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Mar 14, 2024

Easter Colouring Competition

Easter Colouring Competition Calling all young artists! Easter is just around the corner... there’s no better way to celebrate than to get creative and showcase your egg-cellent artistic skills. The prize on offer is a $50 Coles gift card! So let your colouring skills shine, grab your pens and hop to it! HOW TO ENTER Simply download the form HERE and submit your artwork by Monday, 25th March. Email: footscray@burnham.com.au OR Drop by our office at 273 Barkly Street, Footscray ✨The winner will be announced on our socials: Tuesday, 26th March. GOOD LUCK! ✨

Mar 14, 2024

Price Guide - Melbourne December 2023

Curious of Melbourne House Prices? Suburb by Suburb prices available here.

Feb 27, 2024

Western Roads Upgrade: Upcoming Road Closure

Upcoming Road Closure Sunshine Road, Sunshine - Commencing Monday 4 March, 2024 During this period, there will be works between 8:00pm and 5:00am. Electronic message signs are displayed along the road to communicate advanced notice of the works, road closures and detours. Buses and emergency services including ambulance and police vehicles will be granted access through the site during the works by our traffic controllers. See notification letter here which provides further details around the scheduled road works and the approved detour routes. Source: https://www.ventia.com/

Feb 16, 2024

The Most Affordable & Expensive Pockets in Footscray

Click on the Interactive Suburbs Map to find the priciest and most affordable pocket in your suburb. A new analysis of the price differences within suburbs shows that a typical home buyer could save about $365,000 by searching in the most affordable pockets instead of the priciest areas. But in particularly exclusive enclaves, buyers pay a multi-million dollar premium to secure the best real estate in town, with the data highlighting just how much home values can vary in certain suburbs. The PropTrack analysis of home values by SA1 regions — small neighbourhoods made up of a handful of streets and typically home to a few hundred residents — has revealed each suburb's most affluent area, as well as where homebuyers might find pockets of affordability. Source: Realestate.com.au

Feb 7, 2024

Statement by the Reserve Bank Board: Monetary Policy Decision

Media Release / Date 6 February 2024 At its meeting today, the Board decided to leave the cash rate target unchanged at 4.35 per cent and the interest rate paid on Exchange Settlement balances unchanged at 4.25 per cent. Inflation continues to moderate but remains high. Inflation continued to ease in the December quarter. Despite this progress, inflation remains high at 4.1 per cent. Goods price inflation was lower than the RBA’s November forecasts. It has continued to ease, reflecting the resolution of earlier global supply chain disruptions and a moderation in domestic demand for goods. Services price inflation, however, declined at a more gradual pace in line with the RBA’s earlier forecasts and remains high. This is consistent with continuing excess demand in the economy and strong domestic cost pressures, both for labour and non-labour inputs. Higher interest rates are working to establish a more sustainable balance between aggregate demand and supply in the economy. Accordingly, conditions in the labour market continue to ease gradually, although they remain tighter than is consistent with sustained full employment and inflation at target. Wages growth has picked up but is not expected to increase much further and remains consistent with the inflation target, on the assumption that productivity growth increases to around its long-run average. Inflation is still weighing on people’s real incomes and household consumption growth is weak, as is dwelling investment. The outlook is still highly uncertain. While there are encouraging signs, the economic outlook is uncertain and the Board remains highly attentive to inflation risks. The central forecasts are for inflation to return to the target range of 2–3 per cent in 2025, and to the midpoint in 2026. Services price inflation is expected to decline gradually as demand moderates and growth in labour and non-labour costs eases. Employment is expected to continue to grow moderately and the unemployment rate and the broader underutilisation rate are expected to increase a bit further. While there have been favourable signs on goods price inflation abroad, services price inflation has remained persistent and the same could occur in Australia. There also remains a high level of uncertainty around the outlook for the Chinese economy and the implications of the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. Domestically, there are uncertainties regarding the lags in the effect of monetary policy and how firms’ pricing decisions and wages will respond to the slower growth in the economy at a time of excess demand, and while the labour market remains tight. The outlook for household consumption also remains uncertain. Returning inflation to target is the priority. Returning inflation to target within a reasonable timeframe remains the Board’s highest priority. This is consistent with the RBA’s mandate for price stability and full employment. The Board needs to be confident that inflation is moving sustainably towards the target range. To date, medium-term inflation expectations have been consistent with the inflation target and it is important that this remains the case. While recent data indicate that inflation is easing, it remains high. The Board expects that it will be some time yet before inflation is sustainably in the target range. The path of interest rates that will best ensure that inflation returns to target in a reasonable timeframe will depend upon the data and the evolving assessment of risks, and a further increase in interest rates cannot be ruled out. The Board will continue to pay close attention to developments in the global economy, trends in domestic demand, and the outlook for inflation and the labour market. The Board remains resolute in its determination to return inflation to target and will do what is necessary to achieve that outcome. Source - Reserve Bank of Australia

Dec 1, 2023

Hopkins Street and Moore Street intersection safety improvements

As part of the Safer Roads Safer Pedestrians Program, in partnership with the Transport Accident Commission (TAC), Vic Roads have improved safety at this busy Footscray intersection. The upgrade has made it safer and easier to navigate the intersection by installing new crossings, stopping points and traffic lights. Read further: Click here

Nov 30, 2023

Valid Rent Increase Notices - Are your increases invalid?

From REIV Agencies and Residential Rental Providers who fail to complete rent increase notices correctly may be at risk of having to reimburse any increased amounts to renters in the future by determination at VCAT. We urge all property management teams and administration staff to review their processes and practices in issuing notices of proposed rent increases to ensure alignment and compliance with the Victorian Residential Tenancies Act (Section 44) together with the Residential Tenancies Regulations (Regulation 21 & Form 5).Most importantly, the notice of proposed rent increase to the renter must document in detail the method by which the rent increase was calculated together with any calculations and/or comparable properties that were used by the agency or RRP to arrive at the proposed rental increase amount. Provide details of the process and calculation used to reach new rent amount. The rent increase cannot be greater than the amount calculated using the nominated method. Failure to include sufficient information is likely to deem the notice invalid.There are many cases being brought to VCAT for determination. VCAT sitting Members are making it very clear in as many as three (3) known cases where rent increase notices have been deemed invalid and orders to reinstate the former rent and directions to the RRP to return and rents paid in excess back to the renter.In the VCAT cases of, i). Asif v Jian Ding Property Pty Ltd (VCAT 1042), ii). Boyce v Mariella Nominees Pty Ltd (VCAT 89) and, iii). Kennedy v Pan (VCAT 529), it has consistently concurred and handed down similar determinations. The key points are: Ensure that the notice of rent increase includes sufficient information to enable the renters to not only answer the question as to why it is given, but also to determine whether the proposed rent is excessive and should be challenged. VCAT considers that a simple reference to a “Comparative Market Analysis” without further information about the properties that were used, their location or features, fails to satisfy the requirements of s 44(3)(b) that the method of calculation be provided, or the requirements of the prescribed form 5 (increase notice) by providing details of the process used for that method of calculation. VCAT considers that a simple reference to “CPI” with an absence of any calculating formula, adequate data and calculations does not enable the renters to make a proper assessment about the “reasonableness” of the increase. In the spirit of transparency, full disclosure, and mitigation of risk to any proposed rent increase notices being declared invalid, we urge all agencies and agents to provide much more information in all future notices. Agencies who feel that some of their recent notices issued to renters may be lite-on the detail may wish to consider retracting such notices and issuing new ones with the relevant information necessary to justify the rent increase.

Nov 30, 2023

Christmas Competition

Christmas activity for the kids! Have you entered in our Christmas colouring competition yet? If not, be sure to do so by the 19th of December! The prize is a $50 Jumpside Footscray gift card. You can download a colouring sheet from our website: LINK HERE Simply email us your art work to footscray@burnham.com.au or just drop by your lovely art work at our office. Burnham Real Estate 273 Barkly Street, Footscray 93 Station Rd, Deer Park