PLUMBER Balmoral Plumbing 0417 291 744

PLUMBER Matt Asprey Plumbing 0419-231476

ELECTRICIAN Beyond 2000 0413 748 789

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EMERGENCY HOT WATER 0412 605 062

Merry Christmas

Stephen Patrick - 0413 834 848

Richard Simeon - 0411 499 906

Robert Simeon - 0411 856 969

Mark Manners - 0403 032 700

Jacqui Rowland -Smith - 0411 714 442

Marize Bellomo - 0414 972 203

Belinda Holmes - 0421 735 150

We wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas, a prosperous New Year, health and wealth in 2009 and beyond.

Like this week’s Mosman real estate story where (supposedly) a vendor walked into an agency wanting to list his home (quietly). He told the agent where he lived and the agent responded “ so you are number 16? I now have in your street 14, 12 and 10, so that is a development site.” Of course, this never happened!

Newspapers accentuate these stories yet on the other hand they expect advertisers to invest in their organisations. This is why I predict that on an economies of scale basis, ‘online’ will outplay print in 2009 - an all time first. Why? Because real estate agents are tired of defending print campaigns when journalists (based on short term opinions) keep talking property markets down.

Let me say once again, that Richardson & Wrench Mosman & Neutral Bay has not been asked by any major lender to provide submissions to market properties in 2009 where the vendors are financially distressed. This speculation is a complete nonsense and with our dominant Mosman market share (where they always call in three or more agents), we would certainly know!

For obvious reasons we will all experience certain elements attempting to talk values down because of a vested interest. Cashed up buyers – yet in Keating’s recession where unemployment was at 11 + per cent and interest rates at 18 per cent, today’s landscape is entirely different. Today all markets correspond succinctly and correctly and (collectively), we are in a much better position to take a more educated market positioning.

The Mortgage Choice /REIA Real Estate Market Facts has reported that the Australian weighted average median house price decreased from $459,795 in the June quarter 2008 to reach $447,659 in the September quarter 2008 – a decrease of 2.6 per cent over the quarter, and an increase of 0.7 per cent over the year. The report acknowledged that while house prices fell in the September quarter, tight vacancy rates and high demand for rental properties identified that rents continued to rise in most capital cities. It should also be noted that over Christmas and the New Year we will see many expats return to our shores which means that if they don’t already own they will be market participants in sales or rentals.

For example: a Burran Avenue sale was recorded two weeks ago for reportedly $19.7(something) million. This sale was for two adjoining properties which last sold in June 2005, one for $14,000,000 and the other for $6,500,000. Total $20.500 million. On that basis these property values have dropped by just over three per cent (combined) since the June 2005 transactions.

Unemployment is rising and this week it climbed to 4.4 per cent (the highest in twelve months) when 15,600 jobs were cut in November. Such an increase obviously adds to the gloomy economic outlook which is only natural since we have just come out of an unprecedented seventeen years of economic growth. It must also be noted that Australia is still well above the 1990/91 recessionary levels which is obviously assisted by decreasing interest rates and greater fiscal stimulus which will play dominant roles in 2009 and beyond. Already, some schools of thought are that the Wall Street stock market bottomed two weeks ago. If correct, will see significant cash reserves (namely idle superannuation monies) head back into our financial markets. It should also be remembered that Australia still remains the fourth highest player in the World economy given our compulsory superannuation contributions.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported this week that home loan approvals actually rose in October 2008 ending eight months of consecutive falls - an obvious legacy of aggressive interest rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). The number of home loans seasonally adjusted, rose by 1.3 per cent compared to September 2008. October 2008 totalled $12.3 billion which represents a 2.4 per cent increase from September, investment housing increased 0.7 per cent and loans for existing homes rose 1.6 per cent which reversed the 1.3 per cent decline in September 2008.

We predict that in February the RBA will drop interest rates by a further 50 basis points which will see the cash rate sit at 3.75 per cent and by June 2009 we can see a strong argument for property players to start giving strong consideration to fixing interest rates. In 2009 we predict that the property canary will sing to the Reserve Bank Governor – cheap cheap!

Virtual Realty News (VRN) is now into its ninth year and next year in September, we celebrate our tenth anniversary and we remain confident that we will have posted one billion dollars in online subscriber sales. Our online models are certainly well positioned to meet these expectations. After all, VRN is Australia’s largest and oldest weekly real estate property E-zine.

In 2009 we expect to see some major re-distribution of advertising monies until such time as our property markets justify such expenditure. So what was previously a mandatory spend could very easily become a secondary spend as property owners (given the economic circumstances) become much more conservative with their money. 2009 will very much be a MoM (month on month) proposition as against ‘what a difference a day makes’.

So there you have our predictions - we would love to read yours? Scroll down and post in our blog.

On behalf of Steve, Richard, Marize, Mark, Jacqui, Eleanor, Gillian, Pip, Belinda, Judith, Lynn, Yana, Sharon, Rebecca, Bernadette, Alesha and Deeann we want to take this opportunity to thank you for your ongoing patronage. We wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas, a prosperous New Year, health and wealth in 2009 and beyond.

Cheers ^__^

Our next edition will be on 23 January 2009 when again we will go weekly until December 11 2009. Then we start all over again in 2010!

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has unveiled its financial chain saw in order to sculpt a new economy based on aggressive rate cuts. The RBA is today adopting an economic mindset never seen before and is now a very progressive institution with a current monetary policy that is all about protecting the innocent who have been dragged into this absurd Global Economic Crisis (GEC).

This is what I meant with the “Big Four” – September, October, November and December. The RBA meet next, on Tuesday February 3 2009 where we expect another rate decrease to set the tone for the New Year and beyond. As you can see from the graph below there is still plenty of play left in further interest rate reductions.

Rate cuts … the RBA has reversed around six years of monetary policy tightening in just four months / news.com.au

Over to the other “Big Four”, nasty banking institutions that continue to milk consumers for all their worth – the ongoing attack where those who fixed interest rates now see Exit Fees expediently increase with each rate decrease. Credit Card interest rates are still charged at the early 1990’s rates (19 + per cent) yet the Cash Rate today sits at 4.25 per cent – work that one out! Fort Fumble (Rudd Government) would be better served by being instrumental in reducing these rates and exit fees. Instead it is gloating on cash rate reductions which were independently assessed and acted upon by the RBA. Fort Fumble had absolutely no input into this decision. Quite ironic and at the next Federal election we can expect to their slogan to be “in our term the Labor government delivered lower interest rates”.

The RBA started recording rates in January 1990 where the cash rate was reduced -0.50 per cent to 17.00 per cent. Only once before has the cash rate cash rate dropped to 4.25 per cent and that was back in 5 December 2001 – which was more a consequence of stabilising markets directly stemming from the September 11 terrorist attacks in America. Today we have the subprime fiasco as the accelerant for the present GEC.

Banks collectively made $18 billion in profit last financial year are better positioned today to lock and hold defaulting home owners instead of feeding them to the wolves as in the early nineties. This time around it makes better sense for them to hold properties rather than fold property markets. These assets should be quarantined until such time as the property markets recover. The debt can then be settled, without significant losses. Construction is down in NSW because the government of the day has lost the plot(s). Residential building approvals are now down 26 per cent YoY which will hold up property prices as we have a severe lack of supply. Banks need to manage, not massacre!

This leads me to Fort Fumble’s $15.2 billion increased funding for the states over the next five years. From Fort Fumble’s Bank Rudd to Fort Stumble (I need to review this name) historically the most incompetent government in NSW. Bankrupt of money and ideas – Fort Fumble should have argued that such an investment of (our capital) be managed by an appointed administrator given their previous incompetence to manage the NSW economy. With absolutely no idea of managing infrastructure, why would anyone give them more money to waste. If you need a hospital bed in NSW they now fly you to Queensland as NSW hospitals display a “No Vacancy” sign.

When petrol prices skyrocketed in the year to June 2008 – obviously cars were left at home which saw bus revenues increase 2.3 per cent and trains by 5.2 per cent. In an article by Linton Besser “Abandon ship: passengers avoid Sydney’s failing ferries” published on www.smh.com.au. Ferry patronage was down 1.2 per cent so in his wisdom (?) the Premier has cancelled 36 Manly Jet Cat services per day from December 31. The fleet is being sold. More cars will now be on the road leading to increased Spit Bridge congestion which then reverberates through Mosman, Cremorne and Neutral Bay to the Harbour Bridge. No doubt the Congestion Tax will benefit from this decision. Back to ferries and let’s be honest, no congestion on the harbour! Yet from September to last week, 430 ferries failed to show up? This severely impacts on the workforce and results in lost productivity.

Australia’s population is now growing at the fastest rate in twenty years and at June 30 2008 our population was 21.374 million. Up 359,000 on the previous year. NSW delivers the largest departure lounge where population growth increased by only 1.1 per cent, second last after Tasmania at 1.0 per cent (so equal last).

Why? That would be Fort Stumble; no I will now call the NSW (government) Fort Crumble – yes that’s more appropriate.

If you live (or used to) in Sydney you are paying the highest Stamp Duty rates in Australia – hello exodus! Hello – GST reducing state taxes! Hello Fort Crumble – Phillip Hudson wrote on www.smh.com.au “NSW home buyers the hardest hit by stamp duty.” The Bank West residential Stamp Duty report shows the median stamp duty bill in Sydney is $19,385, the highest of all capital cities. Brisbane has the lowest, at $5688. Come in – departure lounge!

In Mosman the median charge was $107,865, second only to the Perth suburb of Peppermint Grove, where it was $192,249. Other Sydney council areas with the highest median stamp duty bills were Woollahra ($86,810), Waverly ($67,110), Hunters Hill ($68,485) and Manly ($62,270).

In Mosman, the median Stamp Duty bill was 94 per cent of the average home owner’s income of $114,244. For the record, Fort Crumble charge 3.5 per cent stamp duty on properties worth $80,000 to $300,000, then 4.5 per cent for $300,001 to $1 million, 5.5 per cent for $1 million to $3 million and 7 per cent over $3 million. Yet Fort Crumble remains broke, despite the billions collected over the last twelve years.

Fort Crumble equates to the greatest government financial collapse in Australia’s history. Wayne Swan keeps referring to the fact that Australia is in the strongest position to manage the GEC – I would suggest this is a result of our doings, not theirs. The challenge for Bank Rudd starts next year when it moves the (inherited) budget surplus into deficit. Backing Fort Crumble with additional financial injections will in all probability prove to be another financial disaster where too much of NSW revenues are bypassed via Sussex Street – the Union Bank. The Union Bank: that closed the “Dilemma – Account” on Macquarie Street Sydney because of insufficient funds after he lost the privatising sale of NSW electricity.

Next week we will preview our 2009 markets – our last edition for 2008. From an economy of scale perspective (given what is happening) “online” will be the major player in 2009. Print will very quickly have to run back to white boards. In 2009 vendors will not share print media companies. Rather they will make a choice, one or the other, being Fairfax Media V Cumberland Newspaper publications.

Times are changing in our property markets and so is consumer sentiment. What worked previously may struggle in 2009. Testing times ahead, but what remains to be seen, is who passes the test!

Cheers ^__^

Very few countries globally, enjoy a tax free environment for their principal place of residence. The current market environment presents a leap frog market where losses can, in a few year’s time be capitalised into tax free capital gains. As real estate markets shift so should market sentiment and is was no better example than those who purchased during the last recession (1990 – 1993). They saw entry price double within a few years (tax free with the principal place of residence.)

In the current LPS markets you simply have one of three choices: –

1. Engage and entice the market.
2. Rent your property out.
3. Monitor the market with the possibility of re-listing within twelve months time, or beyond.

Our GPS markets are certainly not sugar-coated in 2008 and this resonates through to our LPS property markets. Looking closely at the Mosman real estate market we note that quite a few properties that failed to sell have now been rented out (Option 2) over the past week(s). Markets do recover although I would suggest that the Mosman real estate market will point north faster than other real estate markets based on historical anecdotal sales evidence.

Superannuation is more like a super disappearance where for twelve months to the end of October, median balanced fund returns fell by 17.6 per cent. Then on top of this result we have a bear market – which should in my opinion be called a” bare” market. Whilst on the grizzly bear markets in 2007 – 2008 the recorded performance is much worse than that of the 1987 crash where $800 billion to $900 billion has been wiped off the share value of Australian shares over the past 365 days. The grizzly bear is now circling property markets feeding off a diet of debt.

Fitch Ratings announced this week that more than 840,000 residential mortgages valued at $140 billion remain outstanding as at the close of business September 2008. The top 10 are;-

1. Helensvale (Qld)
2. Nelson Bay (NSW)
3. Raymond Terrace (NSW)
4. Katoomba (NSW)
5. Greenacre (NSW)
6. Guildford (NSW)
7. Vaucluse (NSW)
8. Fairfield (NSW)
9. Cessnock (NSW)
10. St Marys (NSW)

NSW - records ninety per cent of the top 10! A major concern – for Fort Tumble (NSW Government) although such results are testament to their abuse of power. A manifestation of the “lights being on and nobody home”. Fort Tumble is a strong contender for being the most incompetent government ever should the “Guinness Book of Records” record such a category.

So psychedelic here we go – forget the Holy Grail! Our collective attentions are now turned to showing us the money! This starts at home where interest rates are tipped to drop to the lowest levels since the early 1960’s – Flower Power! In January 1960, the cash rate was 2.89 per cent which is a classic example of history repeating itself – albeit nearly 50 years on. For those with cash – at – bank, there will be little to no return on investment.

So the decision is then shares, superannuation, or bricks and mortar as the preferred investment model that allows participants to pin the tail on their dollars. Alas, the beginning of the economic recovery process better known as discretionary spending identifying market choices that deliver profit not losses. Where corporate ambiguities continue to reign supreme it leads me to suggest that the value return of a property is always much more secure than that of a business on the shock market – oops! I meant share market. You can’t short sell the property markets. Hedge funds do not invest in bricks and mortar. Simply put: real estate is much easier to understand for the vast majority than trying to follow the share market as property is much more transparent and the family home is tax free.

No doubting that we are presently in a spy market as against the much preferred buy market. This will change when we enter the psychedelic market where I predict that when the Reserve Bank of Australia meets next month we can expect another 125 basis point reduction. Market rate reductions stimulate the spy markets which will no longer be regarded as shy markets.

Our spy markets are very strong when I do a Google Analytics report for our “Virtual Realty News” and website online activities. Our online traffic goes to;-

• Six continents
• Twenty sub – continent regions
• 93 countries/territories
• 839 cities

Our top 10 cities are;-

1. Sydney
2. Melbourne
3. Brisbane
4. London
5. Austin, Texas
6. Singapore
7. Hong Kong
8. Bucharest
9. Perth
10. New York

Our 839th city is Etterbeek, Brussels, where we had one visitor. At the end of the day it is all about captivating our audiences and this is certainly happening with our fast increasing traffic to our new website.

We are excited to report that our website is the number one individual website visited in Mosman for real estate searches.

For those receiving email alerts, on your email cover page in your inbox under this week’s article, is an easy three step – process to update your buying criteria.

RWM thank for your ongoing support and readership.

Now off to the blog we go – how do you see the markets? How much influence will the psychedelic markets have on property prices? How cheap will the Reserve Bank of Australia have to go with rates?

Cheers ^__^

Better still the 2008 property “twilight” zones where (aside from media) the only thing that I see knocking is opportunity. Given the current propensity of living in the past like casting similarities to The Great Depression what many forget is that in 1995 our lives were then programmed for the greatest (not depression) change ever seen before - that being the Internet (exactly where you are now).

I invited my fellow directors, both highly respected and successful Mosman real estate agents Stephen Patrick and Richard Simeon to share their thoughts on where they believe our property markets are headed and this is what they (independently) had to say. We are the only Mosman real estate agency to offer live market commentaries to our clients with our weekly and now daily blogs - where we invite your participation. Given what is happening this is nothing more than “moving with the times”. Just that someone has to lead our property market which is exactly what our latest online platform is designed for - that being you, our property clientele.

Stephen Patrick – “Every day I’m asked to predict our future real estate market, both short term and long term”. For the last 25 years I have taken the challenge, and being a conservative realist, reckon I came pretty close to reading the cycles. However, this time around there are so many varying factors in our now global economy that I really am struggling to come up with a confident prediction?

The way I see it, the “smart people” got us into this trouble and can’t get us out, so I have given up listening to them and instead, I’m listening to the majority of people, with real jobs and normal lives. They give us a true sentiment of what is going on out there.

Most are feeling the strain, and even though still comfortably off and in steady employment or solid businesses, they are keeping their pennies close for a rainy day. It has now been raining for some time and more showers are forecast.

My forecast, after seeing the last 4 to 5 years of growth in the stock market go down the gurgler so quickly, is that people will go back to bricks and mortar safety. Why? Because they can drive past it every day and see something of substance and security. They can rent it or live in it. The secret now, is when to buy. I think that would probably be about now and into early next year.

We have seen the market come off around 10% recently to get a sale over the line. The prime property will hold up better than the rest and that has always been the case. The one thing different this time around is that there are plenty of buyers with money, waiting for an opportunity. They are just being more careful with it, unlike the early 90’s when very few people were cashed up and interest rates were at 18 per cent.

Word around is that the biggest bank has taken an approximate 100 billion in cash deposits in the last few months and the super funds are also sitting on a bundle of cash. Don’t forget that each small and large business pays in 9% every month, which would also be sitting there in cash…So when they hit the equity market they will hit it hard. Property should then follow hard as well, but the ‘Crazy Ones’ will already be in! Then again “fortune does favour the brave”. Thanks Steve.

Richard Simeon - “The Mosman market is off 10 to 15 per cent so is it better to sell and buy now compared to 2007? Yes and here’s why. Today’s market-savvy vendors are happy to (potentially) take 10 to 15 percent less than their property’s 2007 base value, as they then intend to re-purchase at the same rate, or even better. Make sure you consider the lower buying price when you sell.

Remember that purchasers are “gold” in the current marketplace. In 2007, buyers sold for more, but particularly if they traded up. They then paid a premium for buying in a stronger market further inflated by considerably more buyers at that time. In direct comparison, you may be ahead financially, by selling and re-buying now.

My other tip is to realise that the reason for the increased volume of stock is that smart purchasers are (understandably) refusing to buy compromised properties at unrealistic prices. Buyers, you should be choosy but when you find a good property, grab it, as it generally takes a year or longer to find a worthy replacement. Take a longer term view and buy quality property, which is realistically priced. In years to come it will quickly appreciate, year on year, versus chasing today’s perceived bargain buy’ which will always be just that. Don’t be “penny wise and pound foolish”. Thanks Richard.

Always interesting to get market perspectives from others who actually work the daily real estate coal face, with this edition we are endeavouring to offer advice and clarity to what’s actually happening in our property markets. The market perception that there is a tsunami of houses currently on the market is not a correct presumption given that on www.domain.com.au there are currently 170 houses in Mosman on the market and the other 4,730 houses are simply not cutting key’s for real estate agents to take buyers through.

It will be riveting to see how the federal Government (Fort Fumble) roll out their industrial relations (IR) legislation given that unemployment rates will significantly increase. In all probability by April 2009 we can expect an announcement that Australia is also in recession. Simply put: we need to acknowledge then get on with it. What has happened is not indelible, collectively and constructively the onus is now on us all to transform markets and lead by example.

The Westpac - Melbourne Institute index of economic activity announced this week that our economic growth fell to 1.1 per cent in September which was significantly down from the 3.5 per cent posted in August. The definition of a recession is two successive quarters of negative gross domestic product (GDP), where the October figures (when announced) in all probability will be below 1.1 per cent.
As a result the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will continue to cut the cash rate aggressively well into 2009 as they need to fast improve consumer and business sentiment.

It should be noted that with this graph Macquarie Research noted “It is important to note that whilst businesses became extremely pessimistic in the month (October) actual conditions (down 10 points to -11) remained well above the 1990/91 recessionary levels of around -40 index points. This suggests that while firms are becoming exceedingly cautious about the economic outlook, actual conditions remain far stronger than recessionary levels.”

On a house keeping note – Fort Fumble have asked us to advise subscribers that over the Christmas period the Navy has shut down due to the ABC Learning debacle. “Defence, like most of the public service, relies on ABC Learning for child -care services for its workers.” All those holidaying between Avalon and Palm Beach are asked to text 1800 - Attack should they witness any naval activities from their sun beds. Illegal fishing is not of primary (no pun intended) concern given these unforseen and unprecedented circumstances are unique in our first year of gilding the Aussie lily. Fort Fumble will abbreviate its call sign to F - troop over the Christmas break.

I’m thinking Yes Minister! We would love to hear your thoughts? Steve, Richard and myself, are happy to blog with you should you like to challenge our respective market outlooks and forecasts.

Please make sure you complete the required fields before you hit |> send.

Cheers ^__^

A “Congestion Tax”! Our Premier Nathan Rees, who does not hold a drivers licence is now riding on a broken “dinky” and the wheels have all but fallen off. There is no congestion on the Harbour Bridge at 6.30 am, just a tax! By pulling up the economic drawbridge for infrastructure, Fort Tumble with its ‘tools down’ philosophy will destroy what is left of our economy. Infrastructure is the oxygen needed to resurrect it - building for the future of NSW is obviously no longer a priority at our Macquarie Street based Fort Tumble.

Fort Fumble’s petrol watch scheme (another no brainer) was defeated in the Senate this week. So why not introduce a Consumption Tax on the oil companies. When the price of oil falls, an additional tax is applied until correct market pricing for consumers is addressed.

With the benefit of hindsight nobody would vote again for GST which is nothing more than a rip - off at the expense of the taxpaying Australian community. If Fort Tumble wants to deliver a budget surplus before the next election, its only option is to sell off state owned assets. A comparison would be a real estate agency selling ten property managements a month to stave off bankruptcy! The notable difference is that the real estate agency actually owns the asset and Fort Tumble manages the assets on our behalf.

Over to Fort Fumble’s secret intelligence and its constant reminders of the “Global Economic Crisis (GEC)” overseas while ignoring the implementation of a stimulus to invigorate our very own economy. Unfortunately it appears that collectively, politicians have lost the ability to lead by example. GEC for Fort Fumble should read Get Economically Creative!

A fortress with a leaking mote to water the lilies, was highlighted this week when Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan could not remember the key economic forecast for inflation. He said that he had misplaced one of his papers!! No longer a black Swan now a red Swan as the surplus heads to deficit. ‘But these things happen in politics’, was the response. The most important thing is to get on (wonders when he is going to start) with the job, putting in place policies to strengthen the economy and protect the Australian people.”

Stop thinking (blaming) the GEC and start thinking about domestic growth as recovery starts at home not abroad. Our chief executioners Kevin Rudd and Wayne Swan are missing in action as they struggle to understand what GEC actually means or - better still implementing a strategy for recovery. The significant difference is that businesses have their eyes glued to their respective dashboards with a foot on the brake.

Fort Fumble and Fort Tumble also suffer from economic amnesia and forget that the property industry (the largest employer) is the largest stimulant to the Australian economy.

One does not have to be Einstein to acknowledge that every business is struggling. Because the “anointed” few have never before run a business, we now have debutantes at the command posts of our Forts.

Look at Fort Tumble. The anointed have either been sacked, incarcerated or resigned (to failure) and our once proud Fort is now on the verge of mortgagee-in-possession (MIP). With every MIP sale of property when the banks take possession, GST is paid to Fort Fumble. A $3,000,000 sale delivers a $300,000 cash bonanza to Fort Fumble.

Australian housing finance commitments for owner - occupied housing fell 2.7 per cent in September which equates to eight consecutive months of declines. Less jobs and less activity so get the GST out of the building industry and reinvigorate this peak industry performer. There is no dashboard at Fort Fumble and Fort Tumble where economically, they believe they are super (government) markets with an overwhelming abundance of check - outs that feed its respective cash cows. The Australian taxpayer rip - offs must cease and if we have GST, all state governments must comply by reducing and removing taxes, not consistently increasing them.

There was the Great Train Robbery and then the Great Government Robbery - where did all the NSW taxpayer contributions go? Fort Tumble should be lending money to The Reserve Bank of Australia!
GST – in the current “Global Economic Crisis” demands “Get Economically Creative”. By removing GST on new building construction, Fort Fumble would then be investing in our future. Our economic dashboard needs inclines not consecutive declines. Yes, in all probability Australia is in a recession and financial creativity and initiative will get us back to normality much faster than our elected and procrastinating Fort Fumble would have you believe.

Our online model continues to exceed expectations when this week we reached $806,794,000 in online sales. We are closing in on $1 billion in property subscriber sales where our online platform is the most advanced (and expensive) ever before presented to our online community. In the last week or two we have noticed a dramatic increase in enquiries and we predict that over the next six weeks we will see some strong sales evidence which has certainly been assisted by expat participation.

A snapshot where in twelve months time the cash rate will be 3.25 per cent - the lowest ever recorded.

Have your say - post a comment as with this blog we obviously don’t hold back. Neither should you. Is GST delivering the financial solutions we were led to believe? With the benefit of hindsight would you now vote a Yes or a No for GST?

Jeff Kennett wants to turn our State of Decay back to the State of Hooray! Is he the man to do it?
We would love to hear your thoughts as Virtual Realty News is your online Mosman voice.

Cheers ^__^ and blog away. Our staff is happy to respond to your market enquiries.

It has been our absolute pleasure to deliver to the clients in our dynamic market, the most comprehensive online electronic property data. Richardson & Wrench Mosman & Neutral Bay (RWM) continues to lead our markets with results, performance and innovation - “we never stop thinking about you.”

Without a doubt, the introduction of the Goods & Services Tax (GST) has seriously impacted on our markets and has definitely stymied property development and investment in housing. Some even refer to it as a Value Added Tax (VAT). The only problem is, that governments reap the financial benefits to the detriment of consumers. Banks are also reluctant to pursue mortgagee - in - possession (MIP) sales simply because they will have to pay GST on these forced sales. As stated previously, we have received just one instruction to act on a MIP sale in 2008.

Back to GST, the tax that our state government happily received but never passed on the tax reductions as promised. A disgrace, considering that in NSW, taxes have actually increased since the GST was introduced in 2000. NSW is now the (GST) 10 plus per cent state where tax payers are simply and obviously much worse off. What we have today is a government that is all but insolvent where state finances are now in debit, not credit.

A prime contender for a Double Dissolution, it has blown, wasted and destroyed all tax payer monies in the pursuit of disastrous economic policy. Our very own government failed miserably and is now MIP. No state government in our proud history has received such obscene tax payer donations which, as a direct result of incompetent financial management, have simply disintegrated.

This prompted the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, to fire off a warning to Premier Nathan Rees, to lift his game. A tad late for Kevin -07, given that the NSW mini-budget to be delivered next week will identify the worst possible case scenario, a governing body that is broke!

I love the election promises that politicians make during election campaigns (like every child will have a computer). An obvious state and federal government communication problem which never eventuated, because of failed election promises. The NSW government costed this and said that it simply won’t happen as it is unaffordable.

Now it has announced that 700,000 school children will lose free public transport at a time when sexual predators are running amok. Considering the attempted abductions around Sydney, the NSW government plan is to make more children walk the streets to home? Care factor for NSW families is now at zero point, obviously aligned with economic management policy.

Then of course you have the NSW government announcement that it will cut the red tape and free up the rezoning of land. Spend a few hundred thousand dollars of tax payer monies with extravagant advertising promoting the metro line only to now see it shelved. Spare a thought for those who acquired property based on this election promise. Politicians now gone and struggling home owners left carrying an asset marinated in broken election promises.

Our elected state government with its increasing tax grabs is a hindrance to our property markets when it should be an ally. Confidence will restore our property markets and cheaper money serves as great economic relief. With the Melbourne Cup out of the way and the popular election of Barack Obama, global confidence is now finally on the mend (so it appears).

And that is exactly what we got this week when the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) knocked off a further 75 basis points - the lowest rate since December 2003. Many forget that 2003 was a bull property market and whilst we are not suggesting another bull market, we can certainly see a confident market ahead. It should be remembered that during the last recession we had falling property prices with record high interest rates. Today, we are faced with adjusted property prices and the prospect of record low interest rates.

We would like your thoughts on this, so post your comments on our weekly “Virtual Realty News” blog and we will happily publish them. We invite you to participate and have a look around at our latest online media platform. We still have a few bugs to iron out which is only natural as this website has 1,262 pages (and populating) of data. Cheers ^__^

Here is a snapshot of the site provided by Peter Ricci our web developer. We have so many features, we have asked him to highlight a few!

Welcome to the New Richardson & Wrench Mosman and Neutral Bay Website

The Richardson & Wrench Mosman and Neutral Bay (RWM) home page, is quite a large home page. Because of the wealth of information provided by RWM over the years, we think it is important to share this information - even to the casual visitor.

We worked with the team from RWM to identify all of the key information areas and combined this into a home page, which is now more of a jump station to various sections of the site.

We also realised the importance of the people at RWM, you can have the greatest technology, the best systems on the planet, but it still comes down to your people. Including items such as latest news, most popular news, people, weekly feature properties, recent sales and latest releases gives the site more of a newspaper theme.

With all of this in mind we wanted it to be unique, we think it is.

Team Page

It all comes down to your people and RWM has been a steady ship for many years, so we engaged a photographer to take a range of photos in and around Mosman and Neutral Bay.

Each Team Member has profiles, plus their own unique page with their vendors listings and recent sales results (’Success Stories’) on the page. Team Members can be contacted individually as well from their own page.

Property Page

The property page is where we really get things firing. Having so much information on a page can be daunting for any developer, but the principal still remains, what do potential customers want to see? To the top left of the page we provide pricing, accommodation and other relevant information. Below this are the agents assigned to the property and a simple contact area for users to contact agents directly.

Property Photos

We use a flash gallery to view photos, plans, voice-overs and videos. This software has a range of features. Visitors can scroll through photos by mouse over, they can pause and play, view full screen.

The software automatically plays through each photo and then through to plans/videos. Tabs at the top are only displayed when there is content, so no plans, no plans tab, likewise no videos, no videos tab.

Maps with Street View

We also include properties with addresses displayed Google mapping with street view. We have nice large maps for visitors to see exactly where a property is located. They can also zoom down to street view and take a walk around the area.

Suburb Profiles

We created a range of suburb profiles and these match up perfectly within our system, so a property in a certain suburb will bring the correct suburb profile into the page. We also engaged a photographer to take a range of photos around each suburb, so users can view these via a simple pop up screen.

Walk Score

“What I can walk to” is a common home-buying and apartment-renting criterion. Our integration of Walk Score’s technology calculates a Walk Score for any property and shows a map of what’s nearby with reviews to help you find a great neighbourhood. The software showcases nearby restaurants, coffee shops, bars, movies, schools, parks, libraries, bookstores, fitness centres, pharmacies, hardware and retails outlets within the area. We think it is a great inclusion inspired by the team at RWM.

Recent Sales

RWM’s recent sales, reads like the who’s who of property within Mosman and Neutral Bay. We bring in recent data into a page, and users can also jump through to the main screen and view all Internet sales from RWM over the years.

Similar Listings

Both sales and rent pages have a similar listings tool which matches property type and suburb and brings in data to match that criteria. We only display 3 most relevant for each property.

Virtual Realty News

Okay Robert/Richard/Stephen have had a free reign over the years, splashing out their thoughts, now you can also tell him what you think. Each news article allow the user to make a comment. You can return any time and start a conversation with the author or other people making comments. RWM will of course have to monitor this, and we have functionality to do this. But give it a try, believe me it is fun!

Recommended Browsers

Any expert will tell you, that you should have the latest browsers. This site is optimised for 80+% of the market using Internet Explorer 7, Firefox 3, Safari, Opera and Google Chrome browsers. If you don’t have one of the latest browsers, I suggest you download one of your choice. My personal favourite is Firefox, it is fast, flexible and secure.

RSS Feeds

You can subscribe to RSS Feeds for Sales, Rentals, Virtual Realty News, however you will need one of the latest browsers or a feed reader like Google Reader.

Issues

Yes it is a new site, with a lot of new technology, we do not expect it to be perfect from the outset, we have a small team of testers and have found most little annoying bugs, but sometimes new ones do arise, I would love your feedback and you can contact me (Peter Ricci) on 0438 391 397 or alternatively by email at peter@agentpoint.com.au

Freeze Frame. In the Senate standing committee that met this week for a “Please explain?”, Barnaby Joyce attacked Fort Fumble with his six guns, not to be confused with six pack. Straight from the hip he fired a question at Treasury guru Ken Henry which then ricocheted to David Gruen (obviously the smoking gun). “Had Treasury done any modelling on the Government’s $10.4 billion rescue spending (spree) package?”

The answer was a simple ‘no’, which prompted Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan, to advise those with no access to their money to attend Centrelink - obviously Wayne is now our missing link. Joyce went on to say “My wife runs a kindergarten, it’s better than that lot”. One can only assume he was referring to Fort Fumble.

There we go, half of the surplus gone and with no business model in place, our concerns over OPM (Other People’s Money) are met with an icy response.

Alan Kohler had his nail gun ready at hand on www.businessspectator.com.au when he wrote about our modern day Ice Age. Could this be the nail in the coffin of Fort Fumble?

Fire one. “The Rudd government has made a terrible, almost unbelievable mistake by guaranteeing some savings for free. Fire two.- “Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Treasurer Wayne Swan don’t seem to understand what is happening or what they have done.” Fire three. “Unless they go down in history as bumbling fools who wrecked the Australian economy, they must instantly, this morning, put a universal price on the deposit guarantee that was announced on October 12.” This is Vintage Kohler! The nail gun left more than splinters when the Federal government capitulated. Fort Fumble’s stand up comedy version of icing your cake or, should that be scrambling your nest eggs!

Fort Fumble was then left trying to unscramble its eggs when it (wait for it) accidentally had an email moment – don’t you hate that. Wayne Swan’s office (in the process of moving from Windows 95) accidentally sent out an email detailing the questions to be asked in Question Time – shock horror. In Canberra we now have email for comment where at Fort Fumble the motto is: Hear no evil, speak no evil and email no evil unless you are privy to Wayne’s online Outlook. Fort Fumble is in great hands and it was revealed this week that Question Time in parliament is Outlook “confused”.

On a lighter note let’s get back to what drives the economy, our property market which most interestingly, is experiencing a strong surge of expat enquiries. The Mosman market is most fortunate and attracts an international audience. The South Pacific Peso better known as the Australian dollar, is enticing more than a few, who are flying in to inspect our properties this weekend.

Online enquiries play an integral part for all real estate agencies whatever the property demographic and a close look at our information highway reveals an amazing number of overseas enquiries. This is no great surprise when you take into consideration the drop in the South Pacific peso combined with home value adjustments (the savings are approximately fifty per cent). Today’s purchasers prefer to communicate via email, a sign of the times which identifies the importance of having a strong online platform.

This is our last edition under the current format and next week, we will release a website full of the latest online innovations - an industry first. We have moved our online platform to a RWM – media outlet where we will release online applications that have never been seen in our residential property market. Walk Score is brilliant technology and you will see it change for every property on our website

We believe that RWM is the very first Australian real estate agency (or property portal for that matter) to roll out this application and it’s fantastic for our expats.

It’s an online model that was twelve months in the planning combined with the most expensive schedule of finish in terms of agent individual websites. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Peter Ricci and his very talented team at www.agentpoint.com.au who not only understood my different online mind, but then exceeded my expectations. Our new media platform offers the largest homepage ever seen, full of property data and individual property pages and the photo galleries are a kaleidoscope of colour and information.

One online industry expert who reviewed our new website described it as a Website (or should that have been Weapon?) of Mass Destruction for our competition. We are happy to let you the consumers, be the judge on this.

The market has started late this year given the obvious distractions and next week, we will release more homes. Our Mosman prestige home release - Burran Avenue, Glencarron Avenue, Union Street, Moruben Road, Calypso Avenue, Middle Head Road, Bradleys Head Road, Tivoli Street and more.

“Virtual Realty News” has been has been arriving weekly at in boxes for nine years now. Tag every edition (Google approved of course and we have tagged some 15,000 pages) – then hit > send to the Google search engine and every Mosman, Cremorne and Neutral Bay property search engine result will have the RWM business as the leading point of contact. The online battle gets more interesting each week and this is highlighted by the recent changes to our economic climate.As they say “timing is everything” so next week RWM will be starting its engines! Cheers ^__^

This week a caller to ABC morning radio announced that Mosman was about see one hundred and thirty mortgagee – in – possession properties about to be released to the marketplace. The only problem with this market touch up is that nobody has bothered to tell the real estate agents. For the record, the number of mortgagee – in – possession properties that we have been asked to sell in 2008, is just one.

This announcement prompted me to then crunch the numbers of houses in Mosman currently for sale, so I went to www.domain.com.au to do the mathematics. Now we know that Mosman has just over 4,900 homes and 136 (2.78%) are currently listed on this portal for sale which is exactly the market norm for this time of year (commonly regarded as a peak selling period). One also needs to bear in mind that on average, Mosman houses trade annually at five to ten per cent of the total number.

Here is the breakdown for Mosman houses, compiled yesterday.

• $1,000,000 to $1,500,000 - a selection of 24 houses
• $1,500,000 to $2,000,000 – a selection of 27 houses
• $2,000,000 to $2,500,000 – a selection of 15 houses
• $2,500,000 to $3,000,000 – a selection of 5 houses
• $3,000,000 to $4,000,000 – a selection of 20 houses
• $4,000,000 to $5,000,000 – a selection of 15 houses
• $5,000,000 to $7,500,000 – a selection of 19 houses
• $7,500,000 to $10,000,000 – a selection of 5 houses
• $10,000,000 + — a selection of 6 houses

• Total 136

Now for the touch up, touch down and out of touch Mosman market test. We used the days on market analysis to put the volume into greater perspective.

• One month on the market – day one to day 31 identifies 58 houses
• Two months on the market – identifies 26 houses
• Three months on the market – identifies 24 houses
• Four months on the market – identifies 28 houses

• Total 136

Also, one should not forget that the expat market is the strongest we have seen all year. They now enjoy a thirty plus percent discount, after the Aussie dollar caught a cold.

So let’s take a peek (or should that be peak) at the touch ups that occurred this week. As I predicted last year, the consumer price index (CPI) jumped to five per cent. Year on year, the biggest annual jump since 1995. Rentals rose another 2.1 per cent which comes as no surprise given that rentals accelerate CPI every month as investors continue to desert this market. I will now predict that CPI will hit 6 per cent although the Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan said “In terms of inflation I think this is expected to peak, and we would hope to see it moderate over the year ahead.” Unsure if this is either out of touch, a touch up or hopefully a touchdown (love the ‘hope’ word).

Yesterday, NSW suffered its first monthly deficit in eight years and naturally, blamed the property and financial markets. This amazing administration identified a surplus of $109 million in July that was smashed in August with a $163 million deficit. As always, the decline in Stamp Duty was the blame – maybe (no I will do a Swan) the NSW government should hope that a reduction in Stamp Duty rates will stimulate the property markets.

Kevin Rudd keeps spending his inheritance on the economy where the key might be spending in state governments to reduce taxes that would obviously bolster economic activity.

You can be the judge on who is out of touch, who keeps touching you up and what constitutes a touchdown and we aren’t talking Australian Idol. Just keep paying your taxes and hope for the best!

Interest rates are coming down and we are very very confident (not hoping) that property is about to experience a touch up! History identifies that when property prices are a touchdown, property prices then touch up – and I don’t believe I am out of touch!

After all – it is a numbers game. Interest rate reductions will certainly help to stimulate the market, but what would really kick it along is a reduction in stamp duty and those in State government are the only ones who fail the test. Cheers ^__^