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 a whole is strong, and interest rates are still low, historically speaking.

“Off the back of RBA Governor Glenn Stevens’ comments in the last couple of days, it would be wise for all potential property investors to take stock of their situation.

“Purchasers must be sure they can endure interest rate rises and the general buoyancy of the market.”[1]

Overall, the Victorian property market is very strong at the moment, but buyers are warned by to consider purchases carefully, weighing each decision with long term budget strategies to cater for interest rate rises and the market’s general movement in the years to come.
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Blog: http://blogs.harcourts.com.au/garydans/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/garydansVIC

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[1] http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/markets/stevens-warns-on-house-price-speculation/story-e6frg926-1225847174474

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 performing investment options available for every Australian.”

“We have continued, strong population growth creating a constant demand for property in all three sectors: residential, commercial and rural.

“This is not likely to change. Where you have demand, you will always have upward pressure on prices and rents, which provides attractive returns for investors.”

As with any investment strategy however, it is important to be considered in your approach, understand the market and understand the risks.

“RBA Governor Glenn Steven’s made comments recently around the real estate market being a risk; however these risks equally apply to the share market and financial markets.”

“So while his comments may have created short-term uncertainty, the likelihood of another interest rate rise this week with last week’s release of surprisingly low consumer spending figures for February will balance out these concerns by increasing buyer confidence.”

“Overall, company figures pave the way for a great year and we continue to expand, with more new offices scheduled to open around the country this month,” Mr Green said.

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Blog: http://news.harcourts.net/mikegreen/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/MBG97

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. Our slow but steady growth rate is much more sustainable in the long term as we work to recover from the previous unstable years,” Mr Brooks said.

Mr Brooks believes now is a great time for Queenslanders to think carefully about their investment moves, and make doubly sure if entering the property market, you can afford it with imminent rate rises and the general buoyancy of the market.

“Overall the Queensland property market is showing consistent growth, and provided buyers are conservative in their moves, they will reap the rewards.”

Read more on Aaron’s blog: http://blogs.harcourts.com.au/aaronbrooks

or

Twitter: http://twitter.com/abrooks74

[1] http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/markets/stevens-warns-on-house-price-speculation/story-e6frg926-1225847174474

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 Government.”

“The Government needs to decouple the value of housing from wages.

“If you look at current figures, the median house price for residential property in Perth remains solid, hitting $500,000 for the first time which REIWA recently reported. But the average wage in Perth is only around $60,000[1].”

“This will ultimately present a problem if something is not done, which the RBA Governor touched on this week.”

Overall, the WA property market is strong, but buyers are warned by Harcourts WA CEO Andrew Moore to consider purchases carefully, weighing each decision with long term budget strategies to cater for interest rate rises and the market’s general buoyancy over the next few years.

“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 comparison with other countries.”

This is evident by Treasurer Wayne Swan’s statement yesterday, providing “further evidence that a self-sustaining private sector recovery is starting to take hold.”

This announcement was off the back of the Australian Bureau of Statistic’s data released just yesterday, highlighting Australia’s growth in 2009 with the economy up 2.7 per cent, which makes us one of the strongest advanced economies in the world.

“2008 and 2009 have people acting far more cautiously than they did before, and many live in fear of a second economic plunge.

“The RBA however acted based on statistical fact, rather than being led by trending emotions.

“In tandem with our economic growth rate, our unemployment rate is still sitting at a low 5.3 per cent and retail sales figures are surprising us each month,” he said.

“In addition, RP Data Rismark just released their latest report, which shows solid growth in the property market across the nation.”

“I believe this minor rise will ensure our economic growth is sustainable, rather than letting it perhaps escape our control once again.”

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 were released today.”

“The number of people already in “mortgage distress” is high, and growing, so this would have worsened many householders’ situations,” he said.

Economists have said it would have increased the average repayment on a $300,000 mortgage by $50 per month.

While this would have been the case, the real issue would have been adding this extra $50 to the cumulative rise over the last 12 months, equalling nearly $300 a month.

“The real estate market is still only in the recovery stages from the downturn of the past eighteen months.

“Sales nationally in January were lower than expected. Although ahead of last year’s figures it was only a slight increase,” Mr Green said.

“There has been a significant drop in first home buyers after the first home owner’s grant (FHOG) was cut right back last year.

“On the flipside, the low interest rates are encouraging investors back into the market, so we have seen investor numbers lift significantly in the last couple of months,” he said.

“The Australian property market has been experiencing consistent growth over the past six months, and I believe we are going to see a steady year ahead in terms of investment,” he said.

The property industry is an important element to the Australian economy and the RBAs decision was certainly a positive move for ensuring the moderate rate of recovery continues.

SOURCE: http://www.rba.gov.au/media-releases/2010/mr-10-02.html