A few extra reasons to enjoy the Australia Day weekend
Hopefully you’re reading this with your feet up, a cold drink in your hand and a relaxed smile on your face. However, no matter where you are this Australia Day weekend, I wanted to share a few facts with you that might give you a few extra reasons to look at the year ahead in the property market with extra positivity.
Let’s face it, as I’ve mentioned in a few posts on these pages in the past months, there has been a fair bit of negativity in the media coverage of the Melbourne property market… a lot of it unrealistically so in my opinion. Indeed, as I pointed out in last week's market update, the only certainty to be found in all the different property market statistics of late is that the picture clearly depends on what type of property you own, where it is located, and what price bracket is sits in.
For example, on top of last week’s figures from the REIV showing a slight rise in Melbourne’s median house price in 2018, (as opposed to the drop that other sources have reported), we saw some figures this week from the latest Domain House Price Report that indicated that several areas of Melbourne increased by double figure percentages during the last quarter of 2018. In case you missed it, there was an article on the latest Domain data by Melissa Heagney on page 17 of ‘The Age’ on Saturday January 26th which said,
“Melbourne’s median house prices are revealing a tale of two cities. While prices in the elite inner suburbs are dropping by double digits, Melbourne’s outer ring is bucking the downward trend.”
Interestingly, on the page opposite this article, a report by Jim Malo pointed out that that home owners considering locking in the interest rates on their home loan should tread carefully, with the odds shortening on another decrease in official interest rates by the Reserve Bank. One of the interesting quotes in this article, (if you’ll excuse the pun), was from the Insights Manager of one of the leading online home loan comparison sites. Graham Cooke from Finder noted,
“Keep in mind that a growing number of economists in our monthly forecast predict the next RBA movement may be a rate cut.”
So, even if you’re sitting back enjoying a relaxing Australia Day long weekend at the moment, it’s clear that there are actually quite a few extra reasons to be feeling positive about what the year ahead may have in store, particularly if you are considering making a move in the property market.
Of course, if you would like an update on exactly where your type of property, in your area and price bracket, sits within the current market, you can always give our experienced team at Barry Plant Moonee Valley a call on 03 9373 0000.