A little jumpy but a heart felt read

Let me preface this review by saying that, growing up an aspiring young female entrepreneur in Australia, Poppy King was my first and for many years my only role model. Her influence on me was profound and to this day she remains one of the “5 people I’d invite to any dinner”. As you can imagine then when I saw her book on the shelves I jumped at it straight away. I’ve always wanted a greater insight into the “Poppy story”, what went so well and also what went so wrong. Let me get the parts I didn’t like out of the way straight away. The book was a little too Americanised for me. I get that it’s being published in America and is predominantly for an American readership, but this little Aussie thought it strange to hear examples about Thanksgiving that could have just as easily been examples that would be relevant world wide. The voyeur in me also would have liked a bit more of an insight into exactly what didn’t work in Poppy’s business partnership, it was mentioned but forgive the pun “glossed over” a little. I also found that the “her story” parts of the book jumped about and were a little difficult to follow sequentially. That aside – did I enjoy the read? Yes. It was written from the heart, by a real person and by someone that’s obviously had to go through a whole heck of a lot in her journey from being the media’s darling to being raked through the mud. Will this book change my life: probably not, but there are some great nuggets in there for any aspiring entrepreneur.

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IT’S the proof we’ve been waiting for that the housing boom is back – at dinner tables across the country talk is returning to the old conversation chestnut … property.

While the global financial crisis made us all armchair investment analysts, now lower interest rates, government bonuses and the first home market boom was again making property the hot topic.

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On any given Saturday huge numbers of prospective buyers are flocking to open houses everywhere.

Nowhere is the craze more evident than in the median home market, where young families are trying to make the most of the demand from first time buyers to sell and trade up for more space.

But with medium-priced houses in limited supply, real estate circles are rife with rumours of auction punch-ups and inspection queues rivalling nightclubs.

 

Sydney’s Michelle Wheeler and Reima Woolhouse have been riding the $700,000 to $1.2 million price bracket explosion for six months.

The pair recently sold two properties and have been renting while they try to find a home with a bit of space.

“There are properties we wanted to buy but we didn’t make the first open house because they have sold before then or they just didn’t tick the right boxes for us,” Ms Wheeler said.

“We’ve been starting to feel a bit disheartened.

“We’ve been saying to each other selling the two properties was less stressful than buying.”

On Saturday, the pair inspected an original Californian bungalow on Iandra St, Concord West.

Likely to sell for about $900,000 at auction next month, it is on the market for the first time in 45 years and requires significant work.

The home had more than 35 groups through, many expressing interest.

Paul Pettenon from Raine and Horne Concord said homes such as that had been selling just days after being advertised.

Recently, a two-bedroom Concord property that did make it to auction attracted 36 registered bidders.

“It was mayhem, you couldn’t control it actually,” he said.

“I have been in real estate for 15 years and I have never seen anything like it.”

And it is not just the inner-west. Megan Bruton from McGrath Hunters Hill said open houses around Ryde have needed three open house agents to deal with the record numbers of people inspecting homes.

“Previously when we launched a property we would get 20 or 30 groups through if it was really hot,” she said. “But now we are getting 60 to 75 which equates to about 120 to 200 people for just a half-hour.”

Business analyst for LJ Hooker David Maher said low stock and high demand in the second-home buyer’s bracket was making a seller’s market.

“What everyone has been focusing on is the first-home buyer’s market but that is simply not true,” he said.

According to his figures, homes in the $700,000 to $1.2 million range were selling at auction 80 per cent of the time, up from the beginning of the year when only 40 per cent were selling.

“Auction clearance rates haven’t been this good in many years,” Mr Maher said.

Real Estate Institute of NSW president Steve Martin said many new people were in the market.

“First-home buyers in particular are feeling in control of their own destiny and not in the hands of landlords,” he said. “When there is insecurity, buying property becomes a security.”

MORTGAGE Choice expects housing finance demand to strengthen amid an exodus of brokers from the industry after falls in loan approvals and commissions wiped 23.9 per cent off the broker’s 2008-09 cash profit.

Loan approvals at Australia’s largest independent mortgage broker fell 8.2 per cent and commissions on loan originations plunged 17 per cent to $53.4 million, driving down the cash profit to $12.98m at June 30.

But a revaluation of the $36.03 billion loan book based on expected future trailing commissions produced a $15.6m after-tax adjustment that left statutory net profit 38.8 per cent higher at $26.84m.

Chief executive Michael Russell said loan approval numbers were rebounding after a “very poor” first-half 2009 saw full-year approvals fall to $10.1bn, from $11bn in 2007-08, and Mortgage Choice’s market share ease to 4.1 per cent.

July approvals of about $1bn are encouraging, with low interest rates and improved housing affordability lifting overall demand.

Of all new mortgages, 41 per cent are now sourced through brokers. Mr Russell said the big banks’ use of brokers continued to rise and National Australia Bank was “really back in play” after its acquisition of Challenger Financial Services Group’s mortgage distribution business and 5700 brokers.

The big four banks moved aggressively to gain mortgage market share over the past 10 months as interest rates fell, capturing 70.1 per cent of the market by June 30.

CBA’s 24.4 per cent market share makes it the nation’s largest lender, which rises to 27.9 per cent when adding subsidiary Bankwest.

Westpac and St George together hold 25.8 per cent of the market, followed by NAB with 14.4 per cent and ANZ with 14 per cent.

The big four were controlling 75 per cent of Mortgage Choice’s funds flow at March 31 and now control 60 per cent as other lenders, including Bankwest and St George, elbow in on the market.

But the banks are squeezing the broker channel, and 3000 brokers, or 25 per cent of brokers nationwide, are expected to exit the industry by 2011. “We’re expecting a substantial reduction in broker numbers,” Mr Russell said, citing licensing requirements by 2011 and banks imposing minimum settlement volumes on individual brokers.

CBA, Westpac, St George and ING Bank (Australia) had imposed hurdles, Mr Russell said, adding there had been no discussions with the other lenders.