This is the patchiest market I've seen in 38 years.
In layman's terms, the biggest problem with Australian Housing affordability is supply vs demand.
My Clearance Rate: 9/12 SOLD
Tom Panos:
What a day, what a day. So I'm absolutely, absolutely drenched, absolutely drenched. Twelve auctions today that I conducted started off fantastic Some really big results in Erskineville and Newtown, and then the results got a little bit harder. Regardless, 12 properties went to auction, nine sold. And I'm sitting in Red Rooster as we speak. I'm sitting at a Red Rooster because I had 3% Tesla battery charge left, not enough to get home and there is Tesla, or actually EV, charges at Billerwood, red Rooster, where my car could get to without running out of charge, and that's where I'm at at the moment. That's where I'm at at the moment. That's where I'm at at the moment. So hopefully we're back up on the road. So today's auctions 12 auctions, nine sold.
Tom Panos:
What's the market doing? It's the patchiest market I've ever seen and that's 38 years of real estate Patchiest market. Units are good. Units are good, no question about units, and the reason why units are good is that developers have stopped building them. And when developers stop building them, the supply starts going down. Supply starts going down, house prices start actually having a bigger gap between units and houses. So what actually happens next? Units start having a run, and that's why I had a property. I wish I actually taped it. I didn't because it was all a rush job. Today had 11 people registered on a one-bedroom unit in Stratfield and it ended up selling for, I think, around mid-sevens, which is great money.
Tom Panos:
But I've got to tell you you know what the issue is at the moment in Australia. I'll explain to you very simple. It's like Australia is the Hilton Hotel and it's like there's 1,000 rooms in the hotel. And what? The Hilton Hotel it doesn't have to be Hilton, it could be the Intercontinental I'm just using a metaphor has basically said don't worry, don't worry that we've only got a thousand rooms. Just take everyone in. They want to come here, let them come in. They can sit in the foyers, they can sit in the receptions, they can sit in the toilets, they can sit in the laundries, they can sit in the car park. That is what the Australian Government has actually done with their housing policy.
Tom Panos:
Someone needs to get a calculator and a pen and sit down and say let's work it out. You've got a big problem when a school teacher and a nurse can't afford to either buy or rent a property. You know that the fabric of Australian society is going down the drain when a teacher and a nurse. These are the people that society needs most and they're being treated appallingly. And I, anyway and I know it sounds paradoxical, because a lot of people say, oh, what's this guy going on about? You know he's pushing the prices up. Listen, auctioneers and real estate agents, don't put your prices up. The market's the market. We facilitate a process, right? You know? Blaming the real estate industry or blaming a real estate agent why prices are up is the thinking of an IQ of under 50. What the problem is is demand and supply. That's what it is.
Tom Panos:
Anyway, ladies and gentlemen, I hope things change and I hope and I bet you, I bet you the government election is going to be one on housing. So enough of the deflecting small issues that don't matter to people. Sit down, get a pen, get a paper, get a black coffee, get no sugars. Sit down and stay up till you work out what you've got to do. And if it means immigration has to actually slow down, so be it. And guess what? My parents were migrants. I'm a son of a migrant. Migration is good, because we know the opposite is. You know you don't have a population, the place perishes. We need a population, we need immigration. We need it for lots of reasons for growth, but also for security. So all I'm saying is maybe sort out the housing issue, slow down the migration and then let the doors in again. Signing off.