">Zillmere</a>.
The northern suburbs of the Brisbane City Council LGA tend to be middle market areas, with median house prices between $450,000 and $600,000.
This is an area with good transport links, including the Gateway Motorway and rail links from central Brisbane through this precinct to the Sunshine Coast.
There are plenty of employment nodes, with hospitals, schools and government departments playing a large role. The region includes both Brisbane International Airport and the Port of Brisbane, near which is clustered the Australia TradeCoast commercial-industrial precinct.
There are major shopping complexes, including Westfield Chermside, Aspley Hypermarket and Toombul Shopping Centre. Brisbane Northside also has the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.
Residential property demand is strong throughout this precinct, with vacancies in most suburbs below 2.5%. There is a growing unit market in many suburbs – Nundah in the past 12 months had 112 house sales and 225 unit sales (median price $380,000), while Chermside had 103 house sales and 149 unit sales (median price $387,000).
This precinct, then, presents one of real estate’s power combinations: affordable dwellings, good infrastructure and plenty of jobs nodes.
Affordability, plus infrastructure, plus jobs nodes, usually adds up to price growth.
You can contact Terry via <a href="https://mailto:ryder@hotspotting.com.au" target="_blank">email</a> or on <a href="https://www.twitter.com/hotspotting" target="_blank">Twitter</a>. 
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The standout Brisbane suburbs poised to deliver growth

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Can anyone explain the absence of rental growth in our major markets?
Are we not suffering from a housing shortage crisis, with an accumulated undersupply of hundreds of thousands of dwellings?
Can the economists who speak constantly of this dwelling shortage explain how three of our eight capital cities recorded declines in house rentals in the March quarter, while four others recorded no growth?
Can the Housing Industry Association, the great champion of the shortage theory, explain why four of the capital cities recorded marked declines in apartment rentals, while two others recorded no change?
Do the laws of supply and demand no longer apply to residential property, such that Perth, Canberra and Hobart now have house rentals lower than a year ago (6% lower, in the case of the national capital), Sydney and Darwin have recorded zero growth, and only one city has recorded annual growth of more than 3%.
<blockquote>
The only capital city experiencing a boom worthy of the name is Sydney – which was overdue after a decade of under-performance.
</blockquote>
Out of eight capital city house markets and eight apartment markets, there is only one instance of solid annual growth in median asking rents – a 7% rise in Darwin’s apartment market.
Otherwise, according to the March Quarter Rental Report from Australian Property Monitors, it’s a story of stagnation or decline in residential rents in the capital cities.
This result, which is similar to the outcomes with rental reports from previous quarters stretching back to 2012, runs counter to the notion of shortages.
It’s also inconsistent with the idea of a national property boom, with markets rising as “a blistering pace”, as the ABC’s News 24 morning program misinformed us recently.
And speaking of research evidence that makes nonsense of claims about market performance, I continue to disbelieve the notion of a booming Melbourne market and I note similar sentiments expressed by SQM Research managing director Louis Christopher this week.
Christopher’s research on the number of residential properties listed for sale in each of the capital cities shows there are exceptionally high levels of supply available in Melbourne.
Melbourne currently has about 44,500 residential properties listed for sale. To put that into perspective, Sydney has only 24,200 properties listed.
This can be explained, partly at least, by the extraordinarily high levels of inner city apartments being marketed.
Christopher writes, “There are no new trends that have come out of the data this month - other than we note that Melbourne still has an elevated amount of listings in the market and so this has made us sceptical of recently-reported large increases in dwelling prices for that city.
“There is also further evidence that Melbourne vendors overall have struggled to lift their asking prices.”
Notions that the Melbourne market is rising strongly have been created by rubbery figures from the Real Estate Institute of Victoria and the rude haste with which RP Data spits out statistics under the “publish and be damned” principle.
In my view, the only capital city experiencing a boom worthy of the name is Sydney – which was overdue after a decade of under-performance.
You can contact Terry via <a href="https://mailto:ryder@hotspotting.com.au" target="_blank">email</a> or on <a href="https://www.twitter.com/hotspotting" target="_blank">Twitter</a>. 
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If the market's so hot then where's the rental growth?

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Valuations are at the heart of property investment – particularly when it comes to getting finance, or being refinanced, with a lender.
You might also just be asking ‘<a href="/news/how-much-is-my-home-worth-judging-a-propertys-value">What is my home worth?</a>’ and a valuation may appear to be the natural way to answer this question.
<blockquote>
MUST KNOW ELEMENTS:
IT'S NOT AN APPRAISAL
THEY'RE NOT AN EXACT SCIENCE
THERE ARE MULTIPLE TYPES OF VALUATION
COMPARABLES ARE HEAVILY RELIED UPON
YOU CAN ASSIST THE VALUER 
</blockquote>
There are also many reasons why you’d want to get an independent valuation – observer<a href="/expert-insights/investing/five-great-reasons-to-get-an-independent-valuation"> Cameron McEvoy aptly describes five crucial reasons you’d consider this</a> - and so it pays to be aware of what is involved.
Here are five ‘must know’ elements of valuations:
1) It’s not an appraisal
You may have had an appraisal with a real estate agent, and now believe that your home can fetch in excess of $630,000 on the current market. This may be the case, however a real estate agent’s appraisal is not a valuation, and will not be accepted by the bank as such.
While most real estate agents act with professionalism, investors must be aware that it’s not unheard of for real estate agents to alter the appraisal they provide you to match your expectations, and to be fairly bullish with their appraisals to secure a listing.
A valuer, however, is immune to these pressures, tasked with one job and one job alone – valuing your home.
2) They’re not an exact science
It will be of no surprise to any savvy investor that figuring out the price of a property is never an exact science, even for those trained in the valuation field. Similarly, obtaining two different valuations also isn’t an unheard of occurrence, and is the reason many investors will head to a different bank to obtain financing, particularly after a renovation.
Observer <a href="/expert-insights/investing/the-murky-waters-of-bank-valuations-mark-armstrong">Mark Armstrong refers to bank valuations as being ‘murky waters’</a>. “Remember if a valuation comes in too high and the bank loses money on the loan then the valuer maybe legally liable,” he notes, which may suggest why there is also a general impression in real estate that valuers are conservative with their estimates.
Similarly, it has been pointed out time and time again, such as <a href="/expert-insights/investing/home-valuations-can-be-subjective">by Mal James in this article</a>, that valuers are subjective. This is because they are human beings, and they act with the information provided and their knowledge to come up with the best possible response.
3) There are multiple types of valuation
While we’re focusing on a fairly rigorous in-person valuation, there are a number of different types of valuations. From the DIY desktop valuation (which have <a href="/expert-insights/investing/diy-website-property-valuations-mostly-askew">varying results of accuracy</a>), to the ‘kerbside’ drive by valuation, be aware that not all are created equal.
RP Data lists four different types of valuation that you'll want to understand:
<ol>
<li>Full valuation</li>
<li>Short form or pro forma valuation</li>
<li>Restricted valuation (to include “restricted assessment”, “kerbside” and “drive by” valuations)</li>
<li>Desktop (to include electronic valuer review - EVR)</li>
</ol>
4) Comparables are heavily relied upon
One of the major aspects that valuers look at to come up with a final figure is that of 'comparables'. That is, recent sales in your area that are close to your property in location and type. A valuer will be required to judge whether your property is superior or inferior to these sales, and so adjust their valuation accordingly. If you want to get an idea of how the valuation may stack up, it'd be worth finding out the latest sales that they will be looking at. This also means that for properties in remote areas, or unique style homes, it will be trickier for the valuer to come up with a figure and, therefore, more subjective and down to interpretation.
5) You can assist the valuer 
As with any property, present it with its best foot forward for the best change of securing a good valuation. While valuers do not want to be harassed, told how to do their jobs or provided information that could sway them against the numbers, you can be helpful and provide information about improvements undertaken since purchase.
Be on site, ready to ask and answer questions, and have all the information about your property on hand.
Despite the reasons to get a valuation, there’s always the other side of the argument. If you’re considering a valuation, you may also want to hear <a href="/expert-insights/investing/property-valuations-a-waste-of-time-and-money-terry-ryder">Terry Ryder’s thoughts on why valuations are a “waste of time and money”</a>. Late last year, Property Observer also covered a heated debate that asked for an ‘overhaul’ of the valuations industry.
Tips for those wanting to get the best from a valuer:
<ul>
<li>Provide them a list of comparable sales (potentially inside the same project, as well as some that are not). While not all valuers will use them, some will. 
</li>
<li>Apply for finance six months before completion, not six days and if you find the valuation comes in low it gives you time to get a third and a fourth. 
</li>
<li>Attain your own valuation, using a valuer that is on your bank's panel of valuers. 
</li>
<li>Ask to see a soft valuation so you can check the comparables used and the comments made. 
</li>
<li>Bear in mind that the valuer often has a different valuation for mortgage purposes as opposed to sale purposes. But mainly: 
</li>
<li>Do your research beforehand.  Go out and look at 100 or even 10 before you make a purchase decision. If you've done your research you should be confident it will value up.</li>
</ul>
Source: CPM Realty
FURTHER USEFUL READING 
<a href="/expert-insights/finance/how-to-get-property-valuations-right-terry-hayes">How to get property valuations right</a>
<a href="/expert-insights/investing/property-valuation-101">Property valuation 101</a>
<a href="/expert-insights/letters-to-the-editor-valuation-experiences">Letters to the editor: Valuation experiences</a>
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jduke-EHk3XBmHkn

Valuations: Five must know facts

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ABC television channel News 24 took about two minutes to encapsulate why misinformation is the greatest issue facing real estate investors.
Presenters Michael Rowland and Virginia Trioli and guest James Kirby managed to articulate every major myth in residential property in roughly 100 seconds of information mayhem last Friday.
Never in the history of human conflab has so much twaddle been dispensed to so many, by so few, in such a short space of time.
First we had Eureka Report’s Kirby, who may be informed on business affairs but is clearly not a real estate expert, making quite sweeping statements about “the property market” based on one set of numbers from a single source.
He made the mistake everyone in media is making – he extrapolated the situation in Sydney and, to a lesser extent, Melbourne to the whole country. (If Sydney’s having a boom then the whole nation is, apparently.)
<blockquote>
TV presenters simply should not comment on important issues about which they know little or nothing. This clearly includes real estate.
</blockquote>
Kirby also compared alleged price growth in the two big cities with current economic growth and inferred that this was out of balance, ignoring the reality that this is Sydney’s first growth year in a decade and that over the past 10 years Sydney price growth has averaged less than wages growth and not much more than the inflation rate (according to multiple sources, not the one source that misinformed Kirby’s generalised comments).
Kirby probably doesn’t realise he made a twit of himself because real estate is not his field of expertise. I get the feeling he had a quick scan of someone’s press release before going on the show to add his two bob’s worth to the great mass of misinformation that afflicts property markets nationwide.
Then the two ABC presenters weighed in.
Rowland spoke about “the blistering pace of housing prices right around Australia”. Given that six of the eight capital cities have recorded house price growth of less than 5% in the past 12 months, not forgetting the moderate growth in many regional markets, Rowland’s statement is quite irresponsible.
He and Trioli then made other off-the-cuff remarks about the lack of affordable housing, the importance for governments to take urgent action and the need to wind back negative gearing, presumably in the belief that this somehow will make housing more affordable.
Where does this nonsense come from? Everything they appear to believe about Australian real estate is contradicted by the research evidence.
I should point out that News 24 is my favourite channel on free-to-air TV and I enjoy Rowland and Trioli as one of the best news presentation teams in media.
But they simply should not comment on important issues about which they know little or nothing. This clearly includes real estate.
If you’re going to analyse an important industry to a national audience, for pity’s sake inform yourselves first. Do some research, rather than skimming the headlines in the Sydney Morning Herald, Australia’s biggest source of real estate misinformation.
Otherwise you’re part of the cycle of misinformation that hurts Australian consumers.
Here’s how media figures like Rowland and Trioli contribute to that cycle. They read something in a newspaper, they assume it’s accurate and they repeat it as fact. Through this process of regurgitation of misinformation, lies, half-truths and propaganda become accepted as fact by consumers, who then make bad investment decisions.
This helps to explain why most Australians who buy an investment property have a bad experience and, within five years, no longer own that property.
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Terry Ryder

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