appraise.works

With a new year comes new possibilities and opportunities for the property market. Will the Reserve Bank hand out more interest rate cuts? Will high values continue? Will lagging markets finally enjoy some growth? While anything is possible in a new year, I expect to see an increase in buyers’ resilience,…

Melbourne’s property market continued to gain momentum in 2025, after five years of sluggish growth. As of September 2024, the southern capital city shifted from being the second most expensive capital city market in 2020 to the third most affordable, according to Cotality’s Housing Affordability Report last month. Cotality’s latest…

The average Australian enduring a cost-of-living crisis, buyers see $1 million-plus property as affordable buying says John McGrath Chief Executive Officer of McGrath Estate Agents.

Buying a home remains a strong aspiration for most Australians, but first home buyers are waiting longer to buy their first property. According to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data, the average age of first home buyers is now 37. Commonwealth Bank figures also show that the largest…

There’s a significant new trend in property investment: for the past three years, a majority of Australian investors have been positively or neutrally geared. That means their rental income has met or exceeded their expenses, including loan repayments. As a result, they’ve been pocketing extra income each year on top of…

Buying a property can be one of the most exciting and stressful experiences of your life. Whether buying your first home, your forever home, or an investment property, the key to success is knowing how to navigate the process with clarity and confidence. There are two main ways homes are…

The key to extracting a premium price for a property – in any location, at any time, in any market – is emotionally connecting a number of buyers to your home and creating competition between them. Achieving this comes down to three crucial ingredients: outstanding presentation and marketing, a realistic price…

After two years of uneven momentum across Australia’s property market, we’re now seeing a significant rebalancing that is presenting new opportunities for buyers. The latest data shows that the hottest markets are starting to lose steam as affordability constraints bite, while weaker markets are beginning to strengthen as the value…

Buying your first home remains a strong aspiration in Australia but the pathways into the market are constantly evolving. Some first home buyers prefer to build whilst others favour established properties. Some choose to buy their first property for investment rather than owner occupation. Many are relying on the Bank of…

One of the oldest myths in real estate is that Winter is a bad time to sell. But like many myths, it doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. The idea that buyers disappear when the weather cools down simply isn’t true – genuine buyers are active all year round. They don’t…

This month’s interest rate cut – the second for 2025 – is great news for buyers and owners alike. Not only does it reduce interest costs, the rate cut also raises the borrowing capacity of aspiring buyers. But that’s not all. The second rate cut appears to have reignited the…

Australian property has proven itself to be one of the most successful ways to build wealth for generations. A new report from Cotality, formerly CoreLogic, reveals more than four in 10 homes across the combined capital cities now have a median value of $1 million or more. To be exact,…

Housing policy was a key focus for both sides of politics in the recent federal election campaign. Now that we know Labor has been returned, let’s review what this means for first home buyers. Here is a summary of the key election commitments from Labor. Bear in mind they now need approval…

Stylists help vendors present their property in its best light to achieve the highest sale price possible. You don’t need to hire a stylist when selling your home, but it’s a convenient and attractive option if you have the budget. The cost varies, depending on whether you hire furniture through them…

During my 40 years in real estate, I have witnessed the market adapt to change in many innovative ways. It wasn’t that long ago that the Bank of Mum and Dad and ‘rentvesting’ did not exist at scale, investors only bought locally, and families would have never contemplated apartment living.…

It used to be the case that people who were priced out of expensive capital cities would do a seachange/treechange relocate to an affordable satellite town within commuting distance for work. For example, Sydneysiders would look north to the Central Coast or south to Wollongong, while Melburnians would look west to…

Home design trends are always evolving and tend to reflect the way we’re choosing to live our lives. For the past two decades, open plan has been the much preferred floor plan format, but times are once again changing as more families seek homes with multiple living spaces and separate rooms.…

Market activity is likely to be subdued for the next few weeks due to the school holidays, the Anzac Day long weekend, and the Federal Election on Saturday, May 3. The biggest impact that the election will have on the market is that sellers may delay the start of their campaigns,…

We are seeing good competition at auctions this Autumn, with the national combined capital city clearance rate holding above 60%, which is considered the benchmark for a balanced market. Looking ahead, we’ll see a pause in market activity over the Easter school holidays in mid-April. In addition, with the Federal Election…