Daily Buzz: Friday, 9 August
By
PropertyBuzz, your daily dose of property news.
Lawyers lead the way in property transactions, rent rises hit a ceiling, and another agent fined for trust account abuse.
Welcome to Property Buzz! I’m Juliet Helmke. Today is Friday, 09 August.
New research has revealed that while a third of Australians report challenges in dealing with real estate agents, the vast majority rank their experience dealing with conveyoncers or solicitors highly.
– According to InfoTrack’s 2024 State of Real Estate Report, 86 per cent of Australian property buyers and sellers had a good experience with their solicitor or conveyancer during the highly stressful transaction process.
– Of all the parties involved with a property sale, respondents identified real estate agents as the most challenging. Lenders or financial institutions and the other buyer or seller consecutively followed. In contrast, lawyers and conveyancers led the way in client satisfaction throughout a property transaction.
– Even so, respondents said that lawyers could do a better job of communicating throughout the sales process, with clients looking for greater support in understanding the legal implications of a property sale or purchase, as well as a walkthrough of the timeline.
– Looking at the rental market, CoreLogic has reported that July 2024 saw the slowest rent rises in four years, with national rents increasing by only 0.1 per cent. The annual rental growth was 7.8 per cent, the slowest in three years.
– Despite the slow growth, rents are still at record highs. The median weekly rental payment has increased by approximately $180 over the past five years, indicating that stagnating rents might be cold comfort for tenants already pushed to their limits.
– Rental prices declined in Sydney, Brisbane, and Hobart, while Adelaide, Melbourne, and Perth saw moderate rises. Darwin and Canberra remained flat.
– Due to high rents, tenants are seeking alternatives like shared housing, relocation, or buying their own homes. Lending to first-home buyers rose 1.5 per cent to $5.3 billion in June.
– And the spate of fines for trust account abuse continues in Victoria, with the director of an agency in Melbourne’s west fined $1,000 for withdrawing over $30,000 from the trust account of his business, Hilton Real Estate, which was also fined $1,000.
– The withdrawals occurred between March and April 2022, though the director was found to have soon repaid the money and no claims have been made by affected customers. Due to the infringements, the business director was prohibited from operating a sales trust account until December this year.
– Other recent cases include a Melbourne agent sentenced to prison and ordered to pay compensation for $180,000 worth of withdrawals, and agents in NSW and Queensland who were also prosecuted for trust account abuse.
That’s Property Buzz for today.
See you again tomorrow, 10 August, for your daily dose of Property Buzz.
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