Real Estate: From "for sale" to "sold"

Real-Estate.net.au allows real estate agents and real estate salespeople to add real estate property listings for free. This page is our main real estate and property article section.

For more on how to list your real estate property free at real-estate.net.au go here>

Listing homes for sale and Land for sale in all States, Cities and Regions across Australia is Free

Add your real estate property listings at Real-Estate.net.au free. You can:

1. Click the orange button on the right of the main top navigation menu, and follow the directions.
2. Go to the How to page in the subsection of the How To section, from the main menu section.
3. Just Click here now to go to to the registration form.
4. Once registered you will be sent to the listing form. Please complete this and submit it.
5. As soon as the listed has been moderated, it will be listed.
6. Real Estate Agents may lists as many properties as they wish for free.

Finding your next home on Real-Estate.net.au

Home buyers can check homes and other real estate property listings at any time on REAL-ESTATE.net.au by:

• Going to the categories section from the main navigation menu, from any page on our website.
• You can also go to the REAL-ESTATE.net.au home page and scroll through the categories and sub-categories from the directory style index.
• The REAL-ESTATE.net.au Site Map link on the Right of the Main Navigation Menu will allow you to view a summary excerpt of the pages and posts and ads in the entire web site.
• You can also use the search box to find what you need.
• We use tags to classify posts in the blog section of the site, and tags are also used in the ad listing section of the site. Both these sections are separate.

Do your current real estate property listing sites allow you to become an expert in your area?

If you are a real estate agent or a real estate salesperson you are welcome to apply to become a contributor on REAL-ESTATE.net.au. We expect articles to be newsworthy, and local focused with no self promotion within the article itself.

Contributor benefit. Become known as an expert in your locale. Your articles will be attributed to you, have a bio box where you can put email and web links, and will be classified under your name on REAL-ESTATE.net.au, allowing visitors to search and read all your articles.

This system will be completely separate to the ad listing for real estate property listings that you are welcome to use.

For more on how to list your real estate property free at real-estate.net.au go here>

Author : Mr Mortgage

RBA to leave rates as is?

Our tip is that homeowners and home buyers are safe. The RBA will not raise the official cash rate till the picture of the Australian and World Economies becomes clearer.

Sudden collapse of key indicators for the Australian Real Estate and economy.

The Australian economy was travelling smoothly upward just a couple of months ago.
Since then job ads and full time job vacancies have headed south and the Queensland economy figures are in, with the QLD flood damage and loss of mining, tourism and agriculture revenues caused by the floods is dragging Australia’s figures down.

Retailing is cactus

Retail sales are soft as people have stopped spending like there was no tomorrow, and small retailers are hurting. In Queensland many flood damaged shopping centres are not being refurbished and many traders are not returning. This means the ones that have returned are not getting the sales they once would as even anchor tenants are reluctant to reopen.

Real Estate sales torpedoed

Home sales, both established homes and new home contract sales have hit the skids in the real estate housing markets around Australia. As an example I live on a “dress circle” street in Northern Gold Coast area, and sales that once happened in days or weeks in my street are now failing to close in 3 months.

The local real estate agent tells me that home prices are down 10 per cent in the area on what they were 12 months ago.

This real estate slump spills into new home sales several ways ways.

1. Homeowners cannot move up because they can’t sell their home.
2. A glut of unsold homes means new home buyers can more home for less money by buying a used home, and they save money by not having to build the home, and spend a year renting.
3. When homeowners do find a buyer its for less than expected, so the new home sale collapses and the the established home is taken off the market [2 potential sales gone].
4. Real estate land prices are too high for home owners to sell and move up, so land sales are down and I believe that in this market, land prices are $100,000 over priced.

The Good side to this real estate gloom

The good news out of all this property gloom is that there are bargains all over for people that do buy a home right now. You can really push the envelope on home price reductions right now, and you can take your pick out of lots of great homes. When the market is hot, you have to rake over the leftovers of homes that nobody really wants. The low prices mean that interest rates rises are easier to cope with.

RBA rate rise warnings just hot air?

The Reserve Bank has been making noises over the last couple of months about a “rate rise soon”. But on the strength of the current economy right now this seems just hot air. And that’s not a bad thing. It good to remember that threat of a rate rise costs dampens housing demand, but costs homeowners no more in mortgage repayments. The downer is that it scares a home buyer out of offering you more for your home, or making them decide not to buy altogether.

Our Real Estate Tip.

Buy a home in this buyers market. Interest rates are still low.

We are tipping August or September as the likely time for an interest rate rise, so mortgage rates should remain low for a while longer yet.

Author: Mr Mortgage

Many real property owners are hoping we won’t be seeing an interest rate rise in June, even thought its likely and we predicted it last month.

Many economists now say that an real estate loan rates rise could push homeowners and renters over the top as mortgage rates for homeowners and landlords would increase the cost of living. It would also make home buyers stay away from the real estate market and further add to falling home values. That would have to hurt bank profits.

Federal Budget cuts deepening concern for middle Australia

There are indications that the Federal Budget’s cuts to consumers has put a dent in consumer spending, with middle class Australia most affected and most likely to reduce spending.

Double whammy for mortgage holders as Moodys downgrades big banks credit rating [again]

In other areas of uncertainty about euro fears, and house values holding up in the wake of loan rate rises, the US ratings agency Moody’s has downgraded the credit-worthiness of Australia’s big four banks from AA1 to AA2.
This means higher borrowing costs for these banks, and that means real estate loan rate increases without the need for the RBA to add any further fuel to the fire.

Higher borrowing costs would force the big banks to lift real estate loan rates outside the Reserve Bank’s official cycle.

Next RBA meeting on June 7

When the Reserve Bank of Australia meets on June 7 some feel that a cash rate increase might be the last straw straw for real estate values.

Since home values peaked in 2010 we have seen a lowering of home values across Australia and a further rate rise, on top of increased borrowing costs will make home buyers think twice about buying a home in this housing market, given a perception that residential real estate in Australia are over valued.

Even without a rate rise I expect home prices for established homes to fall further, so any real estate loan rate increase at this time would only deepen the slide in home values.

So is now the best time to buy real estate in Noosa or take a cheap holiday there?

In 1992 Noosa real estate was cheap, and I moved from Adelaide to Eumundi in the Noosa hinterland to enjoy the weather and lifestyle. I rented a new home on 5 acres for $170 a week. We had ducks, kangaroos and Kookaburra’s in the back yard and rainforest at the back that was the boundary of the golf course.

In those days a lot of people living in Noosa were retirees from the South with money. A lot had built huge homes in the street.

That is what possibly gave the illusion that Noosa was a exclusive enclave and Hastings Street its centre. It also gave it the perception of Noosa accommodation being expensive. It is on Hastings Street. But Noosa is more than Hastings Street and people wanting cheap accommodation are beginning to discover that.

The reality is that it has always been a surfers mecca, and I saw plenty of kids in board shorts with surf boards in the dole ques in those days. Putting in their forms before heading out to catch a wave and spend the day on the beach.

So maybe part of Noosa was always Bogan. People that love to surf more than work will never be rich, but will always find Noosa irresistable.

The new reality hits Noosa real estate and Hastings Street

Today the reality is different. Noosa real estate, like Hastings Street rents were amongst the dearest in Australia.

Noosa is seen today as more than Hastings Street, and the high class accommodation and upmarket restaurants and boutiques that once dominated the precinct. Ansett has been attributed with making Noosa a destination for the wealthy, and their demise ten years ago probably has something to do with the changing demographics. Now the budget carriers dominate air travel, and are flooding Noosa with Families who want a budget holiday. And what’s wrong with that?

Noosa’s changing demographics

Low-cost airlines Virgin, Jetstar and Tiger are blamed for flying in budget conscieous travellers who don’t value the boutiques and high priced dining.

Shopkeepers have complained that Hastings Street, which used to be on par with the exclusive southern suburbs of Double Bay and Toorak, is being spoiled.
The once-pricey “resort wear” boutiques of Hastings St have been replaced with budget chain stores, surf shops and gelato bars. That seems a better fit with the reality of today. People simply don’t spend money like they used to on exclusive clothes and fine dining, or have time to spend a long holiday in one place. A week or two is plenty. This reality is possibly indirectly affecting Noosa real estate values as money is not as easy to get as it once was.

Changing Demographics is the new reality

The market for Noosa real estate has shifted, with Noosa now attracting a younger demographic of budget minded families. More visitors with less per head to spend. More home buyers without the incomes to support a super-sized mortgage.

Lets face it, the Baby boomers were in their 30′s and 40′s in the early 1990′s and now they are looking at cruises and becoming grey nomads.

More People visit Noosa now than ever before

In 2010 Noosa attracted a record 920,000 domestic and 149,000 international visitors, but they have shorter stays and they spent less.
“It’s the lingering effects of the global financial crisis and, with the rise of the dollar, it poses a lot of problems for Noosa and Australia in how we combat that,” Mr Cooper said.
The High retail rents in Noosa which are among the most expensive in the country, have also contributed to the ousting of small businesses by chain stores. And chain stores understand the demographics. The fact is my wife, who is still a nifty dresser, could never find anything she liked in Noosa’s Boutiques, and they were over-priced as well. She felt that the clothes were for older women, and as we all know, they are now 20 years older.

What’s important about Noosa to the tourist?

Its not the Hastings Street Shops. They are their to provide the tourists with what they what, not the other way round.
People come to Noosa for the weather, the beach, the surf, the National Park and the relaxed ambiance. When they are at the beach they have certain needs, and the shops on Hastings Street that satisfy that need will succeed. They need Noosa accommodation to be moderate to 5 star, depending on their budget.
So Noosa accommodation is more attractive for the tourist and the home buyer than ever. But if you are looking to open a shop for the well to do, maybe you need to look at the Gold Coast or Brisbane.

Incoming search terms:

• noosa

Some say that buying a home [either house or unit] is not a financial investment. Others will tell you that a home is the best investment you can make. So, whos’s right?

If you ask an economist they would tell you that buying a home that someone else built is not an investment. In fact you could argue that the person that built the home was the investor, as he added housing stock to the economy and paid for some of the infrastructure.

How an economist views buying a home for investment

In the economic world, an investment requires sacrifices of consumption today to improve the capacity of the economy in the future. Plant and equipment, commercial buildings, new ports and rail infrastructure are examples.

The problem for an economist is that homes changing ownership does not bolster the nation’s economic capacity. Though it may help the Real Estate Agents and industry make profits running their service businesses.
The way a home seems an investment is that due to the ability to leverage the purchase of a home with a home loan, so that any price growth due to demand or inflation is seen as a capital gain that seems to make it worthwhile.

Is buying a home a gamble or a hedge against inflation?

Economists would argue that buying a home is a gamble, with the homeowner having no control over the outcome of the performance of his or her investment. The birthrate, immigration rates, inflation and availability of new developed land all effect the value of established homes.

How medical breakthroughs have increased home values

I would argue that medical breakthroughs have played a bigger part in property values than most people give it credit. Why? Because people are living longer and staying in their homes longer due to better health and longevity mainly due to medical care and health advise.

Will history no repeat itself and the glory days of home value increases return

Homeowners made a lot of money owning homes from the 1970′s till recently. But the recent past, and the projected future tell a different story. Home values have fallen and may fall more.

I do believe that there will be raises in the future if only moderate, and this will depend on future migration and interest rates.

Buying a home is best done for family security reasons

The fact is the buying a home is an investment, but not necessarily a financial one. Its investment in stability, family and a sense of security that many people renting never experience.
On the basis that you have to live some where, if you have a stable job, a stable relationship and are settled in your community it makes sense to own your home and “put down roots”. In other words ownership has a value worth “investing in”, even where no capital gains are likely.
By the same token if you are taking a short term view on any of the above, [less than 5 years], then renting may be your better option.

We have relocated our property website, real-estate.net.au to an Australian Web host.

Yes the move was expensive but we feel that having a website hosted near your users is of prime concern. We believe it will improve the website loading speed and be more relevant for Australian Users.

This host is also going to relocate our site to better facilities on Friday afternoon, so there may be some outage then.

Hopefully the site transfer will be worth it for our users and we will be able to build a real estate website that is useful for people to buy, sell and finance their real property.

Incoming search terms:

• houses for sale for relocated