My 2 cents worth....I started off being smart in 2000 and bought all these cheap little properties....just because I could, and intended to hold for many years into retirement.....no one else seemed to be interested in property at the time......then by 2004 I was being offered some wonderful figures ....so I sold half of them....and lets say I made some very good profits....
I did take out about 1/3rd of my stocks by Dec 07....with some more nice profits.....but I should have taken the lot out...in hindsight.....
I have had the feeling/ intuition that we were heading back into another little property boom......but look at this in Melbourne....its too much and too soon...
now my advice.....be in a position to borrow funds...take advantage of the low interest rates and lock in at around 5%.....if that means getting your tax in order early...so its ready for the bank or the broker...
you borrow as much as you need, being conservative, when the rates are low...
oh and have cash in the kitty for the rainy days...that will come...or ready for an opportunity.....
extract from the article........
Record auction rate sparks growing concernChris Vedelago
June 28, 2009
MELBOURNE'S auction clearance rate has held its ground at the second-highest level on record, with this latest performance fuelling speculation the market could be heating up too much, too fast.
The Real Estate Institute of Victoria reports this week's clearance rate was 86 per cent for 425 auctions. The results of another 31 scheduled auctions were unreported.
This is the seventh consecutive week when the clearance rate has been above 80 per cent, while private sale transactions have continued to surge ahead of even 2007 levels.
"There's no doubt that consumers are showing strong confidence in Melbourne's property market, judging by the results we're seeing for both auctions and private sales," said REIV chief executive Enzo Raimondo.
The overall sales performance, and increasingly common reports of prices being achieved well above reserve, is sparking plenty of confusion and some concern.
"It's not just supply and demand any more. You look at some sales and people are paying these prices with seemingly no logic behind the price they pay …
they're buying properties just because they can afford to," said buyer's advocate Michael Ramsay.
In Brunswick, a crowd of about 400 watched, stunned, as the sale price of 10 Charles Street soared 61 per cent — or nearly $1 million — above its reserve.
Intense competition between four bidders saw the 1525-square-metre block sell for $2.58 million against a reserve of $1.6 million. Barry Plant real estate quoted the property at $1.5 million to $1.6 million.
http://business.theage.com.au/busine...0627-d0k5.html