July 2010
Australian Real Estate And Investment Seminar Scams
July 31, 2010 by Editor · 2 Comments
Some investment seminars may try and convince you to follow high risk investment strategies, such as borrowing huge sums of money to buy property. Others promote investments that involve lending money on for no security—or with other risky terms. While investment advice can be legitimate and beneficial, it is important to look carefully at what an investment scheme or seminar is offering. Attending an expensive seminar or investing in the wrong kind of scheme can be costly mistakes. (more…)
Australian Labor’s election campaign has gone from bad to worse
July 31, 2010 by Editor · Leave a Comment
The letter to the editor published in today’s Age newspaper sums up the treachery that threatens to derail Julia Gillard’s campaign.
The PM just can’t seem to plug the leaks, with yet another damaging revelation in today’s Australian newspaper.
The report alleges that Julia Gillard, as deputy PM, demonstrated “scandalous” disregard for national security by sending her bodyguard to attend highly sensitive security meetings on her behalf. (more…)
Perth median house price drops dramatically in June quarter 2010
July 31, 2010 by Editor · Leave a Comment
A national real estate report has revealed Perth recorded the biggest drop in house prices in the nation for the June quarter.
Figures from RP Data and Rismark show national capital city home prices have fallen 0.7 per cent in the quarter. It is the first drop in prices in almost 18 months.
The price fall in WA was more dramatic, coming in at (more…)
NAB survey says Australians expect slowdown on property price gains
July 30, 2010 by Editor · Leave a Comment
Many Australians are bracing for a property slowdown over the next 12 months following the accelerated price expansion seen last year as the latest survey by the National Australia Bank (NAB) showed that the annual property price growth plunged from the 5.2 percent posted in March to a mere 1.4 percent in the June quarter.
NAB has expressed alarm that the figures were (more…)
Australian real estate values fall after 17 months of boom
July 30, 2010 by Editor · Leave a Comment
After 17 consecutive months of solid growth, dwelling values across Australia’s capital cities recorded their first monthly decline of 0.7% (seasonally-adjusted) in June according to the market-leading RP Data-Rismark Hedonic Home Value Index. This was the largest monthly fall in home values since April 2008.
The June outcome follows on from a clear trend in the decline in monthly seasonally-adjusted growth rates in Australia’s capital cities over February (+1.0%), March (+0.9%), April (+0.6%) and May (+0.3%). (more…)
Aussie bank headlines you won’t want to see
July 30, 2010 by Editor · Leave a Comment
”Australian banks in half trillion dollar derivatives scare” is a headline no-one wants to read. And while it’s unlikely to ever appear, it is possible. So forewarned might be forearmed.
In Monday’s column I showed how Australia’s banks have far more in loans outstanding than they have in deposits.
Now it’s time to explore how that situation came to be and how the banks deal with the risks it presents. (more…)
New South Wales not worst performer: Roozendaal
July 30, 2010 by Editor · Leave a Comment
The NSW government and business have questioned the credibility of a survey that ranks the state’s economy last in the nation, despite official statistics showing it’s the fastest growing.
CommSec ranked NSW equal worst with Queensland, saying its economy was being weighed down by poor performance on growth, dwelling starts, retail trade, construction and unemployment.
The regular State of the States survey, which compares current growth against a decade-long average, had ranked NSW last in April and in January. (more…)
Producer price index won’t curb Australian rate rise: economists
July 30, 2010 by Editor · Leave a Comment
Weaker than expected producer price data won’t stop the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) from raising the official interest rate in August, economists say.
The Producer Price Index (PPI) at the final stage of production rose 0.3 per cent in the June quarter, for an annual rise of 1.0 per cent, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Monday.
This compares with a 1.0 per cent rise in the March quarter.
The figure is below market expectations, which were for a June quarter rise of 0.8 per cent and an annual rise of 1.5 per cent. (more…)
Survey shows strength of Western Australian economy
July 29, 2010 by Editor · Leave a Comment
Results of a survey of state economies confirms what West Australians have long known, that the state is going exceptionally well, Acting Premier Kim Hames says.
WA has become the nation’s best-performing economy and Queensland and NSW tied for last place in the latest CommSec state and territory economic rankings.
The survey assesses states’ economic growth, retail spending, equipment investment, housing, unemployment, construction work and population growth. (more…)
Aussie housing shortage to worsen says Australand
July 29, 2010 by Editor · Leave a Comment
Developer Australand Property Group says housing affordability will become increasingly strained because of higher interest rates but the company remains well placed to meet the nation’s housing shortage.
“There is currently a shortage of some 200,000 homes at a national level and probably about half of that demand is in Sydney,” Mr Johnston said.
Mr Johnston said the major constraint was the amount of land being made available, both greenfield sites and urban infill. (more…)
Housing worries weigh heavy on Australians
July 29, 2010 by Editor · Leave a Comment
Eight out of ten Australians are worried about a lack of infrastructure and affordable housing given the growing and ageing population, new research shows.
The nationwide polling, carried out by Galaxy, found more than 90 per cent of Australians believed both federal and state governments needed to do more as the country’s population over 65 doubles and the number of taxpayers to support them halves. (more…)
Australian CPI not just a worry for homeowners
July 29, 2010 by Editor · Leave a Comment
Labor’s economic management will come under the spotlight on Wednesday when official inflation numbers are released – figures that could trigger an interest rate rise next week.
The Reserve Bank has already indicated that its rate decision at next Tuesday’s monthly board meeting could hinge on these inflation results for the June quarter.
Central bank governor Glenn Stevens has also made it clear that the election campaign will not stand in the way of an interest rate rise if it is required to curb inflation pressures, just as it was needed in the 2007 election when the coalition was in power. (more…)
Do Australian banks have an Achilles’ heel?
July 28, 2010 by Editor · Leave a Comment
According to one legend, when Achilles was born, it was foretold that he would be killed in battle by an arrow. So, in an understandable pre-emptive move against that fate, his mother took him to the river Styx which could confer powers of invincibility.
She dipped the infant into the river but, fatefully, held him by the heel, thus leaving this part of his anatomy untouched by the magical river’s water.
Australia’s big banks might be likened to the legendary warrior; surviving, as they have, the Global Financial Crisis
US existing-home sales dip for second month in June 2010
July 27, 2010 by Editor · Leave a Comment
Existing US home sales fell for the second straight month in June, an industry group said on Thursday, reflecting weakness in the housing industry which was at the epicentre of the financial crisis.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said that sales of single-family, town homes and condominiums slipped 5.1 per cent to 5.37 million units from 5.66 million in May. (more…)
Why Abbott and Gillard can’t forget the global economy: Kohler
July 27, 2010 by Editor · Leave a Comment
“All politics are local”, said former US House of Representatives speaker Tip O’Neil, and the 2010 Australian election looks like conforming pretty closely to that aphorism, with two sets of strikingly similar, intensely local policies – so far at least.
But the big challenges for the incoming government will all be global, revolving round the response to some of the most powerful economic shifts in a century.
Specifically China is likely (more…)
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