It’s going to be a hot weekend for house price pundits, with Melbourne facing its biggest auction numbers ever and Sydney and Brisbane also seeing more properties come under the hammer.
If you’re in the market, remember apartment prices are expected to fall in almost all capital cities in the next three years, thanks to the huge number of new developments.
So it might not feel like it, but we are seeing a return to a buyers market – meaning property owners are more interested in you than for years.
According to the QBE Australian Housing Outlook 2017-20, Sydney is one of the weakest capital cities, with falls of 0.2 per cent for houses and 3.8 per cent for apartments predicted..
Brisbane would be worst hit with declines of 7.2 per cent anticipated.
Of course, every cloud has a silver lining. These declines could lead to more affordable housing, QBE Lenders’ Mortgage Insurance chief executive Phil White said.
Why your pay is stuck in the doldrums
Once, we feared the rise of inflation. Now the lack of it is being blamed for low wages and retail growth, and low interest rates for investors.
Government figures show inflation slowed in September, meaning the annual rate was stuck at 1.9 per cent.
And while you may feel supermarket prices are soaring, they actually only flickered up 0.6 per cent.
So no rise in interest rates – but no pay rise either!
Taxing time
If you lodge your own tax return and haven’t done so yet, we know what you’ll be doing this weekend.
Monday is deadline day if you want to avoid penalties.
Register at MyGov to lodge with myTax, which is a free service. MyTax prefills information provided by employers, banks, private health funds, government agencies and more.
Otherwise, you’ve got just a few hours left to appoint an accountant and take advantage of an extended deadline.
Good luck!
Grinners really are winners
If you grind your teeth at those financial success stories, stop reading this now.
At the age of 22 and 24, Nik Mirkovic and Alex Tomic have just entered the rich list with a teeth whitening paste – after managing to get the endorsement s of the likes of Kylie Jenner and Conor McGregor.
Hi Smile made around $40 million in annual revenue last year – just three years after it started.
Their one-size-fits-all mouth tray and LED kit costs 79.95, and they used social media to reach a burgeoning market.