In the late 1800s, Melbourne experienced the biggest boom Australia had ever seen. Immigrants discovered large nuggets of gold and poured their wealth into the real estate market. By 1889, the value of land in parts of central Melbourne was as high as that in London. The downturn that followed was the deepest and longest Australia ever weathered. Today, it’s not gold mining that is going to drive the land cycle. Rather, the mining of cryptocurrencies — and the blockchain technology that supports it…
Australian Housing Market
When you read articles about Australian housing affordability, it is often comparing the single average adult wage to house prices, from generations ago.
The articles generally say something like, ‘a house was worth three times the annual average wage back in the sixties and is now worth 10 times the average wage. This shows housing has become unaffordable.’
You can’t compare the two because back in the sixties it was one wage bidding on real estate.
Reaching for the Sky: Exploring the World of Skyscrapers and Real Estate Cycles
If ever a tall building looked out of place, it’s the Tour Montparnasse in Paris. It opened bang on time for the 1973 recession — suffering from what is known as the ‘skyscraper curse’, which aligns nicely with the cycle’s recessionary points. It could be that in the future, the mega projects that indicate future recessions are more like NEOM — Saudi Arabia’s new futurist city. Read on to find out more…
3D Printed Homes Will Crush Construction Costs and Inflate Land Prices
The idea of 3D printing is not new. It’s been around since the early 1980s. 3D printing of items such as shoe designs, furniture, wax castings, amputee limbs, jewellery, tools, tripods, gift and toys is common. Automotive and aviation industries use 3D printers to make parts. But to use it for the mass production of houses is another level altogether.
Learn to Play the Game of Monopoly — the Great Australian Dream!
Buoyed on by favourable tax policies that encourage speculation in real estate, the land market in this country plays like a Monopoly board — the game mirrors both society and the economy and was (and still is) used as a game to teach young minds how to get onto the mythological housing ladder.
Timing the Market for Maximum Growth
One of the most common questions readers ask me is, ‘When is the right time to buy?’ The two most common assumptions are you buy at the bottom and sell at the peak (and vice versa), and it’s ‘time in the market’ that matters, not ‘timing the market’. Both assumptions are somewhat incorrect! Read on…
China’s One Belt One Road: Reshaping Global Power and Unleashing the Silica Explosion
Today we explore China’s One Belt One Road (OBOR) grand plan. It’s a Chinese vision to reshape the geography of the world — and the global power balance. The Chinese think of it as the ‘great revival of the Chinese nation’, and enshrined it into their constitution. Read on for more…
