Tags: RBA
Harcourts Victoria’s sales up 50 per cent
April 9th, 2010Harcourts Victoria has reported the company’s sales are up nearly 50 per cent in its residential sales for February, 2010.
Harcourts Victoria Chief Operating Officer Gary Dans said preliminary figures showed total sales achieved in February was $147.3 million compared with $98.6 million in the same month last year.
“As evidenced in the media in the past couple of months, the Victorian property market is red hot at the moment, and Harcourts is seeing this across the state,” Mr Dans said.
“Despite a slow start to the year, our sales activity went up by 36 per cent from January to February, which certainly is in line with the market’s activity.”
“Despite market jitters surrounding interest rate rises, sales figures in Victoria have warmed up any cold feet.”
Harcourts’ report is yet another sign of a flourishing Victorian property, however Mr Dans warns buyers to plan carefully when entering the market.
“Currently, the Australian property market as…
Tags: Gary Dans, Governor Glenn Stevens, Harcourts Victoria, market growth, RBA, sales figures, Victorian property market
2010 warming up for a big year based on Harcourts’ figures
April 8th, 2010Australasia’s fastest growing property group, Harcourts, has reported a 28 per cent increase in its residential and commercial sales results for February, 2010.
Harcourts International’s Managing Director, Mike Green said sales figures illustrated a marked increase from $1.15 billion in January this year to $1.5 billion in February.
“This increase doesn’t come as too much of a surprise, seeing as January is traditionally slow because of the Christmas holiday period.”
“Also, in the past three months alone, Harcourts has brought on 20 new offices, which is a great growth rate for the company,” Mr Green said.
“These results are certainly a positive indication for the market as we enter the second quarter of 2010. It would seem market confidence has returned despite the constant threat of interest rate rises.”
“While there is still uncertainty about the property market out there, I think real estate has been and will continue to be one of the very best…
Tags: Governor Glenn Stevens, Harcourts International, Mike Green, new offices, property growth, RBA, sales figures
Harcourts Queensland sales up 20 per cent
March 31st, 2010Harcourts Queensland has reported the company’s sales are up more than 20 per cent in its residential sales for February, 2010.
Harcourts Queensland CEO Aaron Brooks said preliminary figures showed total sales achieved in February was more than 20 per cent up on the same month last year.
“While this reflects solid growth for the company and the region, market jitters surrounding interest rate rises have certainly had an effect on buyers,” Mr Brooks said.
“Some may view slow growth as a negative, however I think this shows buyers are taking stock of the situation, and fully evaluating their positions before entering into property.
“This is certainly a positive thing, especially considering Governor Glenn Stevens’ comments in the last 24 hours.”[1]
The Governor has stressed the importance of understanding the property market is not sustainable if it continues to grow at unprecedented rates.
“While markets like Melbourne are seeing this, I believe Queensland has adjusted well to this need.…
Harcourts WA sales up 43 per cent
March 31st, 2010Harcourts WA has reported the company’s sales are up more than 43 per cent in its residential sales for February, 2010.
Harcourts WA CEO Andrew Moore said preliminary figures showed total sales achieved in February was $101.6 million compared to $71.1 million in the same month last year.
“While the end of last year sales slowed, this year has ramped up and we are seeing very strong figures coming through,” Mr Moore said.
“Despite market jitters surrounding interest rate rises, sales figures indicate buyers still have confidence in the market.”
“While these sales indicate Harcourts’ growth in the area, it also shows how strong the WA property market has become over the last 12 months.”
Harcourts’ report is a confidence boost for WA property investors, however Mr Moore warns buyers to plan carefully when entering the market.
“Currently, while conditions are strong the Australian market as a whole is in need of management by the Federal…
Tags: Andrew Moore, Harcourts Western Australia, market growth, RBA, REIWA, sales figures
RBA rate rise a sound decision for economic sustainability
March 4th, 2010Harcourts Managing Director Mike Green has applauded the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) decision to increase official rates by 0.25 per cent.
“During the last 12 months we have seen the RBA act cautiously, which allowed market growth to gain its momentum before the RBA took further action. This is a very sensible approach in my opinion,” Mr Green said.
“Harcourts has seen a steady market, with figures across the Harcourts Group in February of this year reflecting a twelve per cent increase on February 2009.
“While this percentage increase isn’t large, it’s steady, which indicates a market that is ready for a minor increase like this rise of 25 base points,” he said.
“And interest rates are still very low compared to historical numbers, so I consider a cash rate of four per cent to be extremely favourable,” he said.
“We must bear in mind the Australian economy has performed well during the last two years in…
Tags: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian economy, Australian real estate market, Harcourts International, Mike Green, RBA
RBA decision bodes well for Australian property market
February 5th, 2010The Reserve Bank of Australia on Wednesday made the decision to hold an interest rate rise. This is a welcomed reprieve for the real estate industry, and will be appreciated by many families and businesses.
Due to previous rate rises, banks have increased their interest rates by several points over recent months.
Glenn Stevens Governor of Monetary and Policy Decision said since information about the early impact of these increases is still limited. The Board judged it appropriate to hold a steady setting of monetary policy for the time being.
Managing Director of Harcourts International, Mike Green, said to ensure the market is able to withstand further increases in the future, the RBA needed to make the decision they did.
“It would have been premature to count our economy strong enough to endure four rate rises in less than six months.
“This has already been reinforced by the weaker retail sales figures for December, which…
Tags: Australian real estate market, first home buyers, mortgage, property investors, RBA
