Run A Muck

Some of us from DQ Real Estate recently took part in Run a Muck over at the Belvoir Estate in the beautiful Swan Valley. This event was a charity 5km obstacle race where Team DQ worked hard to get over obstacles like cargo nets, walls, giant bouncy castles and through massive trenches filled with mud followed by river crossings. Even our licensee and directors got stuck up to their knees in mud! Real estate presents lots of challenges for us to navigate every day and motivating each other through this muddy event will definitely help us work well as a team back in the DQ office.

Hot Tips To Keep Cool

Every Summer, WA residents struggle with the blistering heat but blasting the air conditioner is not a practical option when you’re trying to keep electric costs down. But here are some great tips to get you through the sweltering nights and scorching summer days.

Whilst you’re at work during the week or out sun-baking on the weekends, the heat throughout the day streams through your unprotected windows heating up the whole house for when you return home. Try and shade your north and west facing windows with blinds or curtains that block out the sun. Even outside you can protect your windows with pergolas, awnings and thick foliage.

Make sure you keep your doors and windows closed during the day and once the evenings start to cool, open up the house to let the cooler air breeze through.  If you’re worried about insects or the safety of your home, have a lockable security mesh door that still allows cool air through the house.

Fans cost little to run so try it before pumping the AC. If it is still too hot, have both the fan and AC on to circulate cool air faster. To save electricity and money, have the air conditioner running at 24 - 26C. Setting your thermostat just 1C colder can make your power bills noticeably higher.

Even turning off electrical appliances by the plug when they are not in use will reduce the temperature in your home as they are still producing heat, items such as; T.V’s, computers, laptops etc.

The little things like drinking more water, running cold water on your wrists every few hours or even a spray bottle will help keep you cool cheaply. Just enjoying the summer will certainly make it fun, swimming in the pool, playing at the beach and BBQ’s in the garden to get out of the hot kitchen.

A New Year - A New Landscape

A shift towards smaller lots are evident in all final subdivision approval lots in greater Perth, lots under 320m/2 have increased by 15.3% since 2006/2007 and represent 27.1% of the market.  Approximately 45% of lots for 2012-2103 are in the 320 – 499 m/2 range. Only 16.6% of lots measure in between 500-599 m/2, a decline of 10.9% from 27.5%, which use to be commonly referred to as the average sized lot in 2006/7.

The recent changes to the R Codes indicate how the minimum and average lot sizes have changed lowering the minimum lot size for development. The R20 code changed from 440m/2 to 350m/2 with an average lot size requirement of 450m/2 as appose to 500m/2.

The most significant R code change must notably be the introduction of the new R80 with a minimum lot size of 100m/2 and an average lot size of a mere 120m/2!

Here are just some more popular R codes changes:

R30 Minimum 260m/2 Average 300m/2

R40 Minimum 180m/2 Average 220m/2

R60 Minimum 120m/2 Average 150m/2

For more details on the R Code Changes feel free to contact us.

Looking into the future it’s not just the lot sizes that are shrinking; mortgage rates have been and have remained at an all time low, improving affordability despite rising property prices. Unlike lot sizes that are tipped to continue to trend down, interest rates and stock levels could be rising towards the middle of next year and out towards 2014-2015. The jump in headline inflation in the September quarter was a bit faster than the local debt market had been expecting, but underlying measures are still in the lower half of RBA’s 2-3% medium-term target. The RBA will be keeping a close eye on the movements of the Australian dollar in the new year.

With the right planning, perhaps aspirational plans to upgrade could be well outlived in 2014. As of August WA Upgrader Housing finance commitments were up 14.3% year on year. We expect astute sellers may cautiously take advantage of the current demand on prices with listings moving in a narrow band and a general softening in the rental market becoming a catalyst for a changing market towards the latter part of the year.

The key indicators for investors remain strong, with increased development activity, rising record population growth, encouraged first home buyer activity and Perth dwelling construction to seven year highs. The modern landscape for property is changing with more of a focus on energy efficient building designs, communication networks, close to employment opportunities, regional and local transport, community wellbeing, and access to jobs, services and learning. Distinctive designs, with vibrant and flexible well designed streetscapes and outstanding public places are taking precedent in premium land development communities.

Three bedrooms homes accounted for nearly 45% of the Perth market for houses and multi residential sales with just over 40% of the proportion of sales having been for four bedroom homes and 35% multi residential, according to REIWA’s Sept quarter data.  An emerging trend is a shift to units with dwelling commencements having increased by some 76% across the Perth Metropolitan region in 2012-13.

The September quarter market data indicated early improvement in demand for the $700-800,000 price ranges which has in recent weeks become more evident. Wanneroo South and North West submarkets showed increased activity with the North West having the largest share of the outer markets with an estimated 20% of Perth’s house sales for 2012-2013.

The City of Wanneroo is forecast to grow by about 9000 people per annum to 2021.

Current data from the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia show that sales turnover lifted during both October and November pushing Perth’s median house price to a new record. 
The data show sales had returned to normal levels and indicate that for the three months to November Perth’s median house price climbed to around $530,000 - $535,000, up from the previous peak of $525,000 on the June quarter.

The quarterly median for the three months to November was up by almost 4% and due mainly to the composition of sales during this period after strong first home buyer activity pulled the median house price down to $510,000 in the September quarter. 


The data also show that in some of the coastal sub regions, such as parts of Wanneroo, Joondalup and in Rockingham there was a weakening in sales activity that had emerged through the month of November. 
While this retraction in sales is only modest at around 2 to 3% on the previous month, a drop in listings also in these areas, which suggests that the fall in sales activity has nothing to do with oversupply, accompanies it. 


Listings have remained stable for the last few weeks with a slight drop in dwellings.

The median rent in the metropolitan area has dropped by just over 2% over the last three months to $460 across the board. This now breaks down to typical rents for houses coming in at around $470 per week and for units and apartments at around $450 per week.

Current REIWA data show Rental listings may have reached their peak this week with a drop of 1% after a solid growth of 19% over the last two months.

With a new landscape, 2014 could prove to be a significant year.

On behalf of the team at DQ, I would like to thank all our past and future clients for recommending us and supporting us and would like to wish you and your families peace hope and joy this Christmas celebrating the New Year!

Smoke Alarms

Do you know how to minimise the risk of fire to your family at home?

Under section 2.16 of your lease, a tenant has the responsibility of taking reasonable steps to regularly check and test if these devices are in good working order, and to immediately report to your property manager if they are not.

All properties leased and sold must now have hard wired smoke alarms, which have a maximum life of 10 years before they require replacement. If the unit starts beeping don’t detach the cover to stop it, as the beeping means the internal 9V battery will need to be replaced straight away to help ensure your safety in the event of a fire. The green light in the unit indicates that the unit is connected to the mains power.

The WA Department of Fire and Emergency Services recommends that regular testing of a smoke alarm be undertaken no less than once per month to check that the battery and the alarm sounder are working. It is also a good time for everyone at home to listen and learn the sound the alarm makes. The Department recommends that the battery is replaced once per year so it may be worthwhile fitting a new one when you move in to your home and again on the anniversary each year.

If you have any queries please give your Portfolio Manager a call!

Thank you for your support

Thank you to all our most valued clients, for partnering with us this year. 

Please take a moment to watch this video to see what your partnership has allowed us to achieve through our charitable organisation, DQ Foundation.

REIWA Awards Night

We are very proud to congratulate our award winning team at this year’s REIWA Awards Night.

Stephen Humble achieved a new milestone breaking through to the $10-$15 Million Dollar Club award, sharing this milestone achievement award with Darran Deacon who again claimed this prestigious category award, well done Darran. Johann Dique had again been awarded the $16 - $20 Million Dollar Club category with Team Rolt, David and Marina Rolt, taking out the offices top award with an outstanding $31 - $34 Million Dollar Club award, an incredible achievement evident of the hard work and professionalism in assisting home sellers and buyers throughout the year.

Whilst it is fantastic for our whole sales team to have received remarkable industry recognition we could not have done this without partnering with you, our administration, support and property management teams. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the property owners who partnered beside us and had great success throughout 2012 – 2013. DQ Real Estate looks forward to bring you Peace from the outset, Hope for an ideal result and the Joy of having and expert walk the journey with you.

Thank you for supporting us and recommending us, from your team at DQ. 

Set to rise

Capital growth expectations over the next 12 months improved at all price points for established houses and apartments. NAB’s view of the market takes into account rising unemployment expecting to dampen house price growth, however NAB sees capital city house prices are set to rise by 3½% in the year to September 2014 and 3% in the year to September 2015.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics released the latest CPI figures for the September quarter this week. Perth is now second only to Darwin (3.4%) with the nation’s highest inflation rate.

At 2.6% for September this indicates Perth’s annual inflation rate is double the previous June quarter rise for Perth. The interest rate could well be on the move again, financial professionals may be holding out for a rate cut whilst other property professionals are tipping a rise towards the middle part of next year.

Listings continue to trend down taking the average selling days from 50 in the June quarter to 49 in the September quarter.

Reiwa.com data indicates the overall market median for WA has fallen 2.8% in the September Qtr with a surge in first homebuyer activity and softer upper end sales. Taking the revised June Qtr median from $523,000 to around $508-510,000. A mix of both first homebuyer and investor activity in the September quarter could well have attributed to an increase in multiresidential sales. WA remains the national first homebuyer powerhouse with the latest monthly ABS finance data (ABS Cat 5609) for August 2013 indicating the proportion of first home buyer loans in WA (excluding refinancing) actually rising to 34.5% The national trend masks the performance of some states with WA continuing to be the standout national first home buyer state both in 2012-13 and into 2013-14.

A combination of slow rental growth and faster capital appreciation suggest rental yields are marginally falling in WA with a median weekly rent at $475 for houses and 

$450 for units, dropping for the first time since mid 2000 by 1% respectively for the quarter.

An 81% increase in properties for lease over the past 12 months has finally flowed through into lower market rents as landlords adjust asking rents.

Properties available for lease have remained stable throughout the September quarter peaking in late August at 4,160. The last 6 months has seen total rental listings increase 20% but the last quarter dropped 6%.

The drop in listings has seen Perth’s vacancy rate drop back to 3.1% for the September quarter. Falls in both the median house rent to $475 / week (-1.1%) and median multi- residential rent to $450 / week (-2.2%) contributed to the fall in the overall median rent which fell 1.1% to $470 / week.

Property remains in high demand, improving for all types of new and established property. If you’re thinking about selling or leasing and would like to consider your options in today’s market, talk to the experts at DQ we will walk the journey with you.