Daily Buzz: Tuesday, 23 July
By
PropertyBuzz, your daily dose of property news.
A Brisbane agent has been jailed for stealing $1.4 million from clients, auction clearance rates stay steady, and what can Australians do to manage mortgage stress?
Welcome to Property Buzz! I’m Orana Durney-Benson.
Today is Tuesday, the 23rd of July, and a Brisbane real estate agent has been sentenced to over seven years of jail time after pleading guilty to two counts of fraud.
– The court found that the agent had misappropriated over $1.4 million from trust accounts of two real estate agencies he worked at between November 2020 and May 2022, with the money primarily used for gambling.
– To cover up his actions, the agent forged signatures, created false data entries, and secretly transferred winnings and loans back into the accounts.
– The Queensland Office of Fair Trading has warned gambling providers to double down on harm minimisation measures, and warned real estate agents that taking money from trust accounts is a crime that will be met with consequences.
Looking over to the auction market, volumes increased by over 14 per cent last week, with over 1700 properties going under the hammer.
– The combined capitals clearance rate lifted slightly to over 71 per cent, with Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide seeing clearance rates over 70 per cent.
– In Melbourne, just 66 per cent of auctions ended with a sale, while the clearance rate was similarly low in Canberra at just 60 per cent.
– Auction volumes are expected to rise to around 2,000 in the coming weeks.
And as interest rates remain high, comparison website Finder has revealed 3 tips for managing mortgage stress.
– First, mortgage-holders were advised to go through their monthly expenses with a fine-toothed comb to eliminate any remaining non-essential expenses.
– Second, homeowners were advised to switch over to an interest-only loan for a year or two to provide short-term breathing room while waiting for interest rates to fall.
– And finally, Finder recommended using any income boosters at your disposal, from renting out underutilised space, to taking up weekend ridesharing gigs.
That’s all for today.
See you again tomorrow, the 24th of July, for your daily dose of Property Buzz.
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