TODAY'S HEADLINES

Courtesy Sunday Mail June 6th  2010

Good morning everyone,

Another beautiful day in paradise, having breakfast in bed (special treat) with the warm winter sun streaming through as I lay here reading the Sunday Mail.

There is movement afoot as very large Australian and International developers are preparing for the Queensland Government's answer to the population squeeze. Property records show large numbers of savy investors have anticipated the Government decission.

Stay tuned on FIRMWOOD Estate as the timing maybe earlier than you think!

Courtesy Weekend Bulletin 5-6 June 2010

Coomera has topped the list of Gold Coast suburbs for the past year with Pacific Pines coming in second place.

Congratulations to all those members who have supported all the developments in Beattie Road, Coomera - Savannah Palms, Savannah Waters, Oak Park, The Cove, Evergreen Manors, Beattie Place and Samarinda.

Also congratulations goes to all those members who supported all the developments - Harvard Mews, Oxford Mews, The Landings, and all the those House and land packages in Coomera as well.

Well Done ... We have done it again, despite the slowing down of the economy and lack of new development in the area due to funding approvals for developers.

Check out Hot Property for the latest release as they are becoming a very rare commodity at the moment http://the-firm.com.au/hot-property.html

Enjoy your Sunday as I continue to enjoy mine.

Have a great week and chat soon!

Another beautiful day in paradise especially now the weekend has arrived after one of the busiest exhausting week's I have had for a while.

We have a very "SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT" that we wish to propose to you soon, so stay tuned for another exciting episode of the next bulletin.

The Sanctuary Cove Boat Show has launched, and this year I don't have to go as I had a sneak peak preview of all the stunning boats cruising by my front door over the past few days ... DROOL!!!! ... It's a wonder I got any work done ...Ha-ha!!!!

TODAY'S HEADLINES

Courtesy Gold Coast Bulletin Business Friday 21st May 2010

Rising rates are discouraging first home buyers and keeping them into the rental market which in turn is good for all of us, says a mortgage broker.

Property investors like ourselves who say they are not deterred by rising interest rates, can look forward to strong rental returns as larger numbers in the rental market keep from rents from falling.

A survey released by on-line brokerage e-choice yesterday found 41% of would be investors would reconsider if rates rose over 2% points compared with 53% or current prospective owner occupiers.

Check out HOT PROPERTY - http://the-firm.com.au/hot-property.html

Have a great weekend and stay tuned for our "SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT"

What your investment is worth?

Good morning everyone,

Trust you had a wonderful weekend with a little less rain than previous weeks.

Yesterday's Weekend Courier Mail released the latest REIQ official figures in this 8 page report -

http://www.couriermail.com.au/extras/cm_yourhouse/index.html

Have a great week!

Chat soon!

Are you born between 1946 and 1964?

Good morning fellow members,

For those members who missed our The FIRM's Business Plan 2010 The New Decade click to receive the update ... Compelling reading!!!

I think you will be pleasantly surprised what goals have been set for this year. I would be especially very interested to hear your comments on the new rapid building methods that will revolutionalise our current stick frame method of building. This new technology will save all the members massive $$$ for the future.

Ken and Nancye Ibbitson

For more than 30 years now there have been warnings galore about the baby boomers leaving the workforce. Our exit will cause shortages in labour, put pressure on wages and increase health services. This has been a ticking time bomb to all Governments, past and current. There has been plenty of talk however no action in the political arena. "In 1997 the Howard government tried to fix the crisis in the nursing home industry by introducing accommodation bonds . Labor ran such a scare campaign the scheme was dropped'' says Noel Whittaker Sunday Mail January 24 2010.

The scary scenario is that we all have been saying this for years. If people were well informed and act early, they have a chance to make a significant difference to secure a better lifestyle for their future. The Governments will not be able to support us ... the writing is on the wall. Thank goodness we, the members, have started to make a difference. They claim that new medical breakthroughs may extend our forecast of life expectancies. If this is the case, then can you imagine that we are way off the mark for health and welfare budgets which places more pressure on society.

My Mum and Dad pictured above are a constant reminder to me that we are all aging rapidly. My dad recently celebrated his 80th birthday, has had multiple emergencies to the hospital for major heart surgery, yet he doesn't qualify for a Pension due to his assets. If he didn't have the assets to support him that accrued equity over many years then how could he survive? Fortunately for both of them now they can enjoy the fruits of their labor, touring the world in armchair comfort on exotic cruise lines, with all their meals being prepared, meeting new friends and being pampered.

I am sorry ... I don't want to wait until I am 80 to start to enjoy retirement ... I am 57 years old this year, ("hint" 9th June) still healthy and have an active property portfolio, so I wont get the pension either ... so I want it now!!! ... Don't you?

"Stay tuned as I have a plan"

Drop me line, interested to hear your comments!

TODAY'S HEADLINES

Ultimate Event Auction
23rd & 24th January 2010

Yesterday's Ray White "Ultimate Event Auction" has sent shock waves across the country with more than $67ml worth of local residential sales compared to 2009 where $31ml was sold at the 'Event'.

According to leading property agent Andrew Bell, CEO, Ray White, Surfers Paradise (personal friend) the investor group was a sign that the Gold Coast was moving into positive territory. The upbeat sales are a reflection of the property bubble slowly inflating again after a troubled 2009.

More than 800 people turned up to the record breaking 'Event'.

These are all good positive signs that the Gold Coast's economy is on the rise. Glad you invested in the Gold Coast as the 7 year cycle is on the way back.

Have a great week, enjoy Australia Day and look forward to hear your comments!

Chat soon!

Good morning fellow members,

Yesterday morning I lay there contemplating the day's events pretending to be asleep when young Jayden gently nudged me saying "Happy Father's Day" with a grin from ear to ear, proud as punch, presenting a block of Toblerone Chocolate and a card. The excitement was mainly focused around the chocolate bar as he insisted to help unwrap the present. Naturally, he insisted to sample it for me and how could I refuse those big brown puppy dog eyes ... Ha-ha!!!!. The day went very well as we joined up for Nippers at the Karrawa Surf Life Saving Club at Broadbeach enjoying a beautiful breakfast overlooking the beach and then on to the Junior Golf at Hope Island Golf Club. An exhausting day as I fell asleep during the news. Trust all the Dad's had a special day also.

The latest figures have just been released, and as predicted our choice of the developments in the highlighted suburbs have been the best performers, no surprises there, congratulations to everyone for having the faith in supporting all of us as we continue to deliver our "Standard of Excellence"

Also to a few new members who have recently joined us, thankyou for forwarding your information to us and as a reminder to the stragglers, can you please forward your Assessment Applications to us as soon as possible.

Enjoy your week!

Good morning fellow members,

Get ready ... Get set ... as we are ready for the growing signs of confidence in the property market starting to move upwards on a weekly basis and this is not generated by the First Home Owners.

Lets hope the bank valuers read this article so they can be a little more responsive to our existing port-folios so we can leverage our equity to go shopping again soon.

Like to take this opportunity to welcome a few new members who also have property in the same developments as we have for the past 10 to 15 years, trust you will enjoy the information that we provide to you. Welcome to The FIRM.

Current membership now is at 7,181 members.

Stay tuned for the latest update to our Building Society which will be released soon. Variable or Fixed at the best interest rate, that is the question???

"Stamp Duty on Home Loans

to be scrapped"

Good afternoon fellow members,

Stamp duty on housing loans is set to be abolished after the Henry tax review, which is likely to recommend states be given a share of income tax to make up the difference.

The most likely path to do this would be for the commonwealth to give the states the ability to impose their own surcharge on income tax, which would be collected for them by the Australian Tax Office.

The Henry review has been inundated with submissions calling for the end of stamp duty. Tax economists argue that the tax on moving house, although easy to collect, leads to poor use of the housing stock and poor labour mobility.

Having to pay stamp duty not only discourages elderly people from moving to more appropriate accommodation, it also deters people from moving house to a better jobs market.

At a conference conducted by the Henry tax review at the Melbourne Institute last week, both international and Australian tax economists said stamp duty should go, with Melbourne University professor John Freebairn describing the tax as "a piece of garbage".

The review panel is being influenced by state submissions arguing that replacing stamp duty by extending other state taxes, such as payroll tax or land tax, would be too difficult to implement nationally.

Tasmanian Treasury secretary Don Challen, who is close to the inquiry's head, federal Treasury secretary Ken Henry, told last week's conference that reform of state taxes would succeed only with leadership from the national government.

"If you want to achieve a difficult reform, you've got to make it a national one," Mr Challen said.

He said it would be too hard to win political consensus to extend land or payroll taxes.

"It requires eight lots of political commitment and eight lots of legislation and that path is doomed to failure," he said.

However, he said he believed states would be willing to act on stamp duty if the commonwealth provided an avenue for alternative revenue. The idea of giving states a cut of income tax was pressed two years ago by the OECD, which suggested the states "piggy-back" on income tax. The OECD also urged states to drop stamp duty.

One of the world's leading experts on federal taxes, Canada's Richard Bird, said the states were heading for a financial crisis because they did not have a sufficient tax base to support their burgeoning health and education costs, which were all rising much faster than the consumer price index.

One of the problems with stamp duty for the states is that it is vulnerable to the state of property markets. Stamp duty usually raises about $14 billion a year for the states, but the recent state budgets showed big falls of more than $1bn each in NSW and Queensland, in 2008-09, for example.

"In Australia, it should certainly be feasible to permit states to impose a surcharge on the federal personal income tax base," Professor Bird said.

He said that, ideally, Australia would follow the Scandinavian practice of allowing states to have a flat tax surcharge on income, rather than mirroring the commonwealth's progressive taxation. The states would be allowed to set their own level, making states more responsible for their own finances.

It would require a surcharge on income tax receipts of a little over 1 per cent to match the income raised by conveyancing stamp duties.

Dr Henry has not given his views; however, in a speech earlier this year he canvassed the possibility of states levying different rates on a nationally consistent tax base.

"Such an approach could avoid problems with tax-base erosion from interstate competition and make it easier for businesses to understand and comply with their obligations, while still providing the states with a policy lever to respond to jurisdiction specific preferences," Dr Henry said.

He said the review was close to putting some "big ideas on paper", but he would take advice from the government about whether the review could consult broadly about them before completing its final report, scheduled for the end of the year.

Dr Henry said that one of the problems facing the inquiry was that it was not motivated by an immediate crisis in the tax system, so it was hard to build support for radical tax change.

"The Australian government has identified an opportunity and asked us to come up with reform proposals that will be durable and anticipate changes like demographic change," he said.

Dr Henry said many of the review's ideas would be for implementation over a longer term; however, it would also have some more immediate suggestions.

Australian School of Taxation director Neil Warren said state taxation was likely to be at the top of the list for immediate change because it could be achieved without too much political fall-out for the federal government.

Chat soon!

HAPPY EASTER

LABRADOR #1

Highest RENTAL YIELDS for GOLD COAST

December Quarter 2008

 Highlighted suburbs are our target investments over past 20 years

 Courtesy Gold Coast Bulletin, Thursday, April 9, 2009

  Good morning everyone,

 Today's headlines say it all with all our members who invested in Varsity Lakes and Coomera coming in hot on the heels of Labrador, yielding 5.7% for the December quarter ... Number 1 for the highest rental yield ... Well done!!!

The highlighted areas are where we all focused over the past 20 years. I remember when we could buy in Labrador for under $60,000 one street back from the Broadwater and the gross yield was 5.2%. I guess the real exciting news is that we have achieved enormous growth over that period with our units now worth well over $325,000. Even the lower end of the scale of postcodes are all achieving fabulous results with little to no vacancy compared to some of the mining towns who achieved higher returns in the earlier days are now ghost towns.

All of the Gold Coast's units and townhouses are racking in very healthy yearly rental yields of almost 6%. Oakey near Toowoomba had the best rental yield for houses in Queensland at 6.4%, while Port Douglas was the top in units, with a gross rental of 6.9% however it will be interesting to see what equity/growth these top areas for rent achieve in the future.

Gold Coast-based REIQ chairman Peter McGrath said the Gold Coast was still a goldmine for investors in the unit market in the right suburb. He said the REIQ regarded a decent rental yield of between 4% and 5% a year as attractive to investors, and plenty of Gold Coast postcodes for both houses and units posted rental yields between those figures.

On behalf of all the team of The FIRM, we wish you all a safe and Happy Easter and look forward to see those who are visiting us over this period.

 Chat soon!

2009 Gold Coast Property Report

Courtesy Gold Coast Bulletin Monday March 9 2009

Highlighted areas that we targeted last quarter

Good morning fellow members,

GOLD Coast growth suburbs are defying the market downturn with the help of eager first home buyers, according to a new report from the Real Estate Institute of Queensland.

The REIQ figures show Coomera, Pacific Pines, Robina and Helensvale are leading the suburb resurgence with the largest number of sales in the December 2008 quarter. These are all the suburbs that we targeted last quarter.

Members and their children (first homeowners) are leading the push, making the most of the Federal Government incentives before the end of the 2008/09 financial year. (June 30th)

REIQ chairman Peter McGrath said first home buyers had dominated the Gold Coast market over the last quarter and had consequently increased the proportion of sales at the affordable end of the market.

"There has certainly been a pattern in the volume of sales over the quarter along the northern Gold Coast corridor," he said.

"Coomera recorded the most preliminary sales on the Gold Coast, followed by Helensvale at number two and Pacific Pines at number four with the popularity of Coomera, especially, not surprising given its affordability."

Median house prices rose in the growth suburbs, defying the 3.5 per cent drop in the Gold Coast's median house price to $450,000. In the December quarter last year Coomera's median house price rose 1.8 per cent to $570,000, with a yearly growth of 93 per cent since December 2007.

Pacific Pines had a 6.2 per cent growth spurt to $462,000 up from a 12-month median of $437,250 in December 2007.

Helensvale grew by 3.8 per cent in the quarter to hold a $79,500 median price, up 5.1 per cent from December 2007. Robina grew by 3.8 per cent to a median quarter price of $534,560.

REIQ figures also showed Sovereign Island, Surfers Paradise, Mermaid Beach and Hope Island topped the list in Queensland for luxury houses.

Just goes to show you that all suburbs that we were targeting this quarter with the exception of Ormeau and Labrador have all increased dramatically.

 Thankyou for your support as we continue to deliver our standard of excellence. Compliments are greatly accepted ... Ha-ha!!!!

Victorian Fire members - The Pascoe family

Good afternoon fellow members,

 We received this wonderful email of courage and strength from Steve and Ali the other day and a picture of his tractor that I wish to share with you.

 Thanks John.

 Wonderful to have so much support from around the country.

Things are still very extraordinary here. We are living in my mums two bedroom unit in Diamond Creek and working on more permanent
accommodation in this area.

Visited our property for the first time on Tuesday - very tough day. The whole place felt like it had lost its life. Scratched through the rubble and recovered a few buckets of mementos. Extraordinarily, our friends found Ali's wedding rings amongst the rubble in the bathroom - a bright moment in a dark day.

In the midst of the fire storm around our house, and as we watched our beautiful family home burn, we realised that material things are just 'stuff'. Amongst so much tragedy, we had helped each other survive and we still had our family. Family is the only thing that matters. Everything else is just stuff.

In Strathewen we are expecting a death toll between 40 and 50 out of a population of about 200. Unbelievable, and we are still not getting
close to understanding what this means or how to process it. We are working hard at getting everyone together and rebuilding our community but will take a lot of time and tears.

Our own property was destroyed including house, sheds, cars, fencing and pasture. We saved 2 out of 5 horses and the 2 dogs.

Ali, Jess and I stayed with the house during the fire and survived through good planning and action. Our son Cameron was in NZ working at the time but came home immediately and has been great support.

I think we will be pretty busy rebuilding for the next year so investments strategies may be put on hold. We are covered by insurance and financial support from government and community has been outstanding.

Thanks you for your support. Love to your family.

Cheers Steve, Ali, Jess and Cam.

The ironic thing about all this is that every spare moment that Steve and Alision had, they dedicated their time and efforts to continually support the East Timor villages to become established for the future, now they need our help.

 Thankyou again for all your support. Hopefully other members were more fortunate not to be effected by this horrific tragedy.

 Have a great week!

 Adopt a Member

for a holiday on the Gold Coast

Good morning fellow members,

I have received a few emails already from members (those that have been able to retrieve their emails) who have lost their homes in the bushfires, our hearts and prays go out to you all.

I know all of us have pledged financial support through the Red Cross and most of us had the chance to offer clothing, blankets and toys ... Well Done!

Our Mayor from the Gold Coast came up with a great idea "Adopt a Town". We would like to extend this to "Adopt a Member" to provide a mid-year holiday break for our devastated members could be very timely.

Gold Coast Tourism and The Gold Coast Bulletin's sister papers News Limited Leader Group are backing the plan for Adopt a Town. There is little doubt that Gold Coast Tourism or any number of accommodation providers could ensure enough rooms were made available. Our Theme parks have a record of generosity on matters such as these. Let's hope the airlines come to the party and then we have all the factors in place to assemble holiday packages. I will keep you all informed as the idea progresses.

To start the ball rolling, Annette and I would like to offer our beach front holiday cabin at Couran Cove on South Stradbroke Island www.couran.com for a weekend to our devastated Victorian members. We are lucky as you can claim your flights and car rentals from your property investment deductions so we don't need to wait for Gold Coast Tourism.

Thankyou for your support.

Have a great Valentine's Day and weekend! 

Members in Victorian bushfires

Good morning everyone,

No doubt you are as shocked as I am at the massive loss of life and property in Victoria.

One of our members emailed me their story last night -

"After hearing stories from my family huddled in water tanks hardly being able to breath for hours and losing everything and still many of them in the paths of the fire I knew I had to rally my network to donate. Our fellow Australian’s need our support. Please follow the link below and donate.

https://www.redcross.org.au/Donations/onlineDonations.asp

Even $5 or $10 would make a difference I am sure. It's easy to lose perspective of how blessed we are even in tough economic times. Also, if you give a few dollars, encourage your friends to do the same".

Our thoughts and sympathies go out to all of those who have lost so much and have been affected by this disaster.

Give generously!

CORPORATE Australia opened its wallets yesterday pledging tens of millions of dollars to bushfire victims and their communities.

As the death toll climbed, so too did the number of donors from across the country.

Gambling giant Tabcorp tipped in $2 million
Australia Post pledged $1 million to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund.Collection tins will be in more than 4000 post offices around the country.
Australia's four biggest banks, NAB, ANZ, Westpac and CBA, each pledged $1 million. Leading supermarket chain Woolworths kicked in $1 million to the Australian Red Cross.
Woolworths and Safeway outlets - except in Queensland where money is being raised for flood relief - will collect donations.
Insurer AMP pledged $1 million, and will match staff donations up to $250,000.
Coles will donate profits from its 750 stores on Friday to the appeal fund and will receive donations at checkouts.
Hoyts will donate $2 for every movie ticket sold on Sunday.
West Australian Government will send $1 million to the relief fund, along with emergency service personnel.
Crown and Wesfarmers, which owns Coles and Bunnings, have each pledged $500,000, while Crown has joined forces with the Salvation Army and set up collection tins around the complex.
Myer has promised to match contributions of up to $500,000,
Qantas $100,000.
The Commonwealth Government, through Centrelink, has made available cash payments up to $1000 for every family needing assistance, along with medium term grants of up to $22,000 for people affected by the fires.
Both governments have set up a $10 million Community Rebuilding Fund, and donated $4 million to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund.
Melbourne's arts community has offered cash and a public campaign to help victims of the bushfire tragedy.
Malthouse Theatre said it would give the entire box office takings for the Saturday performance of its latest show, Woyzeck, to the Myer Bushfire Appeal. That sum, $11,872, will go to the Salvation Army and be matched dollar for dollar by Myer, said Malthouse artistic director Michael Kantor.
The Australian Prime Minister accused arsonists of “mass murder” today as the death toll from savage bushfires sweeping parts of the country reached 131.

Horrific stories have emerged of death – and survival – as police continue to sift though the remains of the 750 homes destroyed by the fire looking for bodies. The Government announced a Royal Commission into the scores of blazes which have torn through 330,000 hectares (1,275 square miles).

This terrible tragedy has touched all of us, as we prey for the safety and protection of our fellow members.

Give generously with your heart!

"Take Mr. Buffet's word for it before property heats up"

A LEADING Gold Coast prestige property agent says that despite the idling property market and volatility in the global commodities now is the best time to buy.

PRDnationwide Elite Properties director John Natoli said astute investors should move to secure property, before the market gathers steam due to the recent interest rate drop.

"People are often influenced by 'dinner party' conversation -- by the opinions of their friends and family -- and those conversations often centre on the property and share markets," he said.

"Many have the conservative opinion that when the markets quiver they should wait before buying further property.

"They take their eyes off the ball for a spell and consequently only come back into the market when everybody is talking about buying again.

"By then the markets have already taken off and most of the capital gain has been lost."

Mr Natoli said, however, taking direction from the likes of Kerry Packer that you should 'buy in gloom and sell in boom'.

"Building on that philosophy legendary American investor Warren Buffett said in a recent interview 'a simple rule dictates my buying: be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful'.

"And most certainly fear is now widespread, gripping even seasoned investors.

"Warren Buffett continued by saying he is buying American stocks and feels that fears regarding long-term prosperity of country's many sound companies 'makes no sense'.

"The recent one per cent interest rate cut by Australia's big five banks has signalled the start of such a trend, and rates are expected to continue to drop for the next few years.

"Pundits have recently predicted rates will drop as low as five per cent by the end of next year, and that, coupled with new reduced stamp duty charges should provide the impetus for the property market to surge once again."

Mr Natoli said if a buyer was looking for a new primary residence, they were buying and selling in the same market and the ups and down of property values should not matter.

"I'm not suggesting that you go out and rush into any acquisitions nor am I suggesting that you place yourself under hardship, but I'm suggesting that the market presents exciting opportunities," he said.

Have a great weekend!

"HISTORIC DAY for THE FIRM"

2.00pm, 4th September 2008 

Good morning everyone,

Great news! ... Finally after all these years of preparation we have lodged our Expression of Interest with the Federal Government for the National Rental Affordability Scheme and Low Cost Affordable Housing. The deadline for our registration of Expression of Interest was submitted at 2.00pm, 4th September, 2008. This is another milestone, a historic day for The FIRM ... PHEW!!!!

For those members who remember back 6 to 8 years ago when I met with the Federal Government. and presented a solution for a Affordable Housing Fund and was declined, years later they released our proposal in the last Federal Budget March, 2008.

Our application is made in advance of legislation be enacted to establish the National Rental Affordability Scheme so I will keep you in the loop as we progress.

Under the auspices of the Council of Australian Governments details of the following initiatives are being finalised:

• A Housing Affordability Fund - to reduce infrastructure development and holding cost burdens for upto 50,000 new homes.
• A National Rental Affordability Scheme- to invest $620ml over the next 4 years in rental housing for low to moderate income households in housing stress, at 20% below market rents.
• A National Housing Supply Council - to analyse the adequacy of construction and land supply for the next 20 years.
• A Commonwealth Land Audit - to expedite the release to surplus Commonwealth land by revamping the Commonwealth Property Disposals policy.
   

In our final proposal we will include a range of National development projects, Tenancy and Property Management, Investors and Affordable and faster construction techniques. A full turn-key solution!

Our consortium includes:

• One of the largest construction companies in the world - a provider of professional services and products, currently engaged in Government schemes. Is a Fortune 500 company.
• A provider of local manufacturing plants and local job opportunities.
• 28 National and Local developers with whom The FIRM has had long term relationships. These developers will provide housing stock to the consortium to meet guidelines of the Government.
• A large National Real Estate corporation to provide Tenancy and Property management to the consortium.
• The FIRM to provide investors.

 The Prime Minister and the Treasurer are committed to these initiatives because they have heard first hand from those Australians and their families who are struggling to buy or rent a home and for those who give up on their dream of home ownership.The massive decline in housing affordability presents real challenges for the residential property market as it is no point to build houses if no-one can afford it. Today the average house costs seven and a half times the annual wages compared to four times in 1996, says the Minister Housing, Tanya Plibersek.

 The National Rental Affordability Scheme is aimed at increasing the supply of affordable rental accommodation, thus offering the members properties that are more affordable with the combined added bonus of the Federal and State Government incentives rebate of upto $8,000 per year over 10 years.

Take this a step further, we could design a perfect exit strategy for the members after the 10 years has lapsed if we educate the tenant for a buy back after this period.

 We ran a Personal Investment Analysis (PIA) which shows unbelievable figures when you include the Govt. rebate. Very, very affordable weekly contributions ... Like the good old days!

 If you require more details please do not hesitate to call me.

Enjoy the weekend!

Courtesy Gold Coast Bulletin 

Housing affordability, renting

•  $2.2 billion package, including saver accounts to help people save for first homes.
•  First $5,000 of individual contributions in saver account to attract 17 per cent government contribution.
•   Earnings from account to be taxed at 15 per cent. 
•  Rental affordability scheme to encourage building of 50,000 new rental properties by 2011-12, costing $623 million over four years.
•  Investors to get $8,000 a year for 10 years for each dwelling rented to low income earners. 
   

QUEENSLAND IS TOP'S AGAIN

 BIS Shrapnel, through their Senior Economist, Jason Anderson says, "household income growth in Queensland has been significantly higher than NSW or Victoria over the past 3 years, which, together with an extended phase in rents and reduced vacancies, translates to a positive outlook for good positive growth for Queensland apartments. It adds up to still being a very strong fundamental environment in terms of property price growth over the course of this year and into 2009". 

 This is part of an article which recently featured in Domain (SMH) under the sub-heading "Our northern neighbour offers several advantages to investors".

 Also in the same feature real estate author Terry Ryder from the Hotspotting website says, "Queensland remains the property market of choice for investors across the country - particularly those with a long-term view".

"Queensland is driven by the pistons of strong state economy and nation-leading population growth. The major markets of south-east Queensland are well into a recover phase and locations beyond SE Queensland continue to show life, especially those impacted by the resources boom", Ryder says.

Accordingly to BIS Shrapnel forecasts, Brisbane is projected to show the best growth over the next 3 year and, by 2010 will be the leading long-term growth average of Australian capital cities.

BIS Shrapnel research also shows that Brisbane, which of course represents a barometer for the whole SE Queensland region, is showing an imbalance between supply and demand and that Brisbane, as a result, is set to affect apartment prices.  Jason Anderson believes the capital will soon face a dire shortage of apartments, especially for renters. 

 "The imbalance is going to get even worse in the inner-ring suburbs...."So, in that sense, there is a leaning towards that end of the market - particularly if you are looking at the volume of demand, which will rely substantially on new office developments to be completed in 2008 and 2010".

According to a nationwide study released by property services company Herron Todd White, the Gold Coast market is set to perform well throughout the first half of 2008.  Gold Coast director Tod Gillespie said this buoyancy was borne by the fact that agents were reporting limited supply levels in most property sectors across the city and there was good enquiry from local and interstate buyers.

All of the above commentaries certainly are supporting our forecast that the most fundamental of all drivers of the real estate market, namely the growth in population versus the levels of construction, play heavily in favour of strong support for current prices and price growth throughout 2008. 

We are simply not building properties fast enough to support the population growth, so the increased competition for the limited housing supplies available will certainly support strong prices.

Month on month there may be variations, but the trend is clearly very solid.

Yours faithfully

Andrew P. Bell

Chief Executive Officer

Thankyou Andrew for sharing your wonderful update with us.

No wonder why there is such a shortage of good quality stock. Appreciate your patience for the next HOT PROPERTY release as it is certainly worth waiting for ... Coming soon!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

March 2008

"Experts buoyed by 6pc growth"

EAGLEBY 88.8%

Courtesy Gold Coast Bulletin, Thursday, March 13, 2008

January 2008

What suburbs did you invest in last year?

Courtesy Gold Coast Bulletin

The highlighted suburbs in yellow are the areas we all concentrated on over the past 8 years. All areas highlighted performed magnificently. 

 Highest % (equity) over 1 year -

•  1st place Eagleby          52.2% 

•  2nd place Hope Island    37.6%

•  3rd place Broadbeach     29.3%

•  4th place Beenleigh        20.0%

•  5th place Benowa          17.5%

•  6th place Coomera         14.4%

•  7th place Robina             11.5%

•  8th place Mudgeeraba    11.1%

•  9th place Ormeau            8.3%

• 10th place Varsity Lakes   0.06%

Congratulations to all those members who recently invested in the 120 townhouse complex "Lincoln Green" at Eagleby. Stage One settled in October 2007 and we await the final stage of Stage 2 to be completed, hopefully February 2008. Then we can go shopping again ...YIPPEE!!!!

 Congratulations to all the other members who have the faith in the long term commitment to secure a better lifestyle for their future.

 These results have proven to be better than we all anticipated especially over the short term ... Congratulation again!

"PAMELA MUNCE our favourite accountant strengthens relationships with The FIRM"

Courtesy Gold Coast BULLETIN Friday, 7th December, 2007 

"Coomera on top 12 property hot-spot list"

Courtesy Sunday Mail, December 2, 2007

Good morning everyone,

 Trust you are enjoying another fabulous Sunday.

 Zingara's performance at Jupiter's Casino was a spectacular show and certainly worth visiting. I wont spoil the surprises with my comments however you must book in early.

Coomera hits the headlines once again. Queensland Govt. also identified Coomera as the key growth area, and the suburb has a projected future population of more than 80,000 residents.

 I guess most of them will be our tenants when you include all our tenants in our developments which include Savannah Palms, Savannah Waters, Oak Park, Coomera Cove, The Cove, Evergreen Manors, Beattie Place, Samarinda, Riverlinks, Oxford Mews, Havard Mews, and the foundation development way back in the 1990's Koala Town.

WOW!!!! Just listing them was a mouthful, I cant believe that we as a group have collected so many developments over the years in the area of just Coomera... That's incredible... 1000's of tenants.

 Now for the BIG one ... FIRMWOOD Estate ... "The BIG momma of them all" with over 1,200 tenants living in a very unique development that  will envy tenants and owners alike. This very special project will be something that you will certainly be very proud to be a part of.

So, stay tuned as I continue to deliver our standard of excellence.

Enjoy your Sunday and chat soon.      

 Kindest regards,

 John Ibbitson

 Founder & Chairman

"TO BE or NOT TO BE?"

 

 Mr Howard delivered an impressive statesman-like address under what must have been incredibly difficult circumstances; it was a class act.  Mr Rudd was also impressive and was gracious in his comments about Mr Howard and set a platform which, if delivered, could provide a great unification for Australia.

 They were both correct on one key point.  This is a magnificent country and, whatever our political persuasion, we are a nation of amazingly talented people.  We have achieved so much in our very short history and, since Federation just over 100 years ago, this country has experienced periods of time under both Labor and Liberal Governments and that journey has lead us to where we are today.

 We are certainly at a unique point in time for the country and much thanks must go to both Mr Howard and Peter Costello     With the election behind us it is now time to get on with life.  Let's make the most of the opportunities which this amazing Australian economy provides. We trust that the new Government will be disciplined in its economic management, as they have promised to be.

 It is interesting to note that, in the last 30 years, we have actually had a greater number of property booms under a Labor Government than we had under Liberal, and, with the excellent platform that is in place, 2008 is looking to be a fabulous year for Gold Coast real estate.

 One aspect that underlies what will happen in the Gold Coast property market is that population growth is far greater than the construction of new dwellings.  Therefore, irrespective of what happens in relation to Government decisions in the foreseeable future (i.e. many years) we will experience a property market which is driven by that basic 'supply and demand' issue.

 At the Ray White Surfers Paradise Group we are busily preparing for the spectacular January/February season.  Everything points to a bumper season and, if you are looking for any indication as to the impact of the Government on property buyers at present, then results last week could not speak more loudly.  Just three days before the election we held our November auctions, where 27 properties were submitted and 17 of those properties sold either under the hammer or prior to auction; the auction room was abuzz with activity.  Several sales have since occurred also, which is a very clear sign that not one of those buyers cared if it was Liberal or Labor in power.  

 Such are the market forces at present, so, Australia, let's get on with the job.

 Kind regards

 Andrew P. Bell

Chief Executive Officer

Well, there it is!  ... FREE PLUG for RAY WHITE ... Ha-ha!!!!

Have a wonderful weekend and safe celebrations as the Christmas parties commence.

 We are off tonight to Jupiter's Casino to kick off the party mood with everyone from The FIRM Money to enjoy the spectacular new show that everyone is raving on about. Lucky for us we all have Sunday to recuperate ... Ha-ha!!!!

Chat soon. 

Kindest regards,

"Disneyland for Coomera"

Courtesy Gold Coast Bulletin Friday 27th July 2007

Good morning everyone,

Well, I told you so, its sort of official, Disneyland is coming to town, more importantly to Coomera ...YIPPEEE!!!!!

Makes sense after all, we are the entertainment capital of Australia. Can you imagine how Coomera is now going to go right through the roof, aren't you glad you have a piece of it ... or do you!!

The FIRM Money is out of control now as they provide unbelievable deals for all of us. Check out the web-site www.the-firm.com.au or call the boys on 1300 595 110

The last Hot Property release are nearly all gone so don't delay.

Have a great weekend!

Chat soon!