Melbourne, Australia Property Market

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gohpenghui
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Jan 28, 2010 6:33 pm

Melbourne, Australia Property Market

Post by gohpenghui »

I am near the TOP for my Australia property in Tarneit, Melbourne, Australia.

Anyone has any comments on the property market there?

This is the developer and builder: http://www.playgroundconstructions.com.au/

The land I bought is Ecoville Project: http://www.ecovilleproject.com/
gohpenghui
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Jan 28, 2010 6:33 pm

Post by gohpenghui »

Hi Dennis,

Any comments on this?

Regards,
Peng Hui
Dennis Ng
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Post by Dennis Ng »

gohpenghui wrote:Hi Dennis,

Any comments on this?

Regards,
Peng Hui
nope, I have no expertise on Australian property market. We do help clients with financing of some Australian properties though.
Cheers!

Dennis Ng - When You Master Your Finances, You Master Your Destiny

Note: I'm just sharing my personal comments, not giving you investment advice nor stock investment tips.
dreamslink
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Post by dreamslink »

Hi Dennis,

We bought our new hdb flat 2 years ago, can we buy the Australia property for investment purpose?
Dennis Ng
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Post by Dennis Ng »

dreamslink wrote:Hi Dennis,

We bought our new hdb flat 2 years ago, can we buy the Australia property for investment purpose?
the answer is by right No. Becos any property overseas is a Private property and based on HDB rules, a person buying a New HDB flat cannot buy any private property within 5 years.

Personally, I'm not sure what is so attractive about Australian property at the current moment. On the whole, Australian property prices have risen, Aussie $ also not low currently.

Most of the Australian residential properties have rental yield of 3% to 4% while their Housing Loan interest rates is 7% to 8%, Negative Yield of 3% to 4% per year. A non-Australian resident also have some restrictions in buying/selling Australian properties, and there are capital gain tax payable as well.

Next thing to consider is do We (Singaporeans) have any Competitive Advantage in investing into Australian properties, do you know more about Australian properties than Australians?
Cheers!

Dennis Ng - When You Master Your Finances, You Master Your Destiny

Note: I'm just sharing my personal comments, not giving you investment advice nor stock investment tips.
dreamslink
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Joined: Mon Jul 26, 2010 4:36 pm

Post by dreamslink »

The salespeson show me the rental yield is 7%-8%, is the apartment near the University. AU$300k+, pay 10% of the purchase price now, 2.5 yrs later then get a housing loan from local bank and start the housing loan repayment.

Housing loan interest 7-8%? The salaesperson told me that for Singapore Citizen, we can get a loan frm local bank which is 2% interest instead of 7-8% interest from Australia bank.
Dennis Ng
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Post by Dennis Ng »

dreamslink wrote:The salespeson show me the rental yield is 7%-8%, is the apartment near the University. AU$300k+, pay 10% of the purchase price now, 2.5 yrs later then get a housing loan from local bank and start the housing loan repayment.

Housing loan interest 7-8%? The salaesperson told me that for Singapore Citizen, we can get a loan frm local bank which is 2% interest instead of 7-8% interest from Australia bank.
whether you can get a Housing Loan in Singapore using S$ depends on factors such as your income and existing debt obligations. Rental yield of 7% to 8%, can you verify this info from 3rd party sources? Never, never, never trust any info provided by a Salesman without verifying the info from a 3rd party source.

Did he even mention things such as taxes? Guess not.
Cheers!

Dennis Ng - When You Master Your Finances, You Master Your Destiny

Note: I'm just sharing my personal comments, not giving you investment advice nor stock investment tips.
dreamslink
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Joined: Mon Jul 26, 2010 4:36 pm

Post by dreamslink »

Hi Dennis,

I have not verify this 7-8% from 3rd party sources yet, this is my first time attend the Australia Property exhibition. I did not put down booking fee ($5k) and the 10% deposit ($30k+), I do not think I can trust the salesmen. The property location not that bad, walk distance to the University and is a very conveneint location.

I did ask him the taxes, he just told me that rental income is not that high, and the property will depreciate every year etc..so the tax will not be that high....Details I not very sure...
Dennis Ng
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Post by Dennis Ng »

dreamslink wrote:Hi Dennis,

I have not verify this 7-8% from 3rd party sources yet, this is my first time attend the Australia Property exhibition. I did not put down booking fee ($5k) and the 10% deposit ($30k+), I do not think I can trust the salesmen. The property location not that bad, walk distance to the University and is a very conveneint location.

I did ask him the taxes, he just told me that rental income is not that high, and the property will depreciate every year etc..so the tax will not be that high....Details I not very sure...
Always verify information. This is my advice to everyone.

Property Salesman and other salesmen typically like to brush over things such as taxes, as these are negative....on the other hand, they want to paint you "nice picture" such as Rental Yield of 8%.
Cheers!

Dennis Ng - When You Master Your Finances, You Master Your Destiny

Note: I'm just sharing my personal comments, not giving you investment advice nor stock investment tips.
Dennis Ng
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Post by Dennis Ng »

I'm no expert in Australian property.

I just googled "residential rental yield in Australia year 2010 and here's one article I found. If you notice, the info I shared on Australian Rental Yield, Housing Loan interest rate and that property prices have risen are ALL confirmed in this article.

So if the property salesmen said something else, eg. Rental Yield is 7%, please ask him/her to provide 3rd party info to verify the info given to you.

http://www.propertycommunity.com/proper ... rates.html


Residential property prices in Australia have made a strong start this year, defying the threat of rising interest rates although a new survey indicates they are getting too high for first time buyers.

Melbourne and Adelaide are leading the surge, recording increases of up to 4.3% in January while nationally real estate prices grew 1.8% during the first month of the year. It means that in the last 12 months prices have jumped 11.8%, the figures from the latest RP Data index show.

In Sydney prices increased just 1.7%, Brisbane 1.8% but in some places prices fell, most notably in Perth where they were down 0.6%, the figures also show.

Overall prices continue rising despite Reserve Bank rate increases in the last five months and additional increases from the banks that lifted the average mortgage rate from 5.8 to 6.65%.

'Buyers are for the time being outweighing sellers and new supply is being quickly consumed. Auction volumes are higher than at the same time last year and the national weighted clearance rate last week was a very healthy 73%,' said RP Data's head of research, Tim Lawless.

Rising house prices have pushed down the return for investors, with the gross rental yield for houses nationally falling from 4.7% in January last year to 4.2% this year. The rental yield for apartments dropped from 5.3 to 4.9%.

'With rental demand likely to be higher during 2010 due to continuing strong migration and fewer first home buyers, we anticipate that rents, and consequently yields, will improve over the year,' Lawless said.

The number of renters could swell this year as a new survey shows that a fifth of Australians will give up on their dream of buying their first home in the next two years if mortgage interest rates keep rising to 8 or 9%. They are currently 7%.

The survey from Australia's biggest home loans broker Mortgage Choice, found that aalthough a large portion, some 28%, of first homebuyers are prepared for rate rises, a significant proportion say they'll back out of buying if rates increase by up to 2%.

It also shows that tighter lending criteria is forcing all borrowers, not just first home buyers, to meet tougher requirements such as providing evidence of genuine savings over consecutive months. The majority of first homebuyers to be are taking this advice on board and saving good sized deposits before purchasing.
Cheers!

Dennis Ng - When You Master Your Finances, You Master Your Destiny

Note: I'm just sharing my personal comments, not giving you investment advice nor stock investment tips.
randwick
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Re: Melbourne, Australia Property Market

Post by randwick »

Those with investment properties in Australia might want to read this article thoroughly.....


New Aussie Tax Rules May Hit Singapore Investors

Straits Times
Date 07 Sep 2012

AuthorYasmine Yahya

Abolition of discount on capital gains tax for non-residents sparks concern

A MOVE by the Australian government to abolish a tax discount previously enjoyed by foreign property investors could have major implications for Singaporeans with houses Down Under, a tax expert said.

Previously, a non-Australian resident who bought and then sold a property in Australia paid a capital gains tax on only 50 per cent of the profits he made from the sale.

However, the government announced during its annual budget in May that it would remove the discount for non-residents, effective immediately.


The move, aimed at raising some A$55 million (S$70 million) in additional tax revenue by 2016, means non-residents will now be taxed fully on the profits they make from selling Australian property, said Sydney-based Baker & McKenzie partner John Walker.

Capital gains are taxed at the same rate as income in Australia, and real estate is the only type of investment asset on which the tax applies.

"The top marginal tax rate kicks in at A$180,000, so it's not a high threshold," Mr Walker told The Straits Times in Singapore yesterday on the sidelines of a tax conference.

"For most investment properties, if it's been a good investment, they'll be taxed at the top marginal tax rate of 45 per cent, where historically they would have had to pay only 22.5 per cent."

In announcing the move, the government had said that the discount was not necessary to attract investment from non-residents into real estate, which is immobile.

However, Mr Walker said his office has received a flurry of calls from clients across the region, including Australians living abroad, concerned about the sudden surge in the amount of tax they might have to pay if they sold their properties Down Under.

"If you were a foreign investor and you were looking for places to invest in, Australia's just become a lot more difficult," he said.

"Other countries may have better concessions available. New Zealand doesn't have a capital gains tax."

His advice to them: Hire a valuer to determine how much their property was worth on May 8. This is because any capital gains recorded up to the day the budget was delivered on May 8 would still qualify for the tax discount.

For example, say an investor had bought a house for A$100,000 some years ago, got a valuation saying it was worth A$150,000 on May 8, and then manages to sell it tomorrow for A$160,000.

That first A$50,000 of capital gains would still qualify for the 50per cent tax discount, whereas the additional A$10,000 increase in value since May 8 would be taxed fully.

To ensure that their pre-budget capital gains do qualify for the tax discount, however, investors should conduct their property valuation as soon as possible, Mr Walker said.

"If you do the valuation now, the tax office will respect it because the difference in value of the property between May 8 and now is probably zero, but if you try to do a historical valuation five years down the road, it won't look good," he said.

Property consultants said the government's move is unlikely to affect property prices or demand for property in Australia.

"Yields in Australia are high, with prospects of rental growth across sectors, which combined with a transparent, strong regulatory system enhance its attractiveness as an investment destination," said DTZ's head of national research in Australia, Mr Dominic Brown.

Mr Peter Thng, the executive director of Reapfield Property Consultants, added that the measure is unlikely to affect too many investors.

"The Australian market is not a speculative one, and a lot of investors buy and pass the property on to their kids. Unless you sell, this tax will not be an issue," he said.

yasminey@sph.com.sg

Source: Straits Times © Singapore Press Holdings Ltd.
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