Product Newsletter 1 May 2009

The beauty of property investing is that if this house has a market value today of say $400,000, you can reasonably expect that this value should double in 7-10 years. And if it only costs an investor $10,000 out-of-pocket, then the payoff is $390,000. Yippee!

FIXED INTEREST RATES MOVING UP

The bottom of the interest rate cycle has been reached.

While the cash rates are still expected to drop slightly over the next few months, the banks commenced the rise in fixed rates loans in the week ending Friday 24 April.

If you still haven’t locked in your facilities, don’t delay any longer.


INVESTORS’ CLUB - 14% OF TAXPAYERS


The Australian Taxation Office, in its report Taxation Statistics 2006-07, says that 13.6% of personal taxpayers own an investment property

So you are a member of an exclusive club, and investors collectively own one third of all housing accommodation.

There are 11.8 million taxpayers, so the membership of your club totals 1,600,000.

However many investors are just starting out, as only 17.5% of club members own more that one investment property.


RETIREMENT CONFIDENCE AT ALL TIME LOW

In the USA, workers and retirees have simply lost confidence in their ability to either fund a comfortable retirement or enjoy a financially secure retirement, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute's 19th annual retirement confidence survey released in April.

Only 13% of those in work say they are "very confident" about having enough money for retirement, according to the survey. That's the lowest response since 1993, and half of the 27% response in 2007 -- just two years ago.

And almost half - 44% of all employees - are either "not at all" or "not too" confident about having a secure retirement.

Of those already retired, only 20% are very confident about having a financially secure retirement.

If you want help to explore options to avoid this nasty situation, contact me – Bernard Kelly – anytime. My email is admin@retirelaughing.com


HOUSING IS RESILIENT

Here are three paragraphs in a recent speech by Rory Robertson (Macquarie Bank's interest rate strategist) that might surprise you:"Between June 1990 and June 1992, full-time employment fell by 7%, and then took a full three years to get back to where it started. So, how far did home prices fall?

Actually, they didn't. Average house prices across Australia's state capitals rose - not fell - by about 2% per annum in nominal terms as that early-1990s recession and jobs disaster unfolded."It turns out that the downward pressure on home prices from shrinking employment in the early-1990s recession was more than offset by upward pressure on home prices from the halving of mortgage rates, from a record 17% in 1989 to 8.75% in 2003."I have no idea if average Australian house prices will fall somewhat or rise over the next five years.

“But those with their eyes wide open can see that sharply lower mortgage rates this time around - lower than most Australian home buyers ever dared to dream - already are having a strongly supportive effect on housing markets."

If you would like me – Bernard Kelly - to help you explore options to provide for your retirement via an investment property portfolio, contact me anytime. My email is admin@retirelaughing.com