yes, it will add ten to fifteen dollars a week more rent in my part of the world and imagine if your townhouse and another with out in the same complex were to be vacant at the same time, most people will take the airconditioned one every time.

For a start , Gold coast properties suddenly come of age and so prices through the boom , personally would say way too of age to be realistic .
Only 10 yrs ago those 5 million numbers would have been 5 or 600k – if they could sell them . So you have roughly an 800% rise instead of the normal 100 – 150% .  Depending on the place of course but it should only be 2 million anyway , well sort off !

And the same along many coastal areas leaving owners selling now being very out there in their asking price to begin with.

So it becomes really tricky because allot in my area for example have dropped 30 or 40 % too before they've sold but is that gap the sellers just beginning with ridiculous prices or is it the times ?
Many in my cases were just starting with ridiculous prices which anybody could have told them they aren't going to get .

The 480 home , most likely 80-140 k depending on what it is only 10 years ago and again like a 400% or 500% increase when they are only suppose to double within that time and that has happened across Australia .

So the realistic price of that home is actually only the 280 anyway get my drift ? So has it really dropped 40% and do things like this mean they all will drop 40% ?

This is the real cloudy area for me and one reason I personally think 40% is actually a highly viable estimate !

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Mister, with all due respect,what you are saying is total speculation on your behalf, and frankly the figures you are quoting you are just pulling out of thin air. i would venture the home for $480,000  would have been new and probably sold within two years , maybe five at the oldest. $280,000 for a four bedroom home in that area is ridiculous and i refer back to my original post, that something is just not right with that sale and most certainly can not be considered normal. I would also, and this time speculation on my behalf, say the figures for the 5 million being only 5-600k ten years ago is a little pessimistic (or is that optimistic).  I can not see a fall 40% happening, in fact the ten percent JP Morgan are quoting kind of sticks in my throat as well. Per haps some areas may see ten percent but certainly not on a whole. Maybe I just want to be positive in my little world instead of having to swallow all the negativity be thrown around with almost joyous abandon.

but once again , i have to say, i like to spend my time bottom dwelling in the market place where it's pretty safe.

Hey tony,

As far as the builders go i can only comment on SE QLD , i certainly can't claim to have any knowledge of the Melbourne scene. It's never good to watch anybody lose their livlihood, so here's hoping it stays that way down your neck of the woods.

I believe that in the low end of the market, where i happily spend my time, the prices have stopped dropping and even increased over the last year. I don't know the market your are looking at Tony, but I believe in going with your gut more than listening to the barrage of differing opinions from "the experts". It's seems pretty much a given rates will drop tomorrow and yes, i can not stress how the FHOG has kept the low end market bouyant over the last few months.You sound like you have a pretty good hold on whats happening around you, so do your homework and you should be fine.

And hey, just refer to it as "The R word" I'll know what tour talking about.

Tony B,
you can't be looking to hard then my friend, there are plenty of builders going down the gurgler -even as we speak. My wife works for a very large company that supllies the building trade and just about everyday she brings homes tales of woe. now having said that, i don't think anybody really knows where we are heading or whats going to happen, plenty of experts offering opinions and there are plenty of differing opinions being offered. I remember more than one "expert" this time last year warning of 12% rates, and petrol $2 per litre.

As for Williams talk on 5.5 million dollar mansions drop two million, well thats life in the top end. I just hope that one day i have the money to play in that end of the market.The house at Upper coomera bought for 480k sold for 280k, i am sorry but that has got to have something more to it, the agent that let it sell at that price should be lined up against a wall and shot first off, I know that area like the back of my hand, deal in those suburbs everyday with investors and no one is dropping 40% (can't speak for mermaid beach, i don't really know that area) and in fact for the lower end market such as the townhouses the area has shown growth. the PDS live website shows the median growth for upper coomera to have stalled but not dropped, the number of sales has plummeted but the pricing is relatively stable. If someone over extends and ends up waist deep in the you know what, the market can't be held accountable, the banks sure!! but not the market.

there is a lot of rubbish talked in the media – good news dosen't sell newspapers i am afraid – and on some forums , most of it second hand info passed down through many ears and shapeshifting each time. All i can say is do your homework, it's not hard to do and you should be able to steer clear of trouble.