While the Reserve Bank (RBA) has left the official cash rate at a historic low, some economists believe interest rates must fall in the months ahead to restrain the value of the dollar and encourage recovery in non-mining sectors of the economy. The growing headache for the RBA is the lower the rates, the greater the boom in the housing market – and bigger the pressure for regulators to intervene and ensure house price inflation...
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There’s a buyers’ agent in Melbourne who considers the quality of an area’s café scene to be a big factor in its future growth prospects. When scoping up and coming suburbs, he’ll go order a coffee from a local haunt – if it’s crap, he leaves; if it passes the taste test, he’ll take a look around. I love coffee more than most people I know. I’ll drink four to six cups of the stuff...
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THE Victorian government has released its vision for the Fishermans Bend precinct, with long-term plans for the urban renewal project including two underground train stations and the extension of the Collins Street tram over the Yarra River. The industrial area abutting Southbank and across the river from the Docklands has been earmarked for five new residential suburbs housing up to 80,000 people and will become the workplace for 40,000. A mixture of low-density, medium-density and...
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NEW houses in Australia’s capital cities are being built on plots of land that are up to one third smaller than 10 years ago, says industry analyst BIS Shrapnel. BIS Shrapnel’s report, Outlook for Residential Land, says property developers are now producing smaller lots to encourage demand. The higher density of housing also boosts the developers’ revenues. “Median lot sizes have shrunk by between 14 and 32 per cent across the capital cities over the...
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Its creators have labelled it an ”elegant” urban icon, but a damning Melbourne City Council report has warned a new apartment building almost as tall as the Rialto would oppress and stifle the neighbours. The 72-storey Southbank mega-tower was previously approved by the state government before changes to planning controls saw the developer Urban Matrix sent back to the drawing board. Months later council staff still do not like the plans for 54 Clarke Street,...
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Its creators have labelled it an ”elegant” urban icon, but a damning Melbourne City Council report has warned a new apartment building almost as tall as the Rialto would oppress and stifle the neighbours. The 72-storey Southbank mega-tower was previously approved by the state government before changes to planning controls saw the developer Urban Matrix sent back to the drawing board. Months later council staff still do not like the plans for 54 Clarke Street,...
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by George Rousos Director Industry Training Consultants george@itc.nsw.edu.au Franois-Marie Arouet, better known by the pen name Voltaire, was a French writer and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion and free trade. One of Voltaire’s famous sayings was, and I quote: “We must distinguish between speaking to deceive and being silent to be reserved.” “We must distinguish between speaking to deceive and being silent...
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OPINIONby Tim O’Dwyer M.A., LL.BSolicitorConsumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au This story does not end, as many do, in a court case. But it begins, as many do, with a property advertised for sale: “Charmingly preserved Art Deco features abound in this ground floor cavity brick apartment. Ornate plaster ceilings and cornices, wide skirting boards and architraves, polished timber floors all lovingly presented.Two bedrooms – one with access to the study, a large, light, eat-in kitchen and,...
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