It constantly amazes me how readily some people will jump to pessimistic conclusions after reading 1 or 2 negative metrics from a 30-60 day period when there’s dozens of big-picture positive things that collectively paint a very bright picture.

If you believed the headlines of late, then Australian property is so woeful it could be mistaken for the Christmas Grinch!

In fact, a recent headline was “Australia’s Housing Market Records Weakest Growth Since The GFC”.

There is no doubt that the uninitiated will read that and decide to limit their spending over the holidays because they’re worried about the sky falling.

Yes, the downturn in Sydney and Melbourne is real, but 15 million Australians live elsewhere. And, unless your property purchase in Sydney and Melbourne was within the last year or so, the value of your asset has performed well overall.

The truth of the matter is that the underlying fundamentals of Australian property today haven’t been better for more than a decade.

Ditto, the Australian economy as a whole, which is in good health according to the big-wigs. Reserve Bank of Australia Governor, Philip Lowe, reminded us of that with this quote in a speech in November: “...On many accounts, the Australian economy has performed very well over recent times. Over the past year it has grown by close to 31⁄2 per cent, inflation has been low and stable at around 2 per cent, employment has grown quite strongly, and we are getting closer to full employment. Business conditions are positive and government finances have improved and are in reasonable shape. There is a lot of investment in infrastructure taking place and the number of job vacancies is at a record high. So, overall, it is quite a positive picture.”

So, as we start the 2019 here are 19 positive things that no one is talking about:

1) Investment home loan interest rates are currently sitting at circa 4 per cent and are expected to remain very low for several years to come. Indeed, most economists don’t anticipate a rate rise of any kind until (at least) sometime in 2020 and there’s increasing chances that rates might actually get cut next year. So this is great news for the biggest line item of an investor’s annual budget!

2) Residential vacancy rates in a majority of Australian locations tightened considerably during 2018, especially so in many locations outside of the capital cities where we are expecting rents to rise. The locations across Australia with the best market outlook right now also offer rental yields of circa 5 per cent so, depending on one’s own gearing levels, the annual impact on an investor’s household budget ranges from a small loss of $5,000 to a cash flow profit of $2,000.

3) 75% of Australia hasn’t seen a growth cycle for 5 to 10 years. Evidence was produced during 2018 that properties in large parts of regional Australia and some capital cities are selling quicker and the volume of properties for sale are reducing – these two metrics equate to pressure on prices intensifying.

4) Aside from Sydney and Melbourne, housing supply is balanced and in some cases quite tight across most of Australia. In fact, property developers are finding it difficult to fund major projects, so we anticipate housing supply to significantly tighten over the next couple of years. That’s an important ingredient for price growth.

5) The world’s largest economy, the US, recently reported record GDP and a 4% unemployment rate. Every nation likes to see that!

6) The number of jobs in Australia is growing at a cracking pace with 664,810 created in the two years to September 2018. More jobs mean more confidence and greater capacity for more people to transact in property. We’ve already seen it in Hobart and it’s now unfolding in many locations outside of capital cities

8) Our national unemployment rate has been consistently trending downwards and is now at 5.1 per cent – the lowest in six years and a percentage that is generally referred to as ‘full employment’.

9) According to the RBA, economic growth in 2019 and 2020 is set to be Australia’s highest since the 2006-7 Howard era with the unemployment rate to continue to fall to circa 4.75%, which will be the lowest in more than a decade.

10) The small business tax cuts announced in H2 2018 will start to produce increased business investment, expansion and jobs growth

As the world’s smartest investor, Warren Buffett, says: “The time to be fearful is when everyone else is brave and the time to be brave is when everyone else is fearful.”

Guess what, that time is now!

Think about it – those who made the most money out of Sydney, and now Hobart’s boom, purchased one to two years before their respective growth cycles commenced.

There are an enormous number of choices for motivated property investors to objectively assess the fundamentals of.

So, don’t be one of the millions of sheep who are being herded into a pen because of irrational fear. There’s lots of paddocks out there with lush green grass and very few sheep grazing in them.

Now is the hour to be the black sheep. Beachsea would love to be that shepherd who helps to point you in the right direction