Last week the Federal Government knocked back the NSW State Governments request for funding assistance for the North-West rail. They suggested more buses on that route.  Anyone that has driven down the M2 in peak hour (or taken 45 minutes to travel 3 kilometres down Castle Hill Road) can tell you the issue is about getting traffic off the road, not putting more buses on it! With more land being released for housing in the north-west it is only going to continue to get worse. The Federal Gove...

This years federal budget has failed to address the issues around housing supply, affordability or the oversized taxes related to new housing development and purchasing. Will the government ever get their acts together on these issues? or are they instead protecting their revenue cash cow and crippling the housing industry and this country at the same time?    ...

I am sure anyone with a mortgage is incredibly frustrated at the big banks consistently poort treatment of their customers. Yes, we appreciate that the cost of funds has increased, but given the banks are still making record profits, doesnt that mean they have found other ways to recoup that money? In fact the banks have increased their margin over RBA rates by 1.45% in recent years, meaning they are more than able to pass on the full cuts without a problem, just as they have for deposit holde...

Evidence in other states suggests it would. REINSW said its research showed that when property transfer taxes were cut in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, government revenues actually increased. Between 2003 and 2006, WA cut property transfer duties by 0.9 per cent, yet related revenues rose by $706 million. Similarly in the NT, property transfer rates were cut by 0.45 per cent and resulted in an increase of $20 million in related revenue – a rise of 20 per cent. Stamp duty in ...

There was a modest increase in auction activity in Sydney over the weekend, new data from Australian Property Monitors (APM) has revealed. According to APM, 60.3 per cent of properties cleared in Sydney over the weekend – slightly higher than the 56.4 per cent recorded this time last week. Melbourne booked a 56.5 per cent clearance rate on Saturday, based on 327 reported auctions. This was slightly lower than the 57.4 per cent recorded the weekend earlier. The most expensive property to go u...