But Mr White said even though vacancy rates were up and there was more pressure on landlords, lower interest rates were offsetting the tenancy drop-off and there remained good returns and cash flows for investors.

news.com.au

Mrs Pearce, who made her former fortune by redeveloping rundown properties in Adelaide, has been at the centre of several court battles since 2007, when one of her companies, Metamorphosis, was placed in liquidation with debts of $400,000.

theaustralian.news.com.au

Total properties:139
Sold:105
Withdrawn:13
Cleared: 69%
Total sales: $77,050,496
Median:$675,000

The residential market continues to benefit from the maintenance of low interest rates, a factor that increases the affordability of property. This has clearly helped to stimulate demand over the past few weeks and is one of the foundations that the spring selling season will be built on.

There were 280 auctions reported today with 235 selling resulting in a clearance rate of 84 per cent, the ninth consecutive weekend with a clearance rate in excess of 80 per cent.

Of the 280 auctions reported 45 were passed in, 23 of those passed in on a vendors bid.

Auctions numbers will increase to around 400 for each of the next three weekends.

TOTAL AUCTIONS

This week: 280

Last weekend: 234

This weekend last year: 371

S Sold at Auction: 182

SB Sold before Auction: 51

SA Sold after Auction: 2

Passed in: 45

Passed in on vendor’s bid: 23

Clearance rate: 84%

Postponed: 1

Withdrawn: 0

Auctions with no result: 16

PS Private Sales: 754

Total Volume (Auctions): $136.75mil

Total Volume (Private Sales): $322.75mil

Total Auctions Houses: 178

Clearance Rate: 84%

Median Price: $556,500

Total Auctions Flats/Apartments: 98

Clearance Rate: 85%

Median Price: $435,000

Total Auctions Vacant Land: 4

Clearance Rate: 75%

Median Price: $330,050

House Sales in Detail

Even as activity by first homebuyers has slowed, the value of new housing loans has increased nationally.

The latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show the overall value of housing finance commitments for all dwellings rose for the fifth month in a row, by 3.6%. That comes on the heels of a 6.7% rise in March and a 1.3% rise in February.

“It is fantastic to see housing finance demand in Australia continue to improve, with the value of total dwelling commitments increasing for the fifth month in a row,” said Mortgage Choice CEO Michael Russell.

And while the total number of first homebuyers applying for finance decreased from 17,652 in March to16,651 in April, activity amongst investors and owner occupiers increased, according to the ABS.

Real Estate Institute of Australia President David Airey said the ABS figures highlight a property market that has stabilised and showing signs of growth as investors make a return to the market.

“This is a really positive sign for the property market and shows that investors are starting to re-gain their confidence while the main driving factor for first home buyers are low interest rates and the availability of the First Home Owner’s Grant Boost (FHOG Boost),” he said.

Overall, the number of first homebuyers in April was still double that of a year earlier, when it was just 8,818.

© Your Mortgage magazine. Republished with permission. Find more articles online at www.yourmortgage.com.au and get latest edition at your local newsagent today.

Following the dismal performance of shares and super funds, many older investors are likely to have a renewed appreciation for the value of a reliable income stream generated by investment properties.

The prospects for capital growth from all assets, including property, are likely to be lower than in the past and rental yields will be a much more important consideration for property investors.
“For Sydney and Melbourne, I expect to see the unit median price grow moderately for the remainder of 2009, with stronger growth in 2010,” he says.

A property commentator and founder of hotspotting.com.au, Terry Ryder, dismisses the notion that the first-home owners’ incentives are creating a bubble in lower-end property.

Ryder says first-home buyers have been driven more by low interest rates and softer prices in a lot of areas and less so by the first-home owner incentives.

www.theage.com.au

”Whilst there have been encouraging recent signs of improvement, the outlook for the UK economy remains uncertain with unemployment set to continue rising for some time,” Martin Ellis, an economist at Halifax, said in the statement.

bloomberg.com

Google’s a very good company, it is competition, but we welcome competition because it makes us stay sharper and more focused for our customers and consumers,” REA remains confident it can build revenue after withdrawing from the UK and New Zealand.

Mr Ellis declined to comment on whether REA would withdraw from the United Arab Emirates but said the company remained committed to the businesses in Italy, Luxembourg and Hong Kong.
news.com.au