Will things really change all that much, now that Australia has wall-to-wall Labor governments across the country?

You’d better believe it!
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All year, people have been pestering me to know when it will be. Well, the date has now been set for Saturday 1 March.

Again, it will be held within the Melbourne CBD — to make it easy for those flying in from interstate and overseas.

The last full-day Workshop turned out to be far too crowded. So, this one will be limited to only 27 people!

And, therefore, it will be on a first-come-first-served basis!
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If you believe the financial markets, there is a 90% probability that the Reserve Bank of Australia will increase out the cash rate from 6.5 per cent to 6.75 per cent.

But unlike other Board Meetings, there has been a gap of about a fortnight between the releases of the CPI figures and when it actually does meet on 8 November. And much can happen over that period.
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Australia wide, the level of Retail construction was up by some 17% for the 12-month period to June 2007.

In the main, this involved extensions to existing suburban Shopping Centres; plus some new construction in many of the growth corridors.
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Given the recent financial turmoil overseas, there are several questions that seem to be continually surfacing.

Can the world live with a ballooning US trade deficit? Are asset prices currently too high? Does anything good actually come from outsourcing to China and India? How will all that’s going on affect you as a Property investor?

To fully address these questions, you first need consider the change in the way Western companies are now operating.
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In an earlier posting, I raised concern over the dramatic increase in household debt — to the point where it now sits at over 150% of household disposable incomes.

As you can appreciate, the major concern has been as to how rising home-mortgage interest rates might cause a flow-on effect for Commercial investors. And this is because a fall in residential prices could adversely impact upon the security for any line-of-credit you may have against your home.
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Every six months, you’ll find Rider Levett Bucknall publish their “Oceania Construction Cost Commentary”. In this posting, you’ll find an extract from their July 2007 publication — which covers both the Australian and New Zealand markets.
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As the government spending and tax cuts add to consumer demand, you’ll see the Australian economy continue to grow strongly.
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Depending upon what your Lease specifies upon termination, the cost to “make good” the property can vary dramatically. Furthermore, the tenancy fit-out (and original condition) of the property can also impact on that cost.
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Whenever you acquire a Commercial property, you would normally investigate this as part of your Due Diligence — depending upon the current use made of the property.
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