Hotspotting

Household Wealth

The latest government data shows that household wealth in Australia continues to rise and residential property is the main reason for that. New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics has shown that the wealth of Australian households has risen for a sixth consecutive quarter, with residential land and house prices the largest contributor. The ABS figures indicate that household wealth on average increased 2.7 per cent in the March Quarter.  In raw numbers, our collective wealth ...

Cheapies with Prospects

Investors come to property markets in many different shapes and sizes, but our observation is that most are seeking a level of affordability. The official data shows that most Australians seeking to buy investment properties are not wealthy, with most having incomes below $100,000, and most have just one property or are buying a rental property for the first time. This dictates, for many, a purchase somewhere in the range from $400,000 to $600,000. Fortunately, there continue to be opt...

The Current Lending Landscape with Lucky Velasquez - Webinar Replay

Unlock the Secrets to Securing the Best Loans in Today’s Market! Whether you are an investor, real estate professional, financial planner, buyer’s agent, or investment advisor looking to navigate the complexities of the current lending landscape? Join us for an exclusive webinar that will equip you with the knowledge and tools to secure the best loan products and deals available today. Hosted by: Tim Graham, General Manager of Hotspotting with special guest Lucky Velasquez, CEO of fina...

It's Not All About FHBs

The unfortunate reality is that the core problems afflicting housing markets don’t get fixed because politicians don’t understand the problems AND they’re unwilling to consult with the people who do. If a state government gets the message that’s there’s a serious rental shortage, the only response will be to announce they’re going to build a million new dwellings over the next 10 or 20 years – which doesn’t address the core issue at all and is unlikely to ever be delivered anyway. Politi...

Latest Population Data

One of the core reasons the national shortage of dwellings is so serious is that it coincides with a record increase in the nation’s population. The latest data shows that Australia’s population grew 651,000 in 2023, the highest number in the nation’s history. 84% of that growth was attributed to overseas migration. Now, the record level of population growth last year did NOT cause the shortage of dwellings including the under-supply of rental homes. The seeds of the shortage were se...

Government Makes Key Issues Worse

The most concerning thing about the unprecedented shortages which afflict Australian real estate markets is not that they are driving up rents and prices across the nation. Alarming though that is for tenants and for first-home-buyers, the truly concerning thing is the myriad ways in which our elected representatives keep making those problems much, much worse. Every time a state or territory government passes legislation or announces a policy move or hands down a budget which impacts on...

Rising Prices Not "Weird"

According to our national newspaper, The Australian, the fact that property prices have continued to rise in spite of higher interest rates is, and I quote, “weird” – and apparently the people described by the newspaper as “experts” are scratching their heads about it. The article that contained this nonsense was just another plank in the ever-growing pile of misinformation about real estate issues perpetrated by economists and journalists who don’t allow their ignorance of property issues...

EOFY Special: Save Big on Real Estate Insights & Memberships

The new 2025 Financial Year is upon us and, as we do every year, we are making special offers to real estate consumers and to our business customers. One of the key factors for success for real estate investors is basing decisions on quality research. As we launch into the new financial year, it’s crucial to have the best information at your fingertips. To help set up investors with a suite of reports that cover all the key bases, we’ve put together a bundle of reports that nominate gr...

Research Beats Hype

The most successful property investors have some features in common - and making decisions based on genuine research is one of the key ones. But those people are relatively rare. My observation of the behaviour of investors over four decades shows that more people make investment decisions based on media soundbites than on real research. And, as we embark on a new financial year with all kinds of competing forces in play in real estate, it’s more important than ever that real estate cons...

Depreciation Impact

The report we call The Pulse provides critical intelligence for property investors because it shows how you can get both a high rental yield and excellent capital growth if you choose your location well. Recent editions of The Pulse have featured locations where rents have grown 10-15-20% in a year, but so have property values – providing the ultimate win-win-win situation for property investors. Hotspotting produces this report in association with leading national experts on property de...

Victoria Gets Worse

Victoria has become the state that property investors don’t want to know about, because its politicians at both state and local level appear to have declared open season on investors. The State Government in Victoria has a budget deficit problem and has made the decision that many politicians in Australia make, which is to resort to the housing market as their favourite cash cow. They can’t slug home-owners or first-home buyers with new or higher taxes because that’s politically unpalata...

Affordability Deception

There are many so-called research reports in Australia which do a very poor job of providing useful, accurate, credible information to consumers – but the worst of the worst is a report called Demographia which pops up once every year to misinform Australians about affordability. This report, which is a shameless propaganda exercise by a developer lobby group, sets out to portray Australia as a place where no one – and I do mean no one – can afford to buy real estate. The lobby group is ...

No Money Down Investing with Lucky Velasquez

In this episode of "No Money Down: Smart Property Investment," Tim Graham is joined by Lucky Velasquez, the founder of FinanceBetter, to discuss innovative strategies for property investment with minimal initial capital outlay.  Lucky shares his extensive experience in helping clients navigate financial hurdles and maximise their investment potential without the need for large upfront deposits. Key Topics Covered: Introduction to No Money Down Investing:  What it means to invest with ...

Interviews with the 1% - Melinda Jennison

Are you ready to take your investment journey to the next level? Look no further, because we have exciting news to share with you! We are thrilled to announce our new Hotspotting pre-recorded interviews with some of the top 1% of Australian investors who own 5 or more properties. As you may know, in the 2020-2021 financial year, only 0.87% of investors in Australia owned 5 or more investment properties. But what do these successful investors know that the majority don't? We have sat down...

NSW Investor Boom

The latest lending data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics finds that loans to investors in New South Wales in April represented a 44% increase on the same time last year. That’s a major jump in buyer demand, but it does not surprise the team at Hotspotting, particularly after the analysis we have done on market trends for the Winter edition of The Price Predictor. Our research shows there is heightened buyer activity in selected locations, both in Sydney and in Regional NSW. The...

Why Builders Aren't Building

Home builders and property developers make their money creating new dwellings for Australian households. If they get it right, they can make lots of money doing what they do. When they decide NOT to do what they do, you have to ask why. Why are the builders of major projects of housing or apartments walking away from their plans? Why are big companies who have spent years and millions of dollars planning a major project making the decision not to build it? We’ve seen many instances...

Investor Lending

Home loans to property investors jumped for a third-straight month in April, rising at a faster pace than loans to owner-occupiers. The value of new loans to investors rose 5.6% to $10.9 billion in April, to be up 36% compared with a year ago, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Part of that increase, according to the ABS, is an increase in the size of the average loan. The average size of an investor loan for the purchase of an existing home grew almost 10% since April 2...

Australia's Top Growth Suburbs Revealed!

Where’s the strongest suburb for future price growth in Australia? What’s the most consistent location for sales activity in the nation and therefore likely to deliver superior price growth? And what’s the absolute worst place to buy real estate right now? The answers to all those questions and a whole lot more are revealed in the new Winter edition of The Price Predictor Index. Now, we publish a lot of great reports with unique insights into property markets across Australia - but t...

Price Predictor Index Winter Edition is Out Now!

I’m about to tell you what’s going to happen with property prices this year and I’m going to tell you why. The information real estate buyers MOST want to know is where to buy for superior capital growth, both in the short term and the long term. The problem for investors is that the research companies and the media don’t tell us that. They tell us what’s recently happened with property prices. They inform us about the past. And while that may be interesting, it doesn’t provide us wi...

From Beginner to Pro: Mastering the Art of Commercial Property Investment

Are you ready to elevate your property investment game? Join us for an exclusive webinar titled: "From Beginner to Pro: Mastering the Art of Commercial Property Investment." This insightful session is designed to equip you with the knowledge and strategies needed to thrive in the commercial property market. About the Webinar Hosted by Tim Graham, General Manager of Hotspotting.com.au, and featuring guest speaker Steve Palise, owner of Palise Property, this webinar will delve into...

Population Hotspots

It’s important for property investors to understand the difference between a population and home building hotspot – and what we at Hotspotting would define as a property growth hotspot. There are those who believe that the best philosophy in selecting good places to buy real estate is to follow the population growth – and buy in the locations where population is growing the most or the fastest. This, we believe, is a very poor strategy. Very often, the locations that have the highest p...

Relentless Podcast: Season 5, Episode 9 - Feat. Tim Graham

A podcast by people who make a difference, with people who are the difference. Listen to how incredible people live life on their terms. Chris Christofi, entrepreneur, is the brain-child behind this brilliant podcast. He talks to multiple World Champions, CEOs of major property development companies, brand innovators and unexpected entrepreneurs about their journey listening to their mindset, their gratitude and their unceasing intensity to get to the top. Chris pays it forward unveiling...

Learn The EMPIRICAL Formula Webinar Replay

Join Terry Ryder & Tim Graham as they reveal the powerful EMPIRICAL Formula used to identify the Top 50 Suburbs for above-average rental yields and outstanding capital growth. Discover how our formula has consistently delivered remarkable results, with some areas experiencing up to 30% growth in the past year. Webinar Highlights: The EMPIRICAL Formula: Learn the methodology behind selecting top-performing suburbs. Proven Results: See the impressive outcomes from following our tips, inc...

Statistical Deception

The misuse of price statistics represents a clear and present danger for real estate consumers trying to make choices about where to buy. The much-quoted adage about lies, damned lies and statistics applies very aptly to median prices for locations across Australia. While this data can be useful to buyers and sellers, if used intelligently, way too often it’s misused and abused in news media in ways that misinform and mislead consumers. One of the most common misuses of median price da...

Unlock Australia's Best Positive Cashflow Investments

It’s a common myth that an investment property can’t have both strong rental yields and capital growth.  Our data shows us time and time again that BOTH outcomes are possible, and no report illustrates it better than ‘The National Top 10 Positive Cashflow Hotspots Report’. Investing in real estate is all about timing and choosing the right locations that promise substantial returns. Our latest edition of the National Top 10 Positive Cashflow Hotspots report reveals the insights you nee...

House Cost Rising

I have often commented that every time politicians make changes that impact the cost of housing, they make it worse, never better.  And it’s happening again. Changes to the National Construction Code came into effect in Victoria and Queensland on the first of May.  And this is expected to add up to $40,000 to the cost of building a new home - through, among other things, the Code’s new energy efficiency standards. HIA Chief Economist Tim Reardon said this caused a spike in ne...

Building Costs (May 2024)

Budget Hopeless

The Federal Government’s latest Budget will go down in history as the “band-aid budget”. Rather than fix fundamental problems and deal with core issues, the Federal Treasurer has thrown cash in various directions, in what looks very much like an election Budget. They haven’t provided solutions to any of the core problems in the housing industry, particularly the rental shortage. There are broken limbs everywhere in the industry - and in other parts of the national body - and the Federa...

7 Lessons from the $26Bn Man - With Tyron Hyde

Catch the replay of our latest webinar hosted by Tim Graham, General Manager of Hotspotting, featuring Tyron Hyde, the visionary founder of Washington Brown and a master of property depreciation. Dive into the invaluable insights of "7 Lessons from the $26B Man," a presentation inspired by the legendary real estate mogul Harry Triguboff. In this compelling session, you'll explore the powerful strategies that fuelled Harry Triguboff's ascent to billionaire status, with a focus on the tran...

Carrot or The Stick?

In this podcast episode, we dive into the two different approaches that state governments in Australia are taking to address the issue of rental shortage in the housing market. On one hand, Western Australia (WA) has adopted the carrot approach, offering incentives and encouragement to investors to increase the supply of rental properties. On the other hand, Victoria has decided to take the stick approach, punishing investors with new and higher taxes if they do not comply with the governmen...

Leading the Way in Property Management: Corinne Bohan From Image Property

🌟 Leading the Way in Property Management: Corinne Bohan from the award winning Image Property 🌟 Join us on the latest episode of the Hotspotting podcast, where we sit down with Corinne Bohan, the trailblazing Managing Director of Image Property—Australia’s #1 Property Management Company for four consecutive years according to the RateMyAgent Awards. Dive deep into the world of elite property management with insights from a leader managing over 5,000 properties. 🏡 What Sets Image Property...

The Pulse Report Highlights

Australia has some outstanding markets which are performing on every metric, including price growth, rental growth, low vacancies and high yields. And many of these places on not what you might expect. Every quarter, Hotspotting publishes a report we call The Pulse, to identify 50 locations across Australia which deliver rental yields well above the average to investors. The primary parameter of our national Top 50 list is to identify good markets with high rental yields, but our crite...

The Pulse Report is Out Now!

If investors had followed our tips, three months ago, in a special report we call The Pulse, they could have achieved double-digit capital growth - in the latest quarter alone - and up to 30% in the past year. The primary parameter of our national Top 50 list of locations in The Pulse is to identify good markets with high rental yields. But our criteria also includes prospects for capital gains – and this report features locations which perform outstandingly well on price growth. If yo...

Latest Price Data

The latest price data from two of the biggest sources of real estate information shows a resurgence in the regional areas, in competition with the capital cities. The background to this is that the combined regions have outperformed on capital growth since Covid, with regional areas generally out-performing the big cities in the past four years. But in the past 12 months, the tables have turned somewhat, with the cities overtaking the regions on growth in median prices, led by Adelaide, ...

Unaffordable Twaddle

The silliest people skulking around the edges of the property industry are the shallow attention-seekers who pump out nonsense reports claiming that no one can afford to buy property – not because it’s true or useful, but simply to drum up some free publicity for the business who is the source of the misinformation. The shallowness and pointlessness of these reports is demonstrated by the results being seen in property markets, which emphatically contradict the notion that most people can’...

Negative Gearing

It’s remarkable how many politicians think that the solution to every problem that afflicts the housing market is to scrap negative gearing and make other changes to drum investors out of existence. Want to fix the rental shortage? Scrap negative gearing. Make housing more affordable? Scrap negative gearing. Facilitate the construction of a million new homes in Australia? Scrap negative gearing. The illogic of these attitudes – and the way they run counter to the truth – is quite rem...

Financial Freedom Starts at Home: Pay Off Your Mortgage In Record Time

Tune in to the latest episode of the Hotspotting Podcast with your host Tim Graham who sits down with special guest Scott Parry, founder of Crown Money. In this informative and eye-opening webinar, Scott shares his journey from starting out as a young mortgage broker to founding Crown Money, a company focused on helping people achieve their financial goals and becoming debt-free. Crown Money clients on on average pay off their mortgages within 12 years, and Scott is calling a client ever...

State of the States

One of the fundamentals of understanding real estate dynamics is remembering that real estate markets are local in nature – and they are influenced by the local economy in which they sit, far more than by national factors. Although economists and journalists often refer to “the Australian property market” and predict what will happen with “Australian property prices”, the reality is that there is no such entity as the Australian property market. Take a look at the price growth results am...

Interviews with the 1% - Kate Hill

Are you ready to take your investment journey to the next level?   Look no further, because we have exciting news to share with you! We are thrilled to announce our new Hotspotting pre-recorded interviews with some of the top 1% of Australian investors who own 5 or more properties. As you may know, in the 2020-2021 financial year, only 0.87% of investors in Australia owned 5 or more investment properties. But what do these successful investors know that the majority don't? We have sat ...

Divorce and Dollars: Managing Real Estate and Relationships with Sallyanne Hartnell

Join us on this enlightening episode of the Hotspotting podcast, where host Tim Graham welcomes Sallyanne Hartnell from Reflect Coaching. An award-nominated Relationship and Divorce Coach and podcast host of "Reflect, Reclaim & Liberate," Sallyanne is on a mission to transform the divorce experience, helping couples reorganise their lives and family dynamics post-separation with dignity and less drama. In this episode, Sallyanne sheds light on why she might be the professional "no one want...

Melbourne Property Growth

There are numerous reasons why we think Melbourne and Victoria is worthy of consideration by property investors, notwithstanding the concerted efforts by the state government and some local councils to force investors to sell up and get as far away from Victoria as possible. Melbourne and Victoria are underpinned by one of the nation’s strongest state economies, according to CommSec’s State of the States report, and there has been a notable uplift in sales activity since the start of 2024,...

First-Home Buyers vs. Investors in the Property Market

Media loves the storyline that first-home buyers are competing with wealthy investors for properties – and losing because investors apparently have a huge advantage. Like so much that’s written and spoken in news media about the housing market, it’s a work of fiction. The polar opposite is, in fact, the truth. The biggest competition for first-home buyers in the market is not investors, but home buyers other than first-time buyers. The largest cohort in the market, at any point in time...

Location Reports: Your Real Estate Game-Changer!

If you want to sell real estate, very often the greatest selling point is the location. If the location has  … a strong diverse economy creating jobs,  a steadily growing population with strong increases projected well into the future, good existing amenities and a significant spend on new infrastructure … then it has many of the credentials for capital growth. The problem for many real estate professionals - in taking advantage of growth factors like that in their location- is acces...

Webinar Replay - Why Melbourne Makes More Sense Than Perth

Want to get into a key market BEFORE prices start to take off? Feel that you may have missed the boat with media favourite Perth? In many ways, the answers to these questions are the essence of smart investing. Most property investors are herd animals, diving into markets when they read that prices have risen 15% or 20% in the past year – or 50% in the past three years.  Buying in such a market means you are likely buying at – or after – the peak of the market. The smart money would ha...

Interviews with the 1% - Arjun Paliwal of InvestorKit

Are you ready to take your investment journey to the next level? Look no further, because we have exciting news to share with you! We are thrilled to announce our new Hotspotting pre-recorded interviews with some of the top 1% of Australian investors who own 5 or more properties. As you may know, in the 2020-2021 financial year, only 0.87% of investors in Australia owned 5 or more investment properties. But what do these successful investors know that the majority don't? We have sat ...

Real Estate Influence on RBA

Part of the obsession by economists with interest rates as the only thing that matters in the housing market is the notion that the Reserve Bank spends a large amount of time discussing the housing market before deciding what to do about interest rates. As with so many things, economists are wrong about that. One of the most popular definitions of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting a different result. My own definition of insanity is the average Austral...

First Home Buyer Activity

If you tune into news media regularly, it’s easy to form the view that the prospect of young Australians buying real estate is remote, if not impossible. There are daily headlines telling us that it takes 10 or 15 years to save a deposit, or that most young Australians have given up on home ownership and that young adults are doomed to a life-time of renting. As is so often the case with mainstream media and their love of negative sensation, the reality is quite different. First home buy...

Home Building Costs

Want to know why housing affordability is so poor in this country?   The answer, in simple terms, is because the cost of building new houses is so high – ridiculously, obscenely high.   The cost of building the typical house in Australia has risen 53% in the past three years – and it now costs close to half a million dollars to build that home.   And that’s just the cost of the house. It doesn’t include the price of the land.   Who’s to blame for this situation?   Primari...

Regional vs. City Growth

We’re constantly asked at Hotspotting whether it’s better to invest in the regions or the capital cities – and whether you get higher capital growth in the outer-ring suburbs of our cities or the so-called prime inner-city locations. Now, there’s no definitive answer to questions like that, because there are so many different scenarios to consider – and, at the end of the day, it comes down to the performance of individual local markets and you simply cannot generalise. But, based on the...

Victorian Markets

The smart money in real estate buys in key markets BEFORE prices start to take off. The essence of smart investing is NOT buying in over-heated markets like Perth but targeting locations that have the credentials for long-term growth but are currently at a low point in the cycle. And right now, the location that meets those criteria better than most is Victoria, particularly Melbourne. Most property investors are herd animals, diving into markets when they read that prices have risen 1...