This week we continue the series looking at suburbs posting the highest capital growth for houses and this week we look at the sub $500,000 market - in a Brisbane suburb. We speak with Robin Mellon from the Green Building Council of Australia about the passing of the federal government’s Renewable Energy Target and how quickly this will impact on design and retro-fitting in the residential sector. And in this week’s tip we look at what rights tenants have when urgent repairs are required. But first, let’s hear from Emma Pearson who has a wrap up of this week’s property news.
News. In the news, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released figures showing a 2 per cent fall in housing finance for the month of July. The figures showed a 1.7 per cent drop in the value of owner-occupied housing finance to $16.88 billion. The value of investment housing fixed loans declined 4 per cent to $5.58 billion. Data revealed that the number of approvals for the purchase of new dwellings fell 0.5 per cent, while commitments for the purchase of established dwellings fell 2.3 per cent.Construction finance slipped 0.7 per cent. And in other news the Australian Industry Group/Housing Industry Association performance of construction rose 2.9 points to a read of 42.4 index points in August. A read under 50 indicates contraction in the sector.
And now taking a look at up and coming events. The Home Buyer Show is on at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from Friday October 2nd through to the 4th, and at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre from Saturday the 31st of October to Sunday the first of November.
Suburb in Focus. As part of our series focusing on house markets in capital cities that have high growth and medin prices under $500,000 and, this week we are showing you a Brisbane suburb. We’re looking at the house market in Kangaroo Point. Kangaroo Point is about a 4km drive across the river from Brisbane’s CBD and in 2006 had a population of 6,800residents. Today it is a popular suburb for city working professionals and has many popular cafes and attractions. 36% of households contain families and 64% of families are couples without children so clearly this is a young professional suburb. Units and apartments make up 80% of properties and houses only account for 14% of residences. Rental properties make up 51% of the housing market so clearly this is a popular investor market. Let’s look at the data…
The median house price in Kangaroo Point is $445,000 dollars, which is an increase of over 25% compared to a year ago. There were 23 houses sold in Kangaroo Point in the 12 months to June 30 and 44 rented out. The median rent price for a house in the suburb is $450 which brings the gross rental yield to 5.3%. And next week we are focusing on two strong housing markets in Adelaide where the median price is less than $500,000.
Tax Tip. Today we are having a look at the rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants when urgent repairs are required on an investment property. Did you know that tenants are allowed to spend up to $1,000 to carry out urgent repairs if a landlord cannot or will not carry out the repair promptly? The only requirement for a tenant is that they use a tradesperson that has been named by the landlord or real estate agent in the rental agreement. In this case, the landlord is then required to reimburse the tenant within 14 days of payment. So what is an urgent repair? Well the Tenancy Handbook classifies them as anything that interrupts essential services like plumbing, cooking or heating appliances or anything that is dangerous, or unstable. So, if you want to make sure that you manage your repair costs, make sure that your agent has a clear list of trades people that the tenant knows about and address repairs promptly! Some landlords even prefer for the tenant to have the landlord’s phone number to call in the case that urgent repairs are required.
