About

This is an information site that will categorise and track changes in the Australian Property Market.

So, why on earth would someone do a project like this?

Well, I have an interest in Macro-Economics – but from the point of view of the lay-person, as I myself am not a professional economist (nor do I want to be!), though I do write/blog on the matter (see Angles on Economics, if you are interested on what I have to say!)

And, because I exist (!) and I have a young family, housing is an important part of my life – as it is for anyone, really!

After the Global Financial Crisis hit (and is still with us, I contest!) I started to notice a change in the number of houses for sale in my area: the Sydney, Central Coast and Newcastle Areas of the Australian State of New South Wales. Particularly, there were more houses for sale and rent/lease than I had even noticed/remembered previously. What was going on?

So I decided that I would start to track the stats of housing supply – partly as it has a major impact on the price of housing/property, which is another interest of mine.

Hence, this mini-project: my spreadsheet-based data-collection has become something I have decided to share with other people, for their interest.

It is a “mini-project”, really, and will be limited to the acquisition and charting of stats from the major Australian  (and other relevant) websites, such as number of properties for sale, number of rentals available, trends of reductions in asking prices and rental rates, etc.

Make no mistake – I intend for this site to be easy to access, navigate and manage, and I will attempt to only ever use information that is available to the general public – that is, information from the Internet that is free! Only difference is that i’m keeping a simple database, with associated charts that “keep track” of things…and I will present them here for you, the interested public!

Hopefully this site will be updated, say, weekly; so that I, and others who are interested, can get ideas new trends much as they arise, rather than every 3 months or so.

My intention is to present supply stats on the Australian Property Market as a whole:

i) Australia as a whole

ii) The Australian States and Territories,

iii) And, eventually, Australian regions

iv) Maybe even individual suburbs one day!

Be aware that the purpose of this project is to provide interesting, easily accessible and simple information that provides basic trends for the supply-side the Australian Property Market – that is, the purpose is to be indicative and up-to-date of what is occurring but not necessarily to be representative and statistically sound!

That being said, hopefully just by collecting as much information from as many sources as I can will go some way towards having actual statistical credibility and representativeness.

Commenting and interpretation of data will be limited, and largely absent, except where I consider something to be particularly noteworthy – provided links to other websites and commentators will do a lot better than I can anyway!

This is really a project in its infancy – i’m sure lots will change as I learn more, and as visitors to the site interact, ask for specific information, etc.

And, finally, if my small “competitive” contribution to property stats in Australia can compel the major data providers to provide more of the sort of information that people want, in the formats they want it, then I consider that I have truly achieved something of some value. And who knows? Maybe more might one day come of this project, its approach and its methods?

So, please enjoy, interact, comment, request certain charts, suggest further easily accessible and free information (or whatever) and i’ll see what I can do!

Regards and Thanks for Visiting,

Stewart

FOUNDER