My mate Greg Smith and I sat next to Anthony Albanese on a flight to Mackay about five or six years ago, soon after he was elected leader of the Federal
Labor Party and leader of the Opposition. Smithy and I were coming back from a real estate conference and had been upgraded to business class. Albo (SIC) had been on a "listening tour" of Queensland to try to find out why the ALP can't win a Federal seat north of the Sunshine Coast. Smithy and I were already in our seats when the future prime minister appeared and started making his way towards the last free business class seat on the flight, next to us.
Now Smithy and I are pretty keen followers of politics and were both aware of Albo's "listening tour" so we quickly realised it was moving to Mackay. We couldn'tthink of a better place for him to start than with us.
If Albo thought he was going to have a peaceful flight to Mackay and recharge before listening to Mackay people, he was wrong. "Sit down Albo and we can get started on your Mackaylistening tour." He seemed like a pretty good bloke but I had thedistinct feeling that he wasn t really listening.
Albo is by nature a socialist and Smithy and l are more from the free-market capitalism school of thought that has little time for identity politics and the religious-like fervor whipped up by the climate change "catastrophe".
Anyway, Albo is now the Prime Minister and his life is not quite as private as it once was.
So we find out, for example, that he has just bought a $4.3 million water- front property on the Central Coast of NSW. I say good luck to him and it's great to see the free market creating such an opportunity for him.
Not good timing politically but that's his call.
But the real estate news wasn't all good for Albo in the past week or so. He had planned to auction a Sydney investment property but withdrew it a few days before the auction date due to lack of interest.
The Sydney market has suddenly gone quiet and prices are falling, albeit from a very high point. The effect of higher interest rates, higher inflation and high prices has had an impact.
I saw some figures the other day showing that in the past three months the median price in North Manly has fallen by 7.6 per cent, Bondi by 7.10 per cent and Coogee by 5.40 per cent, among other falls across Sydney. Prices have also fallen in Melbourne, although a state government land tax is playing a role in the price falls in that state.
It is interesting that in Mackay we have seen no change in the intense interest in real estate from investors who live in those southern states. I get calls every day from investors and buyers' agents wanting to find something in Mackay.
They see our rental yields of around 5 per cent. median price around the $550,000 mark, rental vacancies of under 1 per cent and high average incomes and feel Mackay is a great opportunity. It seems to me that all those factors, including the fact you can still buy a house for under $500,000, differentiate us from those more-expensive southern cities.
When you live in Sydney or Melbourne and see prices falling on very expensive properties with poor rental yields, there is a good chance you will be interested in investing in a city with a buoyant market of much cheaper properties, better rental yields and very low vacancy rates.
If I see Albo on another listening tour I'll tell him all about that ... and a few other things. - David Fisher
OP-ED: Property Point With David Fisher
David Fisher is a sales agent at Gardian Real Estate,
David Fisher is a seasoned real estate agent at Gardian Real Estate, drawing on his former experience as the editor of the Mackay Daily Mercury. Known for his strong marketing and negotiation skills, Fisher has deep local knowledge of the Mackay region. He also enjoys sharing his writings and reflections on various topics from time to time, bringing a unique perspective to his real estate work and beyond.
