Clearance Rate On The Rise As Buyers Move In

MAYBE it's the slash in the interest rate or new demand from the increased first home-buyer grant.

A Global Game Of Snakes And Ladders

The value of Google's brand name has slumped $5.5 billion this year, so the world must be coming to an end. The online name that can do no wrong has taken one giant leap back for mankind and it's there in black and white in a report on the top 100 global brand valuations from the London valuer, Brand Finance. In its revised report - because of the volatility that has besieged markets this year - Brand Finance says Google's brand is now worth a measly $US37.5 billion, down from $43 billion at the ...

A Far Too Extreme Makeover

With property prices plummeting, a renovation might not add any real value to your home.

Upgrade Bonanza

If you've outgrown your home, now is a terrific time to find a bigger one.

Rates Bills To Reflect Bumper House Prices

MELBOURNE home owners are about to get a rude shock as councils mail out rate notices based on record house prices of the start of the year.

How To Use The Property Price Guide

THE data analysed in Hunter Property Price Guide has been sourced from the records of the Department of Lands and the Valuer General, covering the calendar years of 2006 and 2007. The data has been divided into two categories.

Gifting? Timing Is Everything

Transferring the title of a home to a family member sounds good in theory but there are a few things to take into account, explains George Cochrane.

Property Values Soar As Buyers Flock To The Bush

COUNTRY property values in some remote areas of NSW grew faster than those of coastal markets in the past year, says the state's Valuer General, Philip Western - and it is absentee property investors and the mining boom that have driven up prices.

Rush For Home Berths

Marinas are pushing up property prices, writes Alex May.

Norma's Bastion To Be Placed On The Market

IT was a story that captivated the Illawarra a decade ago - the grandmother that wouldn't budge from her Cliff Rd home for $3 million.

Young Couple Face Reality Of Purchase

DAVID Hardes and his partner Jessica Bartle are saving the deposit for a first home.

Our Golden Waterfronts

Location, location, location. It is the real estate mantra and it certainly holds true in the Illawarra. While the bubble burst in most areas of the market in 2003, waterfront properties have continued to attract high prices. Retirees, cashed-up Sydneysiders looking for a holiday home and nervous investors pulling money from the stock market are just some of the people driving the demand for the region's waterfront properties. ALEX ARNOLD dips his toe into the market. IF demand for waterfront ...

$600 Million Property Splurge Seals Record Day

A TOORAK property tycoon has given himself a bonus by paying the royal sum of $6.7 million for a home he will tear down for a tennis court.

Property Tax, Not Land Tax

THE familiar sounds of summer. The crackle of cicadas. The squawk of seagulls at the beach. The anguished cries of property owners who have just received their official land valuations. They complain that some valuations from the Valuer-General are going up in a market that is going down, and point to instances of properties selling for less than the Valuer-General's figures. A house and land at East Gosford has been given an official land valuation of $324,00 though it sold last year for ...

Home Prices Fall Below Land Tax Valuations

HOMES are being sold for less than their official land value, as the bulk of recent valuations have continued to defy the trend of subdued property prices.

Hot Property At Home On The Beach

BEACHSIDE Newcastle real estate is more prized than ever, with Merewether and Bar Beach land values rising by more than $100,000 in a year, figures from the Valuer-General of NSW show.

Sea And The Cbd, The Ingredients That Fuelled A Property Boom

REAL estate prices have soared throughout Victoria in the past decade, but there have been winners and there have been also-rans. While some astute buyers saw the value of their home quadruple between 1995 and 2005, others have been lucky to see it double.

Avoid Tax: Leave Home

The strategy To rent out my home without getting hit by capital gains tax if I sell it.

Home Duty Trimmed A Little: What Price Good Housekeeping?

AFTER seven years in office, the Bracks Government has cut stamp duty on conveyancing for the first time.

Being Twice The Size May Help

PROPERTY valuer Stuart Prince and his wife Deborah recognised the value of the post-Federation two-bedder they bought in Adamstown, where growth has kept pace with nearby Merewether.