Breakfast on the Beach with Olympians!

In honour of supporting Natalie Cook and Tamsin Hinchley on their journey to London for the Olympic Games we all enjoyed a beautiful breakfast on Friday 24th of March. Guest speakers included Winter Olympic Gold Medalist Steven Bradbury & 2008 Flag bearer and 6 time Olympian James Tompkins. We even had the chance to meet Madam Butterfly herself, Susie O'Neill! A fantastic morning had by all to support our champions!

Good Luck Nat & Tamsin!!

Australia's secret real estate hot spot?

Just north of Brisbane there is a town about to become a city, with massive government, council and private development. What a formulae for capital gain?
The development includes commercial, residential and governmental facilities known as Strathpine CBD, see press release here: http://northern-times.whereilive.com.au/news/story/strathpine-cbd-ideas-released/ .
The area already boasts two railway stations, with a new spur line from the western suburbs making this a major hub. Westfield's have a massive land bank and will probably expand their Strathpine Westfield centre into one of its bigger stores.
Now homes are currently great value priced from mid $200 to late $300 and generally show close to 6% rental return. Our rental market is strong.
It would be expected that the next 5/10 years will yield substantial returns, setting up future financial security and early retirement.
The smart operators are buying now so its time to jump into some fabulous value. We believe it to be the best in Australiasia.

Whats happening in house sales - who is selling what locally

House prices near bottom!! Home buyers beware.

We have seen increased buyer activity with double the number of sales for the previous three months over those achieved in the previous six months. Translated that's 100% increase in sales. Reports of increasing sales are coming in from all over Australian.

The shrewd buyers of recent months are being joined by some astute operators who know the share market will continue to languish for quite some time but houses have one direction in front, and that's more likely up. Probably not boom like increases but significant catch ups to the drops of the last two years and steady growth.

The rental market in our area is perhaps the best in the country with 6% yields common, that is better than bank interest on offer. Building has been subdued and land supply is short.

The ingredients are right, the time is right and remember opportunity rarely knocks twice. We have some fabulous homes available at very realistic prices, call now before its too late.http://www.daviddeane.com.au/

Whats happening in 2012 which might influence

The Westpac–Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Survey registered a slight improvement in the first two months of 2012 despite the RBA’s surprise decision to leave interest rates on hold at its Feb meeting and concerns that commercial banks would raise rates regardless (their decisions to do so came after our survey closed).
We suspect the improved situation in Europe, the flow through to the AUD and local sharemarkets, and the positive financial effects of the Nov-Dec rate cuts were key positives for sentiment. 
While the survey detail suggests a slightly bigger knock to underlying confidence from the RBA decision, a detailed breakdown of our extra question on interest rate expectations also suggests consumers may have been less convinced further rate cuts were on the way in the first place.
Labour market conditions were most clearly not behind the firmer sentiment readings. Consumers’ unemployment expectations instead deteriorated quite sharply in the first two months, particularly in the resource states that had led a previous improvement. 
Consumers may be more positive on the economy but appear much less convinced about their job security in 2012. 
Overall the theme of the survey in early 2012 appears to be uncertainty. Sentiment may have improved and been resilient to interest rate issues but it is still at a tepid level overall. Job security remains a key issue and there is little consensus around which way key aspects of the domestic economy – interest rates and housing markets – are heading over the next year. 
There may be little guidance near term either. Official labour market data released the week after the survey showed a strong Jan result. But against this we continue to see a steady stream of lay-off announcements in the first few weeks of 2012. 
Policy-wise, the RBA now looks set to stay on hold for a few months. We think there are another two rate cuts still to come but May and July now look to be the most likely timing with official rhetoric likely to sound neutral near term.