The housing market still has some way to go before the current boom is over, according to Kieran Trass at Hybrid Consulting.
Monday, April 5th 2004, 2:09AM
by The Landlord
"I don’t see values dropping. In fact, they seem to be strengthening," Trass says, adding that he expects the next lot of figures from Quotable Value should confirm that.
Quotable Value’s latest figures showed its house price index jumped 21.9% in 2003, although it slowed to a 4.9% increase in the December quarter compared with the September quarter’s 7.3% increase.
As well, listings are increasing and sales volumes remain strong. "A lot of investors are still keen to buy, although it’s getting very difficult to buy cash-flow positive properties," he says. "At the end of a boom, there are always a lot of naïve investors who are prepared to forego cash flow for their expected capital gain."