It has been another eventful week, for property insider Edwin Almeida and I to get our teeth into. What is the true state of the property market? How stuffed in Australia and Australians? And does crypto offer an alternative? Find out in our latest edition.
Today’s post is brought to you by Ribbon Property Consultants.
If you are buying your home in Sydney’s contentious market, you do not need to stand alone. This is the time you need to have Edwin from Ribbon Property Consultants standing along side you.
Buying property, is both challenging and adversarial. The vendor has a professional on their side.
Emotions run high – price discovery and price transparency are hard to find – then there is the wasted time and financial investment you make.
Edwin understands your needs. So why not engage a licensed professional to stand alongside you. With RPC you know you have: experience, knowledge, and master negotiators, looking after your best interest.
Shoot Ribbon an email on info@ribbonproperty.com.au & use promo code: DFA-WTW/MARTIN to receive your 10% DISCOUNT OFFER.
This is our weekly market update, starting in the US, crossing to Europe and Asia, and ending in Australia. Markets continue to drive higher, though with significant volatility as Geo-political issues in places like France, Korea, the middle east and Ukraine collide with questions of interest rate trajectory, the AI boom and Trump’s ongoing announcements of more names into his team.
Investors can savor the current market momentum but should prepare for a potential shift after January’s inauguration of Donald Trump, Tom McClellan said in a new Market Report. This shift in sentiment, is tied to uncertainty surrounding a new administration’s policies and the inevitable political battles with Congress. “Wall Street hates unknowns,” he emphasized.
The MSCI Global index of stocks was up 1.3% across the week, and up 20.18% year to date. The STOXX 600 was up 2% across the week logging its seventh consecutive day in advances and its strongest weekly performance in ten, and is up 8.65% year to date, while the S&P 500 advanced modestly early and mostly held those gains into the closing bell in New York, for its 57th record closing high this year up 0.96% across the week and 27.68% year to date. The VIX was trading below 13, while Bitcoin briefly edged back below 100,000.
Markets are expecting the FED to cut rates again at its December meeting, after the US economy added 227,000 jobs last month, mostly in line with expectations, and the three-month average came in at 173,000, confirming expectations that the labour market is cooling, at a moderate pace.
The Australian sharemarket dropped on Friday in a broad sell-off as investors turned cautious ahead of a key job report in the US that may shed light on whether the Federal Reserve will continue easing interest rates this month.
The big banks had a weak session with Westpac down 1.4 per cent to $32.76, while Commonwealth Bank fell 0.6 per cent to $157.06. That’s despite traders ramping up bets of an earlier rate cut by the Reserve Bank. Money markets imply an around 50-50 chance of an easing in February 2025, up from 25 per cent on Tuesday. The central bank is widely expected to keep the cash rate at 4.35 per cent when it meets next week.
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Once in a while I find an article which really hits home. One such is an article in the AFR by John Kehoe, titled “Australia’s Economic Problems Have Been Brewing For Years”.
Indeed, bad policy from multiple Governments have gotten us to a bad place, and the current mob are making things worse. There are alternatives. But that would require braver leaders, and informed voters! What are the chances?
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Bitcoin rose as much as 6.1% to $103,801 on Thursday before easing back. The crypto market overall has jumped by roughly $1.3 trillion since Trump’s election victory on Nov. 5 on a platform that includes a tight embrace of the crypto sector. The reason was President-elect Donald Trump’s pick of a crypto proponent to be the next head of the US securities regulator as he selected Paul Atkins to replace outgoing Securities & Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler, who cracked down on digital assets after a 2022 market rout exposed fraudulent practices and sparked costly blowups.
Trump has vowed to undo a Biden administration clampdown on digital assets, install friendly regulators and turn the US into the global home of crypto. The Republican even backed the idea of a strategic national Bitcoin reserve, though there are doubts over whether the latter objective is feasible. Trump used to be a crypto skeptic but pivoted as the sector unleashed an election campaign war chest to further its interests.
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Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/
In this show Tony Locantro describes his journey – a carnivore success story and how it could contribute to Making Australia Healthy again.
Tony will be back for a live show on 24th December, when we will be looking at the market action, but this show is a wake-up call in terms of big food and big pharma.
http://www.martinnorth.com/
Details of our one to one service are here: https://digitalfinanceanalytics.com/blog/dfa-one-to-one/
Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/
The RBA meets Tuesday, with economists and markets predicting no change to rates. Indeed, not til later next year will rates likely come down, barring some external shock. Governor Michele Bullock said last month that inflation remains too high to consider a cut in the near term.
At the heart of the problem is the Governments spending a greater share of the economy, and stoking jobs in the public and related sector, like healthcare. States are also spending like drunken sailors, and the federal government is throwing more money at households via the electricity subsides. This is all inflationary.
On the other hand, the RBA did not take the cash rate as high as many other central banks did. As a result we have a shallower path, dodging a recession by the rate water torture will continue for longer. The upshot has been a cautious central bank that has kept the cash rate at 4.35% for the past year. By comparison, the Federal Reserve may cut for a third straight meeting this month.
So we will muddle through into 2025, and possibly face an election with rates at 4.35%. This could well become a cat fight with the RBA caught in the muddle, sorry middle.
http://www.martinnorth.com/
Details of our one to one service are here: https://digitalfinanceanalytics.com/blog/dfa-one-to-one/
Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/
A belated rant this week, as Edwin piles into the auction games people play, we discuss the next migration wave, and why property statistics are rubbish.
http://www.martinnorth.com/
Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/
Find more at https://digitalfinanceanalytics.com/blog/ where you can subscribe to our research alerts
Today’s post is brought to you by Ribbon Property Consultants.
If you are buying your home in Sydney’s contentious market, you do not need to stand alone. This is the time you need to have Edwin from Ribbon Property Consultants standing along side you.
Buying property, is both challenging and adversarial. The vendor has a professional on their side.
Emotions run high – price discovery and price transparency are hard to find – then there is the wasted time and financial investment you make.
Edwin understands your needs. So why not engage a licensed professional to stand alongside you. With RPC you know you have: experience, knowledge, and master negotiators, looking after your best interest.
Shoot Ribbon an email on info@ribbonproperty.com.au & use promo code: DFA-WTW/MARTIN to receive your 10% DISCOUNT OFFER.
This is an edited version of a live discussion with Head of Investments for Walk The World Funds and Nucleus Wealth, Damien Klassen. As we roll into the end of the year, how are marketing shaping up, and what strategies are most appropriate given the Trump effect?
We look at longer term return trends, discuss the Australian economic breadth, and the China connection, among other things.
Original live stream here: https://youtube.com/live/zYDnJ1yOOhU
http://www.martinnorth.com/
Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/
https://digitalfinanceanalytics.com/blog/dfa-one-to-one/ for our One to One Service.
More households are feeling the pinch in the run up to Christmas according to our latest research and as demonstrated in the results to the end of November 2024, which we look at today.
We start with an overview of “financial stress”, defined in cash flow terms, then look at mortgage, rental, investor and overall stress across the country, as we dive into the top postcodes and consider the future scenarios for interest rates.
If you want a deep dive into a specific post code, drop it into the comments below, and I will make a subsequent show including the granular data I hold.
The full detailed set of data is available via our Patreon programme: https://www.patreon.com/DigitalFinanceAnalytics
Details of our one to one service are here: https://digitalfinanceanalytics.com/blog/dfa-one-to-one/
http://www.martinnorth.com/
Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/
Find more at https://digitalfinanceanalytics.com/blog/ where you can subscribe to our research alerts
The latest auction clearance rates data confirms what we already knew, the traditionally busy spring selling season is ending with a whimper as it falls to the lowest this year amid weak buyer demand. Of course, clearance rates are a poor proxy for property market health, but the low quality of many listed properties, combined with over aggressive pricing are part of the story.
Add in expectations of higher for longer interest rates with ANZ pushing out a rate cut to May 2025, “We are shifting our view on the start of the RBA’s easing cycle from February 2025 to May 2025. We now also only expect two 25 basis point rate cuts in total [down from three],” said ANZ Bank’s Adam Boyton on Friday.
In addition expected falls of say 5 per cent in house prices in Sydney and Melbourne next year are reinforcing the trend. Borrowing capacity is also continuing to be crimped.
Also, costs of living pressures are hitting home, with an article over the weekend covering a Red Bridge survey which said that more than one third of Australians have delayed medical treatment because of the costs of living crisis, while almost half have put off buying a home, car or other purchase. 28 per cent of those polled say economic conditions have caused them to put off having children, while 20 per cent say they have delayed their decision to get married.
As the AFR says, this week was a big test of demand, with more than 1000 auctions scheduled in Sydney and Melbourne, and over 2600 scheduled nationally. However, just 63.4 per cent of homes sold under the hammer, based on preliminary auction numbers tallied by CoreLogic, down from 65.3 per cent last week. This matched the result of the first week of November, which was the lowest early clearance rate of the year. Once all the results are collected, it is expected that the final clearance rate will be below 60 per cent for the seventh consecutive week. “The auction market ended the spring selling season with a whimper,” said CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless.
Domain preliminary results also mirror the decline in clearances, mirroring price falls in some markets especially in Melbourne and Sydney, and on Monday, CoreLogic will release its monthly Home Values Index, which will show further declines in house prices in both Cities.
The two leading indicators for housing prices – auction clearance rates and the amount of stock on market – suggested price drops in those cities would persist, SQM’s Louis Christopher said.
Bottom line is the property market is taking an early holiday, and 2025 looks pretty shaky especially in the major markets.
Renegade Seminar: you can join the The World Economic Renegade Summit where Leading economist Harry Dent, Tom Panos and myself will explore what is really going on, and how you can take control of your financial future.
This event starts next Wednesday Sydney time at 7pm
You won’t regret taking the time, and by the way there is $5,000 worth of Gold for one lucky attendee. You can secure your place via the link here: mesiti.com/north
Note Edwin’s RANT will be on Wednesday this week!
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