Australian Property Prices 'a Disgrace'

[The Masked Tulip]

Oh dear.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/money/australian-property-prices-a-disgrace/story-e6fredkc-1226030504466

AUSTRALIAN house prices are a "national disgrace"' according to futurist, economist and population analyst Brian Haratsis.

Mr Haratsis told a national development conference in Adelaide yesterday there was an immediate need to increase house and land supply to soften the impact of rising prices.

"It's a national disgrace. No one will take responsibility for it,'' he said.

"Town planning regulatory systems must be changed to reduce land prices by 50 per cent as globalisation hits.''

Founder and managing director of MacroPlan - a consultancy of economists, strategic planners and property research analysts - Mr Haratsis said Australian house prices had increased by 40 per cent since 2005 while wages had only increased 24 per cent.

Edited March 29, 2011 by The Masked Tulip

[blue skies]

Ireland leads world in house prices fall

By Niamh Hennessy

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

HOUSE prices fell in Ireland by more than anywhere else in the world last year.

a d v e r t i s e m e n t

Experts are now calling for a proper index of prices in Ireland, saying that without it we will never know when the market has hit bottom.

The Knight Frank house price index found that house prices fell here by 10.8% last year while they rose by 20.1% in Hong Kong, which was top of the list.

Globally house prices rose by 2.8% last year, led by Asia-Pacific (7.5%), the Middle East (5.3%) and South America (3.8%).

The weakest region was North America which saw no change in values in the previous 12-month period.

Besides Hong Kong the fastest risers were Latvia (16.9%), which is bouncing back from a 70% fall in prices during the credit crunch, and Israel (16.2%), which is still benefiting from considerable inward investment.

Head of research at Knight Frank, Liam Bailey, said: "Our main headline confirms relatively benign conditions — with average annual price growth across the world at a modest 2.8%.

"Of course this headline hides big regional and country level differences, but more concerning is the fact that this annual figure hides the fact that a growing number of countries are seeing negative quarterly price movements.

"Across an increasing number of European countries and also in the US, markets were weaker in the second half of 2010, following a brief revival in the previous 12 months."

The index said that it looks increasingly likely that Asian markets will escape a crash in prices.

"Across Europe and the US the lack of bank lending is likely to extend the recent period of price reversals," said Mr Bailey.

Director of the Irish Mortgage Corporation, Frank Conway, said that it looks Ireland will become the "laggards of Europe" in terms of price recovery.

"Even states such as Spain show some signs of stability, which is a concern for Ireland since both states suffered severe property price crashes and increases in the unemployment rates.

"In fact, on some levels, the Spanish employment situation is considerable worse than Ireland’s," he said.

Mr Conway said Ireland’s disadvantage is the "fuzzy nature" of recording of property price data.

"What we really need is a central, Government controlled database, where all transactions are recorded and published shortly after the completion of each month."

Read more: http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/ireland-leads-world-in-house-prices-fall-149722.html#ixzz1I3ZDJoGl

[Ruffneck]

Wages up 24% since 2005?

They must be talking about CEO wages or something.

[desertorchid]

Wages up 24% since 2005?

They must be talking about CEO wages or something.

In GBP wages are probably up by 100% or so.....

[7clubs]

Wages up 24% since 2005?

They must be talking about CEO wages or something.

I'd say that was a realistic number - shame real inflation has been considerably higher over the same period, even accounting for the cushion that has been provided by an over-valued currency to a nation that imports most "stuff".

[SarahBell]

They could blame Phil Spencer for talking up their market?

[The Ayatollah Buggeri]

I imagine that the floods must have taken out a significant proportion of Australia's housing stock, thereby enhancing the value of the ones still standing and habitable.

[lurker07]

Australia is an island.

You can't build more land.