Weekend Reads — Must see 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 long 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.
Gen Y and Gen X could be locked out of the property market — for good
Who is the luckier generation?
This ongoing debate seems to have no ending in sight — yet in terms of hosing affordability, there may be a winner, or rather a loser.
As reported in an article in Your Mortgage Magazine, the youngsters of the generations; Z and Y, have little to no hope of ever setting their foot into the property market.
New research shows that younger generations and traditional middle-class Aussies could see themselves locked out of the property market for all time due to stagnant wage growth and lack of affordable housing.
“The Gen Y’s and the middle cohort of wealth and income earners really are stuck,” said demographer Mark McCrindle in an interview with news.com.au.
“It’s really hard for them to get ahead compared to the previous generation and they end up not only stalling as we’re seeing now on wages and net worth but failing to get into what became for the Baby Boomers the key source of their net worth — the family home.”
These 25 to 34-year-old individuals are not the only ones having a tough time in the market.
Even the Gen X bracket of 35 to 44-year-olds are also struggling with the lack of wage growth and net worth, according to the 2013 to 2014 figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
These people are too wealthy to classify for income support and benefits, yet too poor to afford their homes without undue amounts of mortgage stress.
“We’ve still got a middle class but the middle class does not buy what it used to,” McCrindle said.
Find the full article here
Serviceability vs affordability + Should you hold off until after the election?
Another great Real Estate Talk show produced by Kevin Turner.
Michael Yardney answers the question whether it is a good idea for investors to put their plans on hold until after the election, following the intense debate between the government and opposition about housing tax policy including treatment of Capital Gains tax and negative gearing and whether these would be good for property or not. [adrotate group=”25"]
John Symond from Aussie Home Loans takes a big stick to all politicians over the debate on negative gearing.
Andrew Mirams from Intuitive Finance looks at the difference between serviceability and affordability.
Patrick Bright who is the EPS Property Search director and author of the Insider’s Guide to Buying Real Estate joins the chorus of those warning to be cautious about how you buy off the plan.
Ken Raiss discusses questions surrounding investing in property with the use of super funds.
Todd Miller gives insight into his app Homingin.co which promises to fidn the worth of any property around the world.
If you don’t already subscribe to this excellent weekly Internet based radio show do so now by clicking here.
Job advertisements hit a four year high
If the latest ANZ job listings are anything to go by, employment rates could see a positive turn according to this blog from Pete Wargent.
ANZ’s job advertisements series posted a sharp seasonally adjusted bounce of +2.4 per cent in May.
This takes total advertisements to their highest level in four years at 157,942.
After six months of broadly flat results this is an encouraging result which bodes well for hiring over the months ahead, particularly in the non-mining sector of the economy.
Despite improved business conditions, weak wages growth has kept inflation low.
In other news, the Reserve Bank’s Index of Commodity Prices rose by 3.8 per cent in Aussie dollar terms in May, although the index is still down by 2.5 per cent year-on-year.
Read the full article here
Negative Gearing Debate Intensifies as Industry Leaders Criticise Labor’s Plans
It’s the debate that’s been surrounding the 2016 election since day one — Negative gearing.
As the election day moves closer, property industry leaders continue to raise their dismay in an article from Your Investment Property Magazine.
With the federal election now less than a month away, the debate around negative gearing and housing affordability shows no sign of abating.
After an alliance of community housing and welfare groups last week derided negative gearing as “unfair” and claimed it is pushing up house prices, a number of the real estate industry’s leading voices have criticised proposed changes to the tax break and have claimed they would do little to improve affordability.
The Labor Party is currently campaigning on a platform that from 1 July 2017 would see negative gearing restricted to new builds only and reduce the capital gains tax discount to 25%.
Labor have framed their policy as a means to boost the economy and improve housing affordability, but Property Investment Professionals of Australia (PIPA) chair Ben Kinglsey disagrees the policy will have benefits on either of those points.
“The broader picture here is that property is such an integral part of the wider economy and you’re talking about playing with 30% of the market place, possibly up to 35% if market trends continue,” Kingsley said.
“There’s the risk in itself. [If] you take the confidence away from these investors who are in this space then you’ll be left with a bigger problem of slowing GDP, less construction jobs, less service jobs, less retail jobs because the reality is it’s all part of a broader interwoven economy,” he said.
Click here for the full article
Here’s Where the Obamas Are Moving After the President Leaves Office
What do you expect your house to look like when you retire?
Well if you were the president of the United States of America, nothing less than a mansion, as seen on time.com.
This 8,200-square-foot mansion will be a downgrade from the White House
Leaving the White House might seem like downsizing, but the Obamas’ post-presidential digs are nothing to sneeze at: An 8,200-square-foot mansion in the W
ashington’s Kalorama neighborhood, according to Politico.
The President and his family have said they plan to stay in D.C. until their younger daughter, Sasha, is finished with high school.
Although it’s in what Washingtonian.com described as “one of DC’s toniest neighborhoods,” the accommodations will still be a step down from the Obamas’ current digs.
“The house does not give off any vibes of ostentatiousness,” Washingtonian.com said, noting that it’s lacking ballrooms or a paparazzi-proof backyard.
But while the Kalorama mansion is considerably smaller than the White House’s 55,000 square feet, it’s not exactly lacking in creature comforts, with nine bedrooms, eight-and-a-half bathrooms and a two-car garage, plus a courtyard where up to 10 more can be parked.
Click here for the full article
Weekend Video: 10 Amazing Optical Illusions (and how to make them)
Originally published at Property Update.
