Archive for 'Economic Issues'
"Doing Nothing Will Cost You!"
Posted on 26. Aug, 2010 by Chris Lang.
Whenever Investors are confused ... the Property Market tends to do nothing and simply moves sideways.
You observed that when the GFC first struck.
People simply put their buying decisions 'on hold'. And then, frantically played catch-up over the last 12 months ... as soon as they realised things were still okay here in Australia.
Over that [...]
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"Cycles Ain't Cycles"
Posted on 09. Aug, 2010 by Chris Lang.
Overall, Australia has sailed through the Global Financial Crisis more or less unscathed. And from all accounts, Victoria and enjoys the standout economy of all the States.
The Traditional Cycle Has Been Interrupted
Last week, you explored the traditional cycle for CBD Offices — being 18 years from peak to peak. And over that same period, Retail [...]
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Some Gloom ... Yet More Glee!
Posted on 30. Jun, 2010 by Chris Lang.
The US Federal Reserve is concerned that consumption is still being underpinned by government funding.
And so, even though stimulus measures may be winding down ... the Fed has decided to maintain interest rates at their historically low level.
It seems that households and businesses are preferring to repay debt, rather than spend to encourage investment [...]
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Interest Rates Looking Forward
Posted on 03. Jun, 2010 by Chris Lang.
... and Commercial Property
This week's decision by the RBA to leave the cash rate on hold was an easy one — mainly because the major banks had basically helped it out, by increasing their rates earlier by a greater margin.
The RBA's view was that the current rate of 4.5% was "appropriate for the near term". [...]
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Distortion Guaranteed?
Posted on 20. May, 2010 by Chris Lang.
While the Rudd government may have moved quickly to provide guarantees for the major Banks during a financial turmoil ... the impact of doing so has been disastrous for borrowers.
Right now, these major Banks seem to account for virtually 80% of all owner-occupier loans for property.
As such, the margins they are charging have never been [...]
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Is Negative Gearing for You?
Posted on 13. May, 2010 by Chris Lang.
Buying and negatively gearing a Commercial investment property is not forever in one — particularly, with interest rates on the rise.
And if you already have high personal debt ... adding to that wouldn't be a smart move on your part.
Make Borrowing just one of your Tools
ny gearing you decide to take on, should be viewed [...]
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Interest Rate Rises ...
Are they a Good Sign?
Posted on 05. May, 2010 by Chris Lang.
The RBA's decision on interest rates yesterday came about because of what's happening here in Australia, rather than in Europe.
It has been made against the backdrop of our exporters having recently extracted massive price hikes for iron or in coal, as a result of China's strong growth.
Since the global turmoil started in 2008, the $A [...]
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"Things Can Change So Quickly"
Posted on 15. Apr, 2010 by Chris Lang.
ave you stopped to think just how things have changed over the past 25 years?
Just take a look at the global trade figures for the United States, Japan, Germany and Britain.
After the United States, China is now the world's largest economy. However, it is currently the largest exporter; while being the second-largest importer.
Here's a [...]
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Will Interest Rates Affect
Commercial Yields?
Posted on 07. Apr, 2010 by Chris Lang.
Yesterday, the RBA confirmed an upward bias with its latest rate increase.
This table from today's Financial Review seems to sum up the RBA's position fairly well.
Residential property prices are still surging (particularly in Sydney & Melbourne); and our commodity exports have also regained their momentum.
As such, the RBA has decided that Australia is in full [...]
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Retail Returns to Favour
Posted on 31. Mar, 2010 by Chris Lang.
Retail property has had some press coverage of late.
It has shown a surprising improvement, given global events and the hike in interest rates.
Westfield (a good retail barometer) reported a strong mid-year result from its Australian shopping centres.
As you can see from the table, Vacancy rates have fallen significantly and Yields firmed — particularly within the [...]
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From here on ...
Back to a 2-Speed Economy?
Posted on 25. Mar, 2010 by Chris Lang.
The latest figures show unemployment crept up from 5.2% to 5.3% last month — probably due to school leavers. However, the total number of hours worked actually jumped by 2.4% during February.
ith predictions of a 60% surge in commodity prices from next month's contract re-negotiations, this will put further strain upon the labour and capital [...]
