Daily Buzz: Saturday, 14 October
By
PropertyBuzz, your daily dose of property news.
Perth property managers trust the count withdrawals could lead to jail time; Housing Australia takes its very first steps; and why a quiet week isn’t a worry for the spring selling season. And what a spring it is right now, a cracking day outside here in Sydney.
Welcome to PropertyBuzz. I’m Phil Tarrant, your host. Today, it’s a Saturday, the 14th of October and here we go.
A former North Perth property manager has been convicted of unlawfully withdrawing $140,000 from trust accounts between 2020 and 2022. You’d be surprised how often this happens folks. She pleaded guilty to all 141 charges and was sentenced to 14 months imprisonment, suspended for two years in order to pay court costs. You heard it, $716.30. Consumer Protection Commissioner Trish Blake led the action under the Real Estate and Business Agents Act, stating that the case sends a strong message. I’d like to think so, a strong message against agents unlawfully taking clients’ money. Shouldn’t happen. It’s the reason why we have trust accounts. Prior to 2020, the penalty for such an offence in Western Australia is a maximum fine of $3,000. This has been increased to a fine of $25,000 or two years imprisonment. Here we go. It surprises me that there’s still stuff still happens today.
The National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation has been replaced by Housing Australia, which is a new government body with expanded responsibilities. Here we go. Another new government body. I wonder how this one will play out. Housing Australia will continue to deliver the Home Guarantee Scheme, Affordable Housing Bond Aggregator and National Housing Infrastructure Facility, previously managed by the NHFIC. Government loves acronyms, people. The new agency will support the delivery of 40,000 more social and affordable homes under the Housing Australia Fund and National Housing Accord, which is a big focus of the current government, obviously, as we all know. Despite the change, the entity’s legal name and ABM will remain the same. Lots of details here. Stay with me. With changes made to the font and branding, website and email addresses. I hope that’s the detail you really need to know. All we need to know, they’re working on housing affordability.
Auction activity across the country is expected to slightly decrease this week, with 2,371 homes set to go under the hammer, a 3.1 decrease from last year. I obsess myself over auction results. It tells me what’s going on. Despite the decrease, this activity is 36.2% higher than the same time last year. Melbourne remains the biggest auction market, while Sydney’s auction activity is expected to rise by 5.5% this week, with 500, 981 homes scheduled for auction. CoreLogic predicts auction activity continue trending higher in the coming weeks, with 2,500 auctions scheduled for next week. It’s the spring selling season. Don’t panic. There’s lots of activity.
That’s Property Buzz for today. See you again next week for your daily dose of Property Buzz.
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