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Hotspotting

598 episodes - English - Latest episode: 2 days ago -

Prepare to embark on an exciting journey into the realm of hot property markets with Terry Ryder and Tim Graham! Terry & Tim from Hotspotting, are dedicated to providing the most accurate and unbiased research to help investors make informed decisions on where to buy. The Hotspotting Podcast brings you the latest data, trends, and market statistics, along with in-depth discussions on growth areas and the larger factors impacting Australia's property landscape.

Terry & Tim regularly feature special guests from around Australia to share their industry insights and expertise to help investors cut through the noise.

Whether you're a seasoned investor or a first-time buyer, this show is a must-listen for anyone looking to build their knowledge and make smarter investment choices. Terry Ryder, with over 35 years of experience as a specialist researcher and writer in residential property, offers expert insights that are completely independent and free from outside influences. Tim Graham has been a buyers agent and mortgage broker for over 13 years along with working in real estate all over the world.

Join us on the Hotspotting Podcast and discover the hottest opportunities in the Australian property market today!

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Episodes

The Top 50 Largest Cities In Australia

June 09, 2023 22:00 - 6 minutes - 9.44 MB

I wonder how many people would answer this question correctly: what’s the fastest growing city in Australia? Many people might consider Brisbane, maybe Perth, perhaps the Gold Coast. But the fastest-growing city is none of those places. The answer is the Warragul-Drouin region in Victoria. According to a new analysis of population data, Warragul-Drouin had the highest growth rate both in 2022 and in the past five years. Its population rose 3.3% in 2022 and by 20% in the past five y...

The Doubling Game - Get Unlimited Borrowing Capacity Through “The Doubling Game”

June 07, 2023 23:29 - 59 minutes - 54.6 MB

Most investors cap out at 1 investment property because they are not aware of how to replenish their borrowing capacity. This webinar will be going over strategies on how to go about tapping into unlimited borrowing capacity for the everyday investor. “The Doubling Game” is a proven system that can transform your financial trajectory, propelling you towards unprecedented success. As Andrew explains, doubling your net assets multiple times is the key to unlocking massive wealth. Imagine sta...

Prices Continue To Rise In All Major Cities

June 05, 2023 06:06 - 4 minutes - 5.64 MB

One word explains everything happening in real estate currently: shortage. There is a shortage of listings of properties for sale, which is pushing up prices at a time when economists told us to expect falling prices. In the March-April-May quarter, capital city house prices rose an average of 3%, while apartments increased 2.3%, according to CoreLogic. Every capital city and most regional markets recorded house price increases in the month May, while unit prices also rose in most areas....

We'll Work Until 70

June 05, 2023 05:58 - 3 minutes - 4.77 MB

There are two very strong and important reasons why politicians need to encourage Australians to invest in residential real estate. The first and most immediate one is that this is the best and fastest solution to the rental shortage crisis. The second and more long-term reason is that, in a country with an ageing population, we need to encourage people to provide for their own retirement through investment. Which is the polar opposite of what’s been happening throughout the past five ye...

State Politicians Have Caused The Shortage –And They’re Making It Worse

June 03, 2023 20:00 - 4 minutes - 6.78 MB

The reasons for the rental shortage crisis and the consequent increases in rents can be summarised in two words: state politicians. The policies and actions of state governments across Australia have created the situation where we have too few rental properties in the market. And, showing the remarkable capacity of politicians for stupidity, most state governments right now are working very hard on making the situation worse.

The Greens Leader’s Extraordinary Lie About Rents

June 01, 2023 20:00 - 4 minutes - 6.27 MB

The Greens attract a big enough share of votes to have an influence on federal politics because of people’s concerns about climate change and other environmental issues. But they continue to distinguish themselves with economic policies that would be extraordinarily damaging if they were ever implemented, especially their policies on the housing market.

Auction Clearance Rates Are The Highest Since Early 2022

May 30, 2023 20:00 - 3 minutes - 4.27 MB

There is a growing body of research data showing that real estate markets are much stronger than we were told to expect in 2023. Sales activity remains consistent or strong in many key markets, prices are rising in most of our capital cities and many of our regional markets, and vacancy rates remain ultra low.  The key factor driving this resilience of property markets, regardless of all those interest rate rises, is (in a word) shortage. There’s a shortage of everything that matters i...

Why We Never Find Solutions To Key Problems

May 25, 2023 20:00 - 8 minutes - 12.3 MB

The most perplexing and frustrating thing about life in Australia is that despite our good fortune, our wealth and our resources, we never seem able to find solutions to the problems that afflict our nation. Whether it’s aged care, the health system, climate change, youth crime, deaths in custody, housing affordability or the rental shortage crisis, we never get to the end game – resolving the problems by implementing viable solutions. And here’s why. It’s because all the energy an...

Buying The Dip - Why Smart Investors Are Acting Now

May 25, 2023 01:56 - 1 hour - 57.4 MB

This is The Year Of Opportunity for property investors. It presents the potential to buy well in locations with growth credentials, achieve good rental yields to offset higher interest rates and find rising income through rental increases amid historically-low vacancies. On Wednesday 24 May property investment expert Jason Paetow described why switched-on investors are “buying the dip” – setting themselves up for future growth by investing in a climate of reduced competition from buyers,...

Everyone Is Searching For Cheapies With Prospects

May 22, 2023 20:00 - 3 minutes - 5.13 MB

Now more than ever before, the issue that drives the decision-making of most real estate consumers is affordability. Over the past 12-18 months when some markets across Australia have been struggling, the ones that have remained buoyant have been the ones where home buyers and investors can find properties at attainable prices – with rising interest rates making this even more of an imperative. It’s not a coincidence that the capital cities which have remained busy and competitive recent...

At Last Some Common Sense About The Rental Market

May 20, 2023 21:00 - 8 minutes - 11.8 MB

Very low vacancy rates have been the reality for most parts of Australia for years now. And, as a consequence, we’ve seen major rent rises, causing financial hardness for more and more tenants – if they can find somewhere to rent at all. Until recently, media has reported the fact that there is a shortage of rental properties and that rents are rising fast – but there has been no analysis about why we are in this difficult situation. Now, at last, media is starting to write about the cir...

Federal Budget A Huge Disappointment For Housing

May 19, 2023 05:00 - 5 minutes - 6.86 MB

For anyone who cares about the big issues afflicting housing markets, the Federal Budget delivered on 9 May was a monumental disappointment. Many Australians – including myself – believe that the biggest issue confronting the most people in this country is the COST OF SHELTER. The big issue is the cost of buying homes and the cost of renting homes – with one key word describing the essence of the problem: SHORTAGE. We have a shortage of everything that matters in our housing markets:- * ...

NSW Regional Market Showing Early Signs Of Recovery

May 16, 2023 21:00 - 6 minutes - 8.72 MB

Some green shoots of recovery have appeared in the Regional NSW market after a year in which the market steadily declined in many locations. While locations classified as rising markets continue to be scarce, there are significant numbers of locations which have maintained consistent sales activity through the downturn period – and meaningful numbers of locations which have recently reversed the previous decline in their sales activity. At the same time, there remain a number of location...

How To Make $120,000 In A Downturn Year (Capital Gains If You Followed Our Best Buys Advice)

May 14, 2023 21:00 - 4 minutes - 5.49 MB

If you bought a property for $450,000 a year ago and, despite media rhetoric about prices falling everywhere, it was worth $570,000 today, you would be happy, right? If you made $120,000 in capital gains on a $450,000 outlay, amid the so-called national market downturn of the past 12 months, you would feel satisfied with your decision-making. How about if you’d bought a property for $620,000 a year ago and it had grown to be worth $755,000 today, regardless of interest rate rises and con...

RBA Board Members Don’t Feel The Pain Of Their Decisions

May 12, 2023 20:00 - 6 minutes - 9.04 MB

Have you ever wondered how the members of the Reserve Bank board can so nonchalantly inflict the pain of constant interest rate rises on the families of Australia? Here’s why. The members of the board which make these decisions don’t feel the pain of their decisions. They’re all multi-millionaires – high-flying corporate executives, academics or economists with massive incomes which separate them from the pain of mortgage payments.

Finding Profitable Deals In A Patchy Market

May 10, 2023 22:00 - 1 hour - 59.5 MB

Most wannabe investors are herd animals, who dive into markets when they hear there’s a boom happening. But successful investors seek opportunities when markets are off the boil. They get busy when the markets aren’t moving, interest rates are rising, media is negative and most punters are sitting on the sidelines. That’s when there’s less competition in the market and skilled investors can find the best opportunities for value-adding investments. Those investors know how to make mon...

Growing Demand For Apartments In Sydney Suburbs

May 10, 2023 08:11 - 5 minutes - 7.07 MB

There’s growing evidence of a trend in Australia’s biggest cities of rising demand for apartments, both for reasons of affordability and reasons of lifestyle. In the most expensive capital cities, more people are opting for apartments in suburbs where houses are too pricey, but apartments cost less than half the price of houses. We’re seeing it in inner-city and middle-ring suburbs in Sydney, as well as Melbourne and Brisbane. In some of these locations, typical houses may cost $2 m...

Sydney Bounces Back With Prices Rising Again

May 07, 2023 22:00 - 3 minutes - 5.1 MB

Week by week, more data emerges which confirms the general recovery in Sydney prices. We’ve seen sales activity increase in some of the Sydney markets, auction clearance rates improve, rents continue to grow and prices show increasing signs of returning to growth. Are we surprised? No, this is what we forecast, particularly after analysing the sales activity figures for the December 2022 Quarter, which showed improvement in key sections of the Greater Sydney market. Discover which area...

Sales Activity Rules As A Forward Indicator

May 06, 2023 05:00 - 5 minutes - 7.21 MB

Consumers trying to make decisions about WHETHER to buy or sell, or WHERE to sell or buy, need information that provides a clue to price movements in the future. Knowing what happened to prices last month or last year doesn’t necessarily assist, because often THE PAST DOES NOT INFORM THE FUTURE.  

The Regions Are Growing As Fast As The Capital Cities

May 05, 2023 00:00 - 3 minutes - 5.22 MB

This Exodus to Affordable Lifestyle is the internal migration of people from the big cities to smaller cities or to regional areas, propelled by technology which gives people the ability to work remotely – and therefore leave the big, expensive, congested cities and access a more affordable and more relaxed lifestyle elsewhere in Australia.  

The Best Buys Report Reflects Australia's Current Property Trends

May 02, 2023 02:56 - 5 minutes - 6.85 MB

In December 2022 we wrote: “Our view at Hotspotting is that most markets across Australia will deliver some level of price growth in 2023. There will be regional differences, as is usually the case in real estate, but the general trend will be solid increases in prices.” The emerging data from PropTrack, SQM Research, Domain and CoreLogic confirms our views, with the price data in the first three months of the year turning increasingly positive.

Strong Evidence Of Price Growth Continues To Build

April 28, 2023 01:00 - 2 minutes - 3.5 MB

Evidence of real estate revival in many of the previously struggling city markets continues to mount.  The CoreLogic figures published earlier in April showed significant improvement in a number of the capital cities of Australia, led by a big increase in Sydney house prices. The latest figures from SQM Research, published on April 18, provide further evidence of the return to price growth in cities that were previously lagging behind better performers like Perth and Adelaide. The SQM ...

Do Young Buyers Really Have It Tougher Than Their Parents?

April 26, 2023 01:00 - 4 minutes - 5.9 MB

One of the recurring themes in news media about real estate affordability is the claim that today’s young buyers have it a lot harder than their parents did when they were buying their first home, perhaps a quarter of a century ago. But, like so many things espoused in mainstream media about residential property, it really isn’t true – not when you look fully at all the factors in play and crunch the numbers. Recent research - which used data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and ...

Consumer Confidence Rises, With Optimistic Views On Property Prices

April 21, 2023 06:45 - 3 minutes - 5.18 MB

Consumer confidence, that rather intangible but nevertheless important component of the property market, is showing signs of serious improvement. And the area in which consumer sentiment has improved the most is with the outlook for property prices. It’s the latest in a series of indicators showing evidence of recovery in the major markets which have been struggling since the beginning of last year. The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Confidence Index lifted 9.4% in April, with co...

Strong Melbourne Recovery Is Already Under Way

April 19, 2023 07:12 - 5 minutes - 7.15 MB

Prospects for markets across Greater Melbourne will improve as 2023 progresses. The key factor that will drive a return to higher market activity and prices is the impact of migrants and overseas students. And this will build on the recovery which is already under way. International borders re-opened in 2022 and this has led to an influx of overseas migrants and students, with Melbourne a key destination for those coming to Australia. But it takes time for this to translate into majo...

Regional Victoria Steady – And Poised To Rise

April 19, 2023 06:30 - 6 minutes - 8.23 MB

Regional Victoria continues to display resilience and consistency in line with its reputation, although the overall trend in the market lately has been weaker. And we continue to see good prospects for specific locations in Regional Victoria, with the impact of 2026 Commonwealth Games a significant factor. Over the past six months, we have noted that the Regional Victoria market overall has weakened compared to the previous quarters – but that it had remained solid in the face of the dow...

Smaller Cities Lead on Long-term Capital Growth

April 19, 2023 01:45 - 5 minutes - 7.66 MB

There are many myths and misconceptions about what works best in real estate. There are those who believe that you need to be close to the CBD or to buy in the expensive so-called prime suburbs to get the best capital growth, but the research data shows that this is nonsense. Many Australians think that you need to buy in the capital cities, rather than regional areas, for superior price growth, but the regions have been out-performing for many years now. The old paradigm that houses o...

Economists Keep Getting It Wrong, But Won’t Admit It

April 17, 2023 02:50 - 6 minutes - 8.5 MB

Of the many definitions of “economist”, the best of them claims that an economist is someone who will tell you tomorrow why what they predicted yesterday didn’t come true today. This reality of economists constantly getting it wrong with their forecasts, but refusing to admit they were wrong, is seen pretty much every day in Australia.

Property Data Turns Positive for 2023

April 13, 2023 20:00 - 5 minutes - 7.58 MB

The property data from multiple research sources is becoming increasingly positive – not that it’s ever been as negative as mainstream media has portrayed. A more optimistic outlook for real estate markets is being seen in data on sales activity, auction clearance rates and prices. These more positive outcomes have occurred despite 10 consecutive interest rate rises by the Reserve Bank - and pre-date the RBA’s decision to pause the rate rises at its April board meeting. And it’s wo...

Positive Perth Leads The Nation

April 06, 2023 00:37 - 3 minutes - 5.19 MB

Perth is the nation’s strongest property market. At a time when the market in our biggest capital cities have been struggling, Perth has continued to thrive. Amid all the disruption that’s been afflicting property markets across Australia, Perth is still delivering strong sales activity and price growth. We’ve just completed our latest quarterly analysis of sales activity – and it shows that two-thirds of suburbs in the Greater Perth area have maintained high levels of sales activity i...

Property Data Turns More Positive

April 03, 2023 20:54 - 3 minutes - 4.99 MB

A growing number of positive indicators are emerging from the real estate industry, providing confidence that the worst may be over for those markets that have been in decline for the past 12-18 months. It’s worth noting that not everywhere in Australia has been in downturn lately. Far from it – our latest quarterly analysis of sales activity shows 20% of suburbs and towns have rising sales volumes and another 22% have consistent buyer demand.

4 Corners Exposes Its Own Poor Standards

April 02, 2023 20:00 - 4 minutes - 5.95 MB

On Monday 27 March the ABC television program 4 Corners ran an expose on its own shallowness and shabby journalistic standards. The ABC personnel who put this piece of tabloid television together probably imagined they were crafting an expose of the residential property industry. It could have been that if the ABC had adhered to quality journalistic standards – but those days are long since past, it seems. It was titled “Agents of Influence” and it purported to expose the dirty hidden ...

Media Lies About Australian Affordability

March 28, 2023 21:00 - 6 minutes - 8.23 MB

Misinformation about real estate is rife in Australia, to the extent that most of the nation’s citizens are utterly and constantly confused about what is really going on in our housing markets. But the single worst piece of misinformation of all, among the many that afflict Australian consumers daily, is a report published each year under the title of Demographia. Every year this report claims that Australia has the most unaffordable homes in the world, or close to it. And that Austral...

The Price Predictor Index - Autumn 2023

March 28, 2023 01:47 - 4 minutes - 6.48 MB

Media continues to discuss the downturn in “the Australian property market”, but our analysis confirms there are many different scenarios playing out across Australia. There really is no such entity as “the Australian property market” – because it’s normal to have, at any point in time, markets which are rising, markets which are stagnating and markets that are falling. This is certainly the case right now in Australia. This is the norm for residential real estate in this very large and ...

Qld "solution" will make shortage worse

March 24, 2023 01:42 - 5 minutes - 7.18 MB

The State Government in Queensland has been devoting itself recently to demonstrating why Australia has a rental shortage crisis. Vacancy rates are the lowest ever recorded and rents are rising in most markets across the nation - because the people who supply rental properties have been consistently and systematically discouraged by the actions of politicians. The leadership of the Queensland Government provide headline examples of the problems.

Is the rent crisis in Australia softening?

March 13, 2023 21:00 - 4 minutes - 5.65 MB

Recently there have been media headlines along the lines of “Rental crisis shows no sign of softening”, as if there was an expectation that vacancies should be rising and rents easing. Of course there are no signs of the rental shortage crisis softening. It’s going to get considerably worse before it gets better. There are few things in life, or in real estate for that matter, that are sure things – but this is an absolute certainty. The rental shortage crisis WILL get worse, from the...

Interest Rates Survey

March 12, 2023 20:00 - 3 minutes - 5.32 MB

The good news about interest rates is that it appears we are at, or near, the end of the cycle of rising mortgage rates. That’s if you can believe the words of the Reserve Bank Governor, Philip Lowe. But of course, we can’t believe him because he’s the guy who kept telling us he wouldn’t be lifting interest rates before 2024, just months before he started lifting interest rates 10 months in a row. That’s Philip Lowe who earns over $1 million a year and bought his Sydney home with a spe...

Growth Leader Queensland Presents Many Good Regional Markets

March 07, 2023 01:01 - 3 minutes - 5.28 MB

One of the best ways to be sure that a property market will be a good performer long-term is to confirm that it’s under-pinned by a strong local economy. I believe property markets are local in nature and that the strength or otherwise of property markets depends largely on events in their local economies. So we at Hotspotting are always interested in the economic activity that’s happening in the background, in assessing property markets. Is the local economy strong and diversified? I...

Super Savings Under Threat?

March 03, 2023 21:00 - 7 minutes - 10.2 MB

It’s become abundantly and alarmingly clear that the Federal Government is coming for us with new taxes on real estate and superannuation. Headed by Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers, the Government clearly has plans for more and higher taxes on real estate, with not even the family home safe from the intrusion of capital gains tax. Asked repeatedly by various media representatives to rule out dumping a tax on the family home, Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers repeatedly refused to do so. Th...

Property Markets Strengthening

March 02, 2023 22:34 - 6 minutes - 9.22 MB

There is a growing body of evidence that property market conditions are strengthening. Against a backdrop of an ever-tightening rental market and increasing rents, there are signs of rising buyer activity and stronger prices. Auction clearance rates are showing steady improvement in recent weeks and a number of research entities are recording price growth, in defiance of high inflation, rising interest rates and relentlessly negative media. The more positive data began with the rel...

Savvy Investors Target Brisbane

March 01, 2023 08:30 - 5 minutes - 7.91 MB

Brisbane and Queensland are among the biggest targets for property investors in 2023 - and for very good reasons. In many respects, when it comes to the key factors that drive real estate markets forward, all roads lead to Queensland. Investors seeking the best place to put their money want to see a strong economy, they want to know that the population is growing, that big money is being spent on new infrastructure and that there is growing focus on the region they’re targeting. They a...

Exodus To Affordable Lifestyle - The trend continues

February 15, 2023 01:21 - 5 minutes - 7.07 MB

The core population trend which has seen large numbers of people leave the biggest cities and move to smaller cities or to regional areas has been happening for many years. The official population data shows that Sydney has been losing population to other parts of Australia for the past 10 years and Melbourne has been losing to internal migration for the past five or six years. The Covid lockdown period made this more visible and gave it extra momentum, but it certainly wasn’t the drivin...

Vacancy Rates Keep Falling

February 10, 2023 21:00 - 3 minutes - 5.4 MB

The situation for tenants across Australia keeps getting worse, because vacancy rates keep falling – and that means rents will keep rising. The latest report from domain.com.au finds that the national vacancy rate in January was 0.8%, the lowest on record. The other major source of data on vacancy rate, SQM Research, has a similar figure. Two of our capital cities, Perth and Adelaide, have vacancy rates of just 0.3% - and there are now only two cities with vacancy rates above 1% - Darw...

Investor Opportunities in 2023

February 08, 2023 03:27 - 1 hour - 56.9 MB

Australian property markets abound with opportunities for real estate investors in 2023. Consumers can be forgiven for not realising that, given the sensationally negative nature of media coverage of housing markets. But, right now, the equation for property investors seeking opportunities is particularly strong. Consider these realities:- • Many markets are less competitive than before, with buyers having the upper hand in negotiations. • Vacancies across Australia are the lowe...

Who's Really To Blame?

February 05, 2023 20:00 - 4 minutes - 6.51 MB

Have you ever wondered why we NEVER achieve solutions to the biggest real estate issues confronting Australia. Housing affordability has been debated in the country for decades and every year it gets worse. The rental shortage has been a reality for years and has attracted a lot of media attention and much political rhetoric, but vacancies remain at record lows and rents keep rising, with no resolution in sight. And there’s a very good reason why solutions are never found to these core...

SQM Price Data Indicates Prices Are Rising

February 04, 2023 20:00 - 4 minutes - 6.5 MB

There is a growing body of evidence that the worst of the downturn has passed and there are significant numbers of locations across Australia where prices are now rising. We recently saw the publication of the latest price report from domain.com.au, which recorded growth in the median house prices of five of the eight capital cities in the December Quarter. Now the latest Weekly Prices Index from SQM Research has provided more substance to the trend of positive price trends in a growing ...

Foreign Investors Are Not The Problem

February 03, 2023 20:00 - 5 minutes - 6.96 MB

The general tactic of politicians when they haven’t got a clue how to resolve an issue – which is most of the time – but want to give the appearance of doing something, is to blame an unpopular minority for the problem. A very popular choice when it comes to housing affordability issues is foreign investors. You can slam foreign investors without any direct electoral consequences, because foreign investors don’t vote in Australian elections. As politicians, they can present themselves ...

Adelaide Remains A Shining Star

February 03, 2023 02:15 - 4 minutes - 5.51 MB

While much of the mainstream media commentary on the property market focuses on the highs and lows of the big capital cities, it was Australia’s smaller capital cities which shone in 2022 – and they continue to do so in 2023. Adelaide, in particular, is one of those shining stars. Overall, Adelaide is a story of continuing high sales activity and on-going price growth, remaining generally one of the strongest markets in the country. Indeed, the 2023 edition of the Rising Stars report w...

Change The Emphasis About Prices

January 29, 2023 21:00 - 3 minutes - 4.14 MB

The reality of statistics is that you can use them to tell any story you like. This reality impacts real estate consumers every day. You can take any set of figures about house prices and use them to tell a positive story or a negative one, depending on your viewpoint. Media, usually, will choose the negative option – and the people who feed press releases to journalists, seeking publicity for themselves, know that sensational negatives get more publicity than balanced analysis of proper...

Don't Pay a Loyalty Tax On Your Mortgage

January 28, 2023 21:00 - 2 minutes - 4.09 MB

If you’re a long-term customer of a major bank with a mortgage and you’re paying their standard mortgage rate, then you’re likely paying a loyalty tax. That’s because new customers to your bank will be offered a lower interest rate than the one being paid by the bank’s longer-term customers. There are many things about the behaviour of the major banks that are disturbing - but few things annoy me more than their policy of providing the best loan deals to new customers, while refusing to ...