Hot Property: The biggest stories this week 1 - Oct

To compile this list, not only are we taking a look at the week’s most-read stories and the news that matter to you, but we are also curating it to include stories from our sister platforms that could have an impact on your investment journey.  

1.       Perth’s fastest-selling suburbs uncovered

Fresh stats from REIWA has found that houses in the capital are selling 27 days faster in September compared with a year ago. This puts the median of 28 days to sell, rather than 55 days.

“While the data shows we are seeing improvements, agents on the ground have reported high levels of interest in residential property and multiple offers being put forward on some new listings,” REIWA president Damian Collins said.

2.       Why diversification is the key to success as a property investor

Speaking on a recent episode of The Smart Property Investment Show, Propertyology’s Simon Pressley said diversification is one of the most important steps to a sustainable investment strategy, “yet one of the least respected ones”.

“It’s Investment 101. If you think of what a share investor would do, for example, with say, a $200,000 share portfolio, they would spread that across multiple stocks and in multiple companies on the stock exchange. But unfortunately, a lot of property investors, they will buy their investment property in the same town or city that they live in.”

3.       Investor shares why now is a great time to buy

George Markovski said that while many would think that buying during a pandemic, coupled with a recession, would be risky, he’s finding the property landscape well worth exploring at the moment, particularly in Queensland and Adelaide where he’s most recently bought.

“I hear so many would-be investors declaring they are going to sit things out, but with some careful research and an understanding of not only the ‘fundamentals’ of property investing, but also the statistics which are often overlooked, now could be the very best time to invest.”

4.       Why North Parramatta is the place to be

Richard Masigan joined Parramatta’s RE/MAX Xtra not even four months ago, and he’s already grown his rent roll from 68 to 93: “My goal is to have 140 on the rent roll by the end of 2020 and at that point we’ll be growing the property management team.”

5.       Sydney agents to star in new reality show

Production has kicked off on an unscripted docu-reality series that will follow the day-to-day lives of three of Sydney’s top agents: agents Gavin Rubinstein and D’Leanne Lewis, and buyer’s agent Simon Cohen.

The trio “will transport viewers into the fast-paced world of buying and selling high-end luxury real estate”.

6.       New agency to service changing Newcastle market

Principal Matt Barnes decided to open Richardson & Wrench Newcastle City when he realised there was a gap in the local market “for a more personalised, streamlined and hands-on approach to engaging with, and delivering results for, clients”.

The Newcastle region is becoming a popular location for remote workers in search of affordability, with Mr Barnes observing a boost to the number of highly engaged buyers since July.

7.       Major banks open New Home Guarantee waitlists

NAB and CBA are opening their waitlists for the additional 10,000 places under the New Home Guarantee from today. The First Home Loan Deposit Scheme New Home Guarantee was among the measures announced in the 2020-21 budget and provides government guarantees to first home buyers loans on new homes and newly built homes.

8.       Major bank to pay $15m for engaging unlicensed introducers  

The Federal Court of Australia has ordered National Australia Bank (NAB) to pay $15 million for accepting information and documents in support of at least 260 consumer loan applications from third-party introducers who were not licensed to engage in credit activity.

ASIC commenced proceedings in the Federal Court last year against NAB for breaches of the law arising from failures within its introducer program (as flagged during the banking royal commission).