Australian property expert Bushy Martin featured in a 60 Minutes story about the state of the Australian housing market.

The story aired on Sunday 16 September on Channel 9.

In the full interview, most of which was not included in the story that went to air, Bushy shared his property market insights including why he doesn’t agree that Australia is headed for a housing crisis.

Following the story, Bushy sent this note to his clients and personal network:

You may have seen the recent episode of 60 minutes, which unfortunately did not include my positive views and comments about the current property market.

 

Here’s what I really think:

 

• Doom and gloom reports from some sensationalist commentators of 40% drops in values make great, scary headlines but are unsubstantiated – short term corrections of 10-15% are normal and expected.
• Short-term flattening of property values in specific, localised areas of Sydney and Melbourne is an expected part of the normal 8-15 year property cycle after a period of strong growth – this has been precipitated by the government’s pressure on the banks to tighten availability to credit that has put a handbrake on people’s ability to buy property.
• Property values have continued to grow cyclically across Australia since federation and will continue to do so in the future. Particularly properties in tightly held high demand areas are continuing to enjoy solid, long-term growth, given the trifecta of growth demand drivers resulting from:
  • Strong and ongoing population growth from migration
  • People living an average of 20% longer meaning we need more homes to accommodate the growing population
  • Average household sizes reducing by 40% meaning we need more houses to accommodate the same number of people.

As long as people need to live in houses there is the opportunity to make money out of property.

The only major risk to property values is if Labor wins the federal election next year and ignores Paul Keating’s lessons of the past and alter negative gearing and Capital Gains Tax treatment of property. I remain steadfast in my view to assist you to achieve your strategy roadmap and long-term lifestyle goals.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me or my team.

Contact Bushy

Want to separate fact from fiction? Questions? Talk to Bushy and his team at KnowHow. Click here.

Bushy is a keynote speaker, author and all-round property investment expert, named in 2017 as one of the top ten property specialists in Australia by The Property Investor Magazine. Bushy is the founder of KNOW:HOW Property Finance Strategy, one of Australia’s leading groups of property investment strategists. He has personally built an international portfolio of 12 properties and has enjoyed a career spanning over 35-years in the industry.