Weekend Reads — Must read articles from the last week
There are more interesting articles, commentaries and analyst reports on the Web every week than anyone could read in a month.
Each Saturday morning I like to share some of the ones I’ve read during the week.
The weekend will be over before you know it, so enjoy some weekend reading…and please forward to your friends by clicking the social link buttons.
Pokemon Go hits real estate market
With every new day, there’s a new digital craze, however this one seems to have affected both participants and spectators.
The overnight sensation of Pokemon has gone beyond an innocent game and into the real estate market, as reported in article for news.com.au.
THREE bedrooms, two bathrooms and a PokeStop.
Pokemon Go is already hitting real estate listings — and some agents think even house prices may benefit.
“Just across the road is a huge park with sporting facilities — and we’ve even spotted some rare Pokemon!” reads the ad for 222 Charles Street in Townsville’s Cranbrook.
A rental listing for a two-bedroom apartment at 61/51 Playfield Street in Brisbane’s Chermside boasts an “easy five-minute walk to the busway”, a “15-minute drive to the airport”, and “close by to Marchant Park — Pokemon Go Central”.
And on renter social website Flatmates.com.au, Perth 24-year-old John’s profile describes himself as “a country boy who is loving the city … looking to move closer to the hustle and bustle”.
“Also, all that are around my place is water Pokemon and I’m looking for my spirit animal/Pokemon Snorlax,” he writes, adding, “Update. Got me a Snorlax, poetic I had to walk 10km to hatch it, its name is ‘Nuggies’.”
The ridiculous popularity of the augmented-reality smartphone app has led to everything from cliff falls and car crashes to wild mob scenes, police warnings, stabbings and armed hold-ups.
Some property owners, upset at scores of Poke-zombies hanging around, have asked to have their real-world locations removed from the fictional Poke-verse.
Find the full article here
What could be holding you back + Your right not to sell is under challenge
Another great Real Estate Talk show produced by Kevin Turner. [adrotate group=”8"]
Michael Yardney discusses the common excuses that stop investors, that might help re-focus you.
Margaret Lomas shares her personal views on property investment.
Ken Raiss from Chan & Naylor answers a couple of your questions about offset accounts linked to an investment property loan and potential problems and a question about the sale of positively geared property.
Shannon Davis will have a look at the vulnerability of the ‘under bidder’ and how that can lead to some disastrous decisions.
Garth Brown discusses Why you might have to sell when you don’t want to.
If you don’t already subscribe to this excellent weekly internet based radio show do so now by clicking here.
Sydney surging again
Time and time again Sydney has been named the most expensive city to live in, and it doesn’t look like the city will be losing that title anytime soon.
According to this Blog by Pete Wargent the Sydney median house prices have continued to rise, with no show of a slowdown.
Rise again
Sydney’s median house price was rising again by the June quarter, up by +2.94 per cent in Q2 to $1,073,000.
The median unit price also jumped by +2 per cent in June to a fresh high of $704,000.
Through the cycles, it has been that unit prices are steadier than house prices, which tend to record stronger gains when the market is strong, but sometimes decline further at times of weakness.
Since July 2012 the increase in house prices (+62 per cent or +409,000) has outpaced the increase in unit prices (+44 per cent or +$216,000).
As you can see, macro-prudential intervention seemed to have more impact on the detached house market, where more debt is typically required to make a purchase.
Read the full article here
Home loan arrears continue to rise as housing stress builds
It’s no secret that household debt has been on the rise.
But now it would seem that the major culprit of debt stress is mortgage payments.
In an article for Your Mortgage Magazine its reported that home loan arrears are continuing to rise, causing a great deal of distress.
New arrears data released by Standard & Poor’s showed that more borrowers are falling behind on mortgage repayments despite the lowest mortgage rates in a gener
ation.
S&P data revealed an increase in the number of home loan arrears across prime residential mortgage-backed securities for the seventh consecutive month last May.
The ratings agency’s prime performance index, known as SPIN, rose to 1.21 per cent in May from 1.14 per cent the previous month and 1.07 per cent a year earlier.
“Most of the increase in arrears for the month was in the more severe category of 90-plus days overdue,” S&P said.
“The larger upward movements were in the major banks and other bank categories, while non-bank financial institutions were the only sector to see a decline in arrears in May.”
The major banks’ 90 day-plus arrears rose by four basis points to 0.48 per cent while non-banks fell a point to 17 basis points.
Click here for the full article
10 Reasons Why Coffee Drinkers Are More Likely To Be Successful
Why do you drink coffee?
For the taste?
To wake-up?
Well now you have another reason to add to the list — to be more successful.
An article on lifehack.org has reported that people who drink coffee have a better chance at success — now there’s a reason for that second cup.
I love coffee.
I hope you do too.
There is a ritual that comes with making it and the smell is wonderful.
While others are yawning and trying to get their days going, coffee is like a punch in the face to wake you up into the real world.
Perhaps you drink coffee all the time or merely sometimes, yet do not quite fully understand how pivotal it is to your success.
If so, here is some news for you!
- They are more physically active
- They have fewer health risks
- They are smarter
- They have healthier brains
- They have fewer bouts of depression
- They have longer life spans
- They are not prone to obesity
- They are funny and interesting to be with
- They earn more money
- They are high achievers
Click here for the full article
Weekend video: World’s best magic trick
Originally published at Property Update -.
