Australia Real Estate Forum

The number of buyers actively looking increased at the back end of 2019, despite a lack of properties listed for sale. Data from Smartline on home loan lending revealed a strong growth in submissions as of the latter half of 2019, as well as a growing proportion of pre-approvals in the same period. This is a strong indicator that activity levels in the market are up but there is a backlog of buyers looking for a property to purchase. Details inside: x Property market update: Active buyers increase but... While the number of active buyers has increased substantially over the past year and the market is on the road to recovery, there is one area that continues to struggle. www.realestate.com.au

As Australians continue to worry about their impact on the planet, the need for houses that match consumers’ eco-friendly desires grows, according to a study. With this in mind, a community in rural Victoria was established based on creating a modern energy-efficient 220 home neighbourhood. According to results released by RMIT University and RENEW, Australia’s housing industry can build affordable, energy-efficient, carbon neutral homes that dramatically reduce energy bills, meaning a win-win for consumers and the environment. Dr Trivess Moore, senior lecturer at RMIT University, believes Victoria’s sustainable community known as “The Cape” shows that energy-efficient living is possible Australian wide. “The houses are consuming 88 per cent less energy from the energy grid compared to a typical new 6-star house in Victoria. This results in the houses having very low energy bills, making them much more affordable to live in,” Dr Moore explained. Analysis from the site showed that there is no design, material, technology or knowledge barriers to delivering low energy or carbon housing in Australia. More...x How future estates can be green As Australians continue to worry about their impact on the planet, the need for houses that match consumers’ eco-friendly desires grows, according to a study. www.smartpropertyinvestment.com.au

Despite much of the real estate focus being on Sydney and Melbourne, regional Australia is performing just as well, a property researcher has suggested. Most investors do not look outside of the city to find the best returns. But Propertyology looked at the numbers and found regional Australia holding its own. Towns with fewer than 50,000 people have been able to produce higher returns than many capital cities over the last 20 years, Simon Pressley, Propertyology’s head of research, said. “A regional town with a population of only 23,000 has Australia’s third-highest median house price. Other towns with populations as small as 7,000 people have also proven to be far less volatile than Australia’s biggest cities over the past two decades,” he said. Read to know more: x Is it time to invest regionally? Despite much of the real estate focus being on Sydney and Melbourne, regional Australia is performing just as well, a property researcher has suggested. www.smartpropertyinvestment.com.au

Everybody wants an energy-efficient home. After all, an energy-efficient home is comfortable to live in, without large energy bills. These can be important factors for prospective home owners or renters. Our review of international research found energy-efficient homes typically fetch a higher price. An energy performance rating is one way to show how "energy hungry" a home could be. In many countries, it is mandatory for the seller to obtain and disclose a home's rating. For European Union countries, this has been the case for 10 years. But that's not the case in most of Australia. Only one of the states and territories — the ACT — has a regulated scheme to disclose the energy-efficiency rating of housing to prospective buyers. More inside:x It's not just location and size that homebuyers ar... An energy-efficient home isn't just comfortable to live in — they also typically fetch a higher price www.abc.net.au

Home buyers and sellers have been warned to strap in: property prices are about to surge by six figure sums over just a 12-month period across three major city regions. House prices in pockets of the northern beaches, Sutherland Shire and eastern suburbs will balloon by more than $70,000 this year as Sydney braces for another property boom. New research revealed suburbs in these regions had the biggest imbalance between supply and demand and would get the fastest house price growth of any Sydney suburbs this year. It comes as the Commonwealth Bank’s monthly Household Spending Intentions Series released Tuesday revealed demand for housing hit a record high in December. TOP GROWTH SUBURBS (by price increase) Bangor 7.5% ($76,000) Heathcote 7.1% ($60,000) Davidson 7.1% ($103,000) Allambie Heights 7% ($98,000) Bronte 7% ($219,000) Collaroy Plateau 7% ($107,000) Paddington 6.8% ($145,000) Narraweena 6.8% ($93,000) Beacon Hill 6.8% ($88,000) North Epping 6.8% $85,000 Woronora Heights 6.8% ($73,000) Abbotsbury 6.8% ($53,000) Read more:x Where prices will rise by $200k this year House prices in pockets of the northern beaches, Sutherland Shire and eastern suburbs will balloon by more than $70,000 this year as Sydney braces for another property boom. www.news.com.au