Renegade Economists Podcast 61
Show Notes
– Recorded Wed Nov 5th
1 million people watching him at midnite!
Yes We Can
Darn we didn’t get to mention this!
About 50 out of 100 houses sold at auction in Melbourne on the traditionally slow Cup weekend, while in Sydney the auction clearance rate crept up slightly from last weekend’s 12-month low to 43%.
According to Australian Property Monitors, Adelaide fared even worse, with only 35% of homes finding a buyer, while Brisbane recorded an abysmal 27% sales rate.
That could be good news for first home buyers – vendors desperate for a sale before Christmas could lower their prices.
But still they try this…!
Australand Victorian residential division head Robert Pradolin had also noticed an increase in inquiries in the past fortnight. He said the issue now was to make sure enough zoned land wads available when inquiries were converted into sales.
We blogged on this issue yesterday
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Neo Con Land Policy Shot Down
Ben Schneiders hit out at the IPA/ Costello push for land supply forever in this cunning article:
IT WAS one of the most pernicious of the myths peddled during the 2007 federal election campaign – that state Labor governments were largely to blame for the record low levels of housing affordability and all they needed to do to ease the problem was to release more land.
He goes further:
Data compiled by The Age in 2007 showed that, rather than there being a shortage of land, big developers were swimming in it and the top six listed players were aggressively acquiring it. Their land banks – the number of lots on their books – had risen nearly 20% in a year. Some of the biggest players, such as Stockland, had more than tripled in the previous five years.
Of course, the Costello/IPA “argument” to release more land, would be great for developers, which could stake a claim on great swathes of Melbourne’s paddocks and the outskirts of Australia’s other big cities.
Recent moves in WA and China to cut property taxes will see this trend increase. This will enable fat cat landlords to be even lazier. With clearance rates plummeting last weekend from 50% in Melbourne (when we were averaging in the 80’s this time last year) to a gob smacking 27% in Adelaide, a rising tide of property is backing up.
This can only be good news for first home buyers. Hold off! Over the next 3 – 4 months we will see a severe drop in house prices as people realise the price they paid is not reflective of the earning capacity of the average aussie. The market will be flooded with houses as speculators try to bail out before the market well and truly tanks. Our own credit crisis will set in similar to what America has gone through.
However, policymakers worldwide are doing their best to bail out baby boomers and force those generations who will have to clean up the climate mess with a lifetime of record rents. Rudd implies that we should be paying 50% of our income on rent with his policy decisions so far. Outrageous.
The cutting of holding charges on land will only prolong the pain. Housing prices should be encouraged to fall as quickly as possible so that small business can find cheap rental property to start-up.
Renegade Economists Podcast 60
photo credit: daviddesign
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Show Notes
Recorded on Wed 29th October
There’s only so much news 1 can watch, the murders, the deceit, the pillaging, the profits…before 1 is compelled to ask why?
Lex Wotton – International Day Of Action November 7th
Stand in Solidarity an show your disgust about the continuing racist treatment of Lex and Aboriginal Peoples in Australia. Also, there is a protest rally on this Saturday starting at the Melbourne GPO.
Last Friday an all white jury found Lex Wotton, an Aboriginal man from Palm Island, guilty of ‘rioting with destruction’ for his involvement in the 2004 Palm Island uprising. On November 26th 2004 the people of Palm Island set fire to the local police station, court house and police barracks after a pathologist’s report claimed that the death of Mulrunji Doomadgee, a 36 year old local, in police custody a week earlier was an ‘accident’. Mulrunji died in a police cell, one hour after he had been arrested for being drunk. He suffered massive internal injuries, including a ruptured spleen, four broken ribs and a
‘liver that had been ‘almost cleaved in two’ from a huge compressive force.’
The officer who arrested him, Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley, claimed that Mulrunji had fallen on stairs. A coroner’s inquest found that Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley was responsible for Mulrunji’s death, as the injuries were consistent with a beating. However, a court found Hurley not guilty for manslaughter. He has since been promoted and is an Inspector on the Gold Coast.
In comparison Lex Wotton is now facing a life sentence in prison. He is being held in prison until his next court appearance ( for sentencing) in the Townsville District Court on November 7.
Credit Focus Masks Deeper Issue
FURNITURE and electrical retailer Harvey Norman says trading conditions were still tight three weeks after the Reserve bank delivered a surprise 1 per cent cut to official interest rates.
The company said yesterday that written sales at its Australian franchise stores fell 3.6 per cent over the four weeks ended October 26 compared to the same period a year earlier.
West Bank land prices skyrocket
The price of property in the West Bank has surged beyond the reach of most Palestinians, the World Bank has said.
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The Recession We Could Have Avoided
Presented by Dr Gavin Putland
Thursday November 6th, 6.45pm
As the panic sets in and discussions about a new financial framework at the Bretton Woods 2 meeting grow, Dr Putland will measure up the trends that continue to lead us into asset bubbles.
What can be done to avoid them? What should the G20 countries be focusing on?
What can we do to build a knowledgebase so that it doesn’t happen again?
Gold coin donation to cover drinks, nibbles.
Venue: Level 1, 27 Hardware Lane, Melbourne