Thursday, July 28, 2011

JUST LISTED - Stylish 2 Bedroom + Sunroom Apartment

1/7 Badham Avenue, Mosman






Set in a tranquil location, this immaculately presented two bedroom apartment features abundant natural light, an elevated aspect and district outlook. A stylish renovation has modernised the essentials, yet has retained much of the period charm, including high ornate ceilings, leadlight windows, picture rails and polished floorboards.

FIRST INSPECTION 11.00-11.45AM SATURDAY

Call me for more details - Joshua Wygoda Century 21 0414 666 190

Monday, July 25, 2011

JUST SOLD in Mosman Street

31/22 Mosman Street, Mosman
For a fantastic price of $410,000 in one week!



Listed with "Offers over $405,000" this fantastic one bedroom apartment (w/o parking) was snapped up quickly after a buzzing first open house last Saturday. If you have been thinking of selling your apartment, we have buyers who have missed out and are ready to buy! Give me a call today on 0414 666 190.

Joshua Wygoda Century 21 Mosman

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

July RBA Minutes and Statement

Please follow this link for the complete minutes of the Monetary Policy Meeting of the Reserve Bank Board for July:
http://www.rba.gov.au/monetary-policy/rba-board-minutes/2011/05072011.html


The condensed version (Glenn Stevens' Media Statement):

At its meeting today, the Board decided to leave the cash rate unchanged at 4.75 per cent.

The global economy is continuing its expansion, but the pace of growth slowed in the June quarter. The supply-chain disruptions from the Japanese earthquake and the dampening effects of high commodity prices on income and spending in major countries have both contributed to the slowing. The banking and sovereign debt problems in Europe have also added to uncertainty and volatility in financial markets over recent months.

A key question is whether this more moderate pace of growth will continue. Commodity prices have generally softened of late, though they remain at very high levels. Despite the challenging international environment, the central scenario for the world economy envisaged by most forecasters remains one of growth at, or above, average over the next couple of years. A number of countries have tightened monetary policy but, overall, global financial conditions remain accommodative and underlying rates of inflation have tended to move higher.

Australia's terms of trade are now at very high levels and national income has been growing strongly, though conditions vary significantly across industries. Investment in the resources sector is picking up strongly in response to high levels of commodity prices and the outlook remains very positive. A number of service sectors are also expanding at a solid pace. In other areas, cautious behaviour by households and the high level of the exchange rate are having a noticeable dampening effect. The impetus from earlier Australian Government spending programs is now also abating, as had been intended.

A gradual recovery from the floods and cyclones over the summer is taking place, though the resumption of coal production in flooded mines continues to proceed more slowly than initially expected. The recovery will boost output over the months ahead, and there will also be a mild boost to demand from the broader rebuilding efforts as they get under way, but growth through 2011 is now unlikely to be as strong as earlier forecast. Over the medium term, overall growth is still likely to be at trend or higher, if the world economy grows as expected.

Growth in employment has moderated over recent months and the unemployment rate has been little changed, near 5 per cent. Most leading indicators suggest that this slower pace of employment growth is likely to continue in the near term. Reports of skills shortages remain confined, at this point, to the resources and related sectors. After the significant decline in 2009, growth in wages has returned to rates seen prior to the downturn.

Credit growth remains modest. Signs have continued to emerge of some greater willingness to lend and business credit has expanded this year after a period of contraction. Growth in credit to households, on the other hand, has slowed. Most asset prices, including housing prices, have also softened over recent months.

Year-ended CPI inflation is likely to remain elevated in the near term due to the extreme weather events earlier in the year. However, as the temporary price shocks dissipate, CPI inflation is expected to be close to target over the next 12 months. In underlying terms, inflation has been in the bottom half of the target range, though a gradual increase is expected over time.

At today's meeting, the Board judged that the current mildly restrictive stance of monetary policy remained appropriate. In future meetings, the Board will continue to assess carefully the evolving outlook for growth and inflation.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Mid-Winter Property Update

We have had a great month since our last update. We’ve sold a range of properties - from an unrenovated 1-bedroom apartment for $410K in Mosman through to a family home in Cremorne Point for $4.12 million, and plenty in between. With spring on the doorstep, we are also looking forward to a number of exciting listings that we have teed-up to launch in the next few weeks.

Our recent sales have certainly benefited from the seemingly low level of quality properties on the market this winter. There have been good numbers through our open houses, and buyers are actually commenting that there is not much to choose from at the moment.

Some reported statistics back our observations - research firm SQM states that the total number of online residential property listings fell by 2% during June. This is the second month in a row that they have reported a decrease in the number of listings. Some newspaper reports have cited 25% more stock on the market than the same time last year, but based on our observations, these figures must be heavily affected by other areas in Sydney.

The low stock level is typical of the winter selling season, and this year seems no different to any other. We expect to see some more properties on the market in August, with a larger increase in September. Auction clearance rates remain stable. They have been hovering around the 55% level for quite some time.

Encouragingly, we are also seeing many more investors return to the property market, including international buyers – primarily from China, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. There is a noticeable increase in buyer enquiry over the last few weeks following the Reserve Bank announcement that rates would remain on hold for some time. ANZ has publicly predicted interest rates to stay on hold until at least February, and Westpac chief economist Bill Evans is predicting a series of rate cuts beginning with 25 basis points in December 2011 through 2012, totaling 100 basis points prior to a period of steady rates in 2013.

Forecasting rates seems to be a new industry in of itself - predicting monthly RBA decisions has become big business. Predictions continue to dominate newspaper headlines, and every television news broadcast seems to have an “expert” sharing their opinion/prediction.

In such an interest rate-sensitive market, this can cause instability. Fortunately, most recent punts are on interest rates staying on hold for the near future.

It seems that the banks have relaxed their lending practices somewhat – whereas 3-6 months ago we had a much harder time arranging finance for our buyers, today we are having fewer issues with the banks, which is a great sign.

This appears to be mirrored in the official statistics: recently released figures show that the number of home loan approvals in May rose to the highest level seen in the last two years. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed a 4.4 per cent month-on-month rise, taking the total up to 49,437.

These lending figures could indicate that the housing market might be on the road to recovery from a sluggish first half of the year, and could account for our busy June/July. With finance newly in place, these buyers are in the market and ready to buy.

The hot topic right now of course is the Carbon Tax and what effect it will eventually have on property prices, but the more immediate impact will be on consumer confidence and retail spending. The question is, how long will it take to for the country to adapt to the changes? One half of politics is working very hard to prolong the fear until the next election. Hopefully the impact on consumer confidence will not have that much stamina.

The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Index of consumer sentiment tumbled 8.3% in July to 92.8, from 101.2 in June. These are factors that are strongly weighed by the Reserve Bank when deciding on interest rate movements, and could assist rates remaining unchanged for the rest of the year – good news for mortgage holders and the property market in general. We will have greater detail about the RBA's thinking later this week with the release of the latest board minutes - I will post these to my  blog when available. We already know the conclusion: the present level of interest rates is about right.

The European debt crisis is another issue making headlines. It is just another concern people are thinking about and looks as though it will be with us for some time.

Looking beyond the current headlines and despite all of these concerns, the key fundamentals of our economy remain on track. We still believe property is a safe bet, and our clients—both buyers and sellers—agree.

If you have been considering buying or selling this year, please feel free to call us anytime to discuss your circumstances. We are here to help you achieve your property goals, and will assist you through the entire process.

Best regards,

Joshua Wygoda
0414 666 190

Thursday, July 14, 2011

JUST LISTED - Fantastic First Apartment or Investment

31/22 MOSMAN STREET, MOSMAN
Offers over $405,000

 
Ultra Contemporary 1-Bedroom Apartment with Harbour Views
This 1-bedroom apartment boasts a fabulous renovation throughout and views that span from the Eastern Suburbs across the sparkling Harbour to the CBD, Opera House, Harbour Bridge and Milsons Point. Featuring a stylish kitchen and bathroom, large balcony and facility for internal laundry, this apartment is a perfect first home buy or appealing investment.






First inspection this Saturday 1.00-1.30 - call me for more details.

Joshua Wygoda Century 21 0414 666 190

Saturday, July 9, 2011

JUST SOLD - 1 Bedroom Apartment with Views

52/22 Mosman Street, Mosman
Unrenovated 1 bedroom apartment with views

JUST SOLD - $410,000

We know there has been a lot of interest in this apartment - if you have missed out, don't worry! We have a fabulous renovated 1 bedroom apartment in the same building with stunning views coming on the market this week. Give us a call for more information.

Joshua Wygoda Century 21 Mosman 0414 666 190

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Century 21 Monthly Market Report - June 2011

Please follow the link below to open Century 21 June 2011 Market Reports, our monthly free service outlining reported property transactions in Lower North Shore suburbs that we believe you will find useful for buying and selling property in your area, or simply to keep you up to date on the local market. 
Click here to view the June 2011 Market Report

The Market Reports are divided by suburb – we are currently in the process of expanding our monthly suburb coverage. In the meantime, please let us know if you need market data for any other Lower North Shore suburb, or any other time period or specification, and we would be happy to be of assistance.

Kind regards,

Joshua Wygoda

Monday, July 4, 2011

2 Huge Auction Results from Saturday

We had a fantastic Saturday with 2 massive results under the hammer...


76 Milson Road, Cremorne Point
SOLD at Auction - $4,120,000

4A Government Road, Mosman
SOLD at Auction - $1,500,000

We consistently achieve fantastic results for our clients - if you are thinking of selling this spring, give us a call anytime!

Joshua Wygoda Century 21 Mosman 0414 666 190