Over the past decade, the connection between cheaper money and housing market improvements has been broken, he says, by artificial stimulus like government first-home buyer grants and building boosts. These have distorted the normal property cycle, inflated demand and prices, and have made the housing market more cyclical than it used to be.

Underlining Matusik’s point is the fact that despite falls of nearly 1.5% in mortgage interest rates in the past year, new housing starts have continued to decline, and, soft April home values show that despite a somewhat stable start to 2012, national home values have slipped 0.7% year to date.

So, vendors who want to stand out from competitors must invest at least 1% of their home’s predicted sale price in marketing. Without some serious marketing push, there’s just no chance of standing out. Get professional photos taken and set an asking price – recent research shows 75% of buyers don’t even lift the phone to make an inquiry on properties without an asking price.

As with selling a car, presentation must be immaculate, every single time a buyer looks at the property. Clean the windows, light the fire (if you have one), trim the garden, plant or display fresh flowers and open all the curtains.

1. Increase the speed of population growth.
2. Increase the supply of raw land across urban Australia
3. Reduce approval times and unnecessary compliance red tape
4. Allow the market to dictate demand
5. Have new property valuations based on rental returns, not market comparisons
6. Reduce taxation on property (HIA research shows this is up to 40% of a new home’s final price)
7. Remove GST on new construction
8. Remove stamp duty from off-the-plan sale.

However, the biggest problem affecting demand is the current oversupply of property for sale. Buyers are simply spoilt for choice and too many vendors are unrealistic in their expectations.

Healthy supply levels run at about 200,000 homes for sale at any given time. Australia currently has 400,000. Even a 1% or 2% drop in interest rates is unlikely to make an impact on their salebility, unless it is combined with sharp market pricing and aggressive marketing.

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“With lowering interest rates and falling house prices, home buying is proving almost too attractive for many renters, but serious consideration needs to be given to the person’s individual and financial situation to ensure they make the right decision,” David Teasdale said.

“It may appear, on the surface, that purchasing a home may make more economic sense for those doing it tough, where the monthly mortgage is not too far off what they are currently paying for rent, but a closer look may reveal that incidental costs and a small change in circumstances could lead to an untenable situation.”

According to David Teasdale, the advantages of each housing option should be weighed against the drawbacks to find the one that best suits their specific needs and situation.

“Renting offers great flexibility with the option to relocate from home to home and area to area, as the need arises, which is not the case with buying a property,” David Teasdale said.

“If finances get tight, or the home situation changes for any reason, it is far harder to just pick up and go if you own your own home.

“Renting is also often a cheaper alternative to buying, especially in the inner city areas particularly favoured by Gen Y-ers who want that urban lifestyle close to where they work.”

While vacancy rates continue to be under pressure, the fact remains that renting may still be more affordable, with monthly rental payments usually less than a mortgage repayment for a comparable property and without the other incidental costs which can be incurred as a homeowner.

“One of the greatest financial and stress-free advantages of renting is that property maintenance costs, repairs, rates and insurance bills are the responsibility of the landlord, not the renter,” David Teasdale said.

Despite these many advantages of renting a property, there are some disadvantages which will make buying preferable, particularly in light of escalating monthly rentals. The most obvious one being when renting, it is not possible to put your personal stamp on a property to suit your individual style and design preferences.

“There is also the inconvenience, and in some cases pressure, of knowing your landlord has the right to inspect their property whenever they wish, with sufficient notice, potentially disturbing the renter’s privacy,” David Teasdale said.

“But the biggest disadvantage of renting is that the property can never be paid off by the tenant, making the money lost for good, without any chance of recovering when the property is sold.”

Ultimately, this is the biggest difference and that is where advice should be sought to determine the short and long-term impact on personal net wealth and cash flow over a lifetime between renting and buying.

“Usually, the decision will be to purchase a home, but it will come down to making sure people buy well and buy right, at the best time for their own individual circumstances,” David Teasdale said.

“This is where we at First National Redcliffe can really help. We offer advice and assistance with the necessary knowledge, experience and skills to understand the market, its trends and its weaknesses and opportunities,” David Teasdale said.

“To make things worse some government assistance packages for both renters and buyers arebeing abolished or having become obsolete, such as the First Home Owners’ Grant Boost and the National Affordability Rental Assistance Scheme.

“So home buyers and renters need to learn to make the most of the services that we have available, to ensure they make the most of their finances over the long term. There are many creative ways in which to save for that first purchase whilst renting and we can help explain all the options available.”

The Brisbane Zone office is headed by principal Dean Teasdale, and well supported by father David Teasdale who plays a very active role in the business.

Dickies First National (Sandgate) principal and Regional Councillor, Adam Dickie has been appointed Dean’s ‘buddy’ and attended the opening, along with the local solicitor, bank manager, contractors, vendors and other invited guests.

First National Chief Executive, Ray Ellis and network staff including Dave Clark, Alyson Lydamore, Percy Surti and Greg Pratt were there to support Dean and his team while wishing First National Redcliffe every success for the future.

This strategy is much more successful than pricing it at a slightly higher price to see if “someone might pay me a premium” then having to reduce the price in a few weeks’ time because no-one is interested.

Most buyers are very well informed through the Internet these days so the most important time in any marketing program is day one.

And it is critical that you present your property to buyers at the right price from the very start.

Professional photography was seen as a luxury only the rich could afford in days gone by but today professional photographers are very reasonably priced and do an amazing job.

This is a very important point because more than 80 per cent of buyers searching websites for property are deciding whether they will physically inspect a home from the photos provided online.

If your property does not capture the buyers’ interest in the first few seconds then you may have missed out on a sale.

In the past, some sellers didn’t want their neighbours to know their home was on the market and therefore wouldn’t let agents put a For Sale sign in front of the property.

But one of the most important segments of any marketing program is to inform neighbours that a property is available in their area given most buyers buy within four to five kilometres of where they are currently living.

Picture signboards are also becoming very popular and can act as your 24-hour salesperson sitting right in front of your property.

They are very affordable and offer buyers a snapshot of your home while they are sitting in their car or walking their dog.

You just never know where the next buyer is coming from.

But all of these marketing options are no good if you don’t price your property to suit market conditions.

Remember if you are selling at the bottom of the market you are also buying at the bottom of the market.

Even though there is uncertainty about the market, the future, carbon tax and so on, there are often no real concrete reasons why properties are not selling. 

I am seeing this across our market, where auctions are moving properties faster than other sales methods.

I encourage vendors to go to auction for a number of reasons.  For the vendor, it provides a set date when they will know the result of the sale.  For the buyer who might be thinking about a property and are considering their options, an auction actually helps them make a decision.

In many ways an auction is a mini version of the market. 

On the day, both the vendor and buyer can see what the interest is and the price people are prepared to pay.  An auction says this is the day, this is the time, make a decision.  It makes people certain one way or the other.

If property owners really want to sell their property, I tell them to go to auction, I  know they will get a result on the day.  We know the market, we know the buyers, and we can bring those buyers to the auction and get a result.

If you’re thinking of selling your property at Redcliffe or the surrounding suburbs I am available to you at anytime on 0403 751 551.

David T

If the financial markets and the more bearish economists are right, and the RBA has come to the end of a cycle of tightening, Australian housing is likely to be one of the safer places to invest. While there has effectively been no house price growth for 19 months, household disposable incomes have grown rapidly at 7% to 8% per annum.

With the possibility of mortgage rates coming down to around 5.6%, the possibility of a return to healthy house price growth re-emerges as savers are punished via lower cash returns and geared investors run for the perceived security of bricks and mortar.

FHBs are expected to re-appear towards the end of this year, led by buyers in NSW trying to beat the December 31 deadline for the end of Stamp Duty concessions. One mortgage originator says loan enquiries from FHBs are up 15% nationwide and 30% in NSW last month, on the back of interest rate stability for the past 10 months.

Amid gloomy economic conditions globally and a generally subdued housing market, some encouraging signs have emerged in the Australian housing market.