hmmmm.. maybe its time to come home overseas fixers?.... House prices fall in most capital cities

AUSTRALIAN house prices fell in a majority of capital cities in the last few months as high interest rates brought about the weakest housing market in four years. National house and unit prices could dive by 10 per cent next year as a prolonged real estate slowdown sets in, online real estate data group Australian Property Monitors (APM) said. Median house prices fell in five of Australia's eight capital cities in the three months to June 30, according to APM's figures.
Perth had the biggest median house price fall, at 2.8 per cent, followed by Sydney's 2.1 per cent decline. Hobart suffered the biggest median price dive for units - 3.8 per cent - and had the nation's cheapest capital city real estate with the median unit price at $207,568. Brisbane's unit prices posted a 3 per cent slump and there were falls in three other capitals.
Adelaide was the only capital city not to experience a quarterly fall in house or unit prices, with both measures rising by 0.4 per cent in the three months to June."The June quarter housing data is the weakest we have observed since 2004," APM general manager Michael McNamara said. "It is likely these results are the canary down the coal mine and that rapidly rising mortgage rates and a looming economic slowdown will usher in a sustained period of property market weakness." For the year to June 30 , four capital cities posted double-digit median house price growth. Melbourne house prices grew by a nation-leading 14 per cent to $449,888 over the year to June although Sydney still had the most expensive median house price, at $542,488. Over the same 12 months, Darwin home unit prices climbed by a nation-beating 17.9 per cent to $324,454. Adelaide was the only other capital city to enjoy double-digit price growth for home units, rising an annual pace of 16.9 per cent. Sydney kept the title of having the most expensive median price for units, at $366,622, marginally ahead of Perth and Canberra.

99% complete....

well, if energex were a racehorse then it wouldnt be named pharlap. we are still waiting for connection and do not know when they will turn up. sally went through the house and filled out a defects and omissions report and pat our builder is currently attending to this. this would be the last thing on his list of things to do..

the bow deck.... i know, i know.. sally has already done the "ï am the king of world" thang... how did our house end up looking like a cruise ship..?. go figure... the hull is iron made to rust so it should turn a myriad of colours over a period of time.

a nice example of the mid-afternoon sun hittig the rammed earth walls creating thermal mass that should keep the house a little warmer at night...

the main bathroom... with a bath that even i can enjoy.... by candlelight... at night... with a glass of red and sally rubbing my shoulders..mmmmmm

the eco village vdp (village design process) wanted skirting 600 mil down from the house. this would hide the pipework etc. we have come up with the idea of "living"skirting so have put wire trellis in place and planted passionfruit and jasmine vines. we hope this should do the trick... 11th of august still d-day for this tribe....

97% complete... three weeks out!

the tanks are connected, plumbing finished, sparky's work done and the painters have splashed on their first full coat outside. we are on track for our august 11th move....

the above shot gives you a good indication of the house levels by looking at the roof line

the kitchen is complete-just needs a fridge and a chef and some organic home grown?!

The hoop pines peeking into our bedroom

lounge looking accross indoor deck to kitchen.

another shot of our favoured radial sawn timber...and the potting bench and sink. A little work on the garden is required...ummmm perhaps a lot actually.

94% complete

two days work lost to rain and the faffing around by many of the subcontactors has eventuated in the site not being where it should be right now. we didnt reach our much hoped for 95% complete. it was a very big week (often 20 cars parked outside our property) which finally saw our cool as a cucumber builder pat turn red as a tomato. oh well, if it was ever going to happen it this was the week and he seemed fine yesterday now the worst (in terms of volume of subbies on site) is over...

the solar hot water system is now complete (finally at the preferred angle of 26 degrees for winter sun - as the sun sits lower in the sky over the cool months). the painters still havent painted the gyprock under the radial sawn timber but it was more important for them to concentrate on the interior (something they still havent completed - and should have!).

behold australia's first 5 star toilet. i cant belive this hasnt been thought of before! a sink has been placed on top of the cistern and when the user flushes the toilet they wash their hands in the water (fresh from our tank) that fills the cistern for the next flush. should we use a nice eucalyptus soap (or similar) then the flush will incorporate a semi-clean/disinfect as well....

almost done in the ensuite. The toilet has a soft close lid which means you can just drop the lid and the seat will return to normal position without slamming (perfect). we bought the duchess off ebay and the builder dropped the sink into it leaving a very cool "cottage bathroom effect". the lights are from ikea - a store i have come to respect greatly....

above are our bedroom lights that we found on sale in january. they suit perfectly. the blue frame around the window is painters tape that will come off soon.

lastly i thought we would show you a few of the local inhabitents that are always around the eco village. there has never been occassion when they havent been spotted and with 80% of the 465 acres being left in its natural state we dont expect them to be going anywhere in the near future. next week the floors should be sanded and polished which means the interior should then be ready for a final inspection and fit off... our fingers are crossed (and removalists booked) for august 11th....... but as they say in the building industry.... anything can happen....

92% complete...

we are really getting down to the wire which will really tests this fixer's ability to come up with new topics for the blog.. pat, our builder, commented yesterday that he would be complete in two weeks if there were'nt so many hoops to jump through at this stage of the game... by the end of next week the plumber and electrician should be wrapped up. we then apply to energex to do a final connect from the on site electrical box to the house.. this will take approx ten days from application-- then we apply to the Eco Village Design Panel for final appoval in meeting all the sustainability requirements-- then we take this ticket and get the surveyor out for final council approval-- then we get this ticket and attach it to our final invoice from pat which we need to get through the bank which will take another 5-7 days... so you can see how two weeks will be more like four....

The daybed is finally in completing our indoor/outdoor deck. Originally it was supposed to be a dayseat being only 200 ml wide but we managed to change this to 400 ml making it the perfect place to enjoy a cup of tea and the courier mail on a sundee morn..

you might be able to get a hint of the colour in the above shot. porters doe skin. the gyprock under the window to the right of the pic needs to be painted doe skin as well. the awning also needs to be fitted out.

the bow deck is coming along off the kitchen is coming along quite nicely. they will wire it up this week completing this area of the house. I had to chuckle as the heavens had opened on this day and I smiled at the thoughtof our tanks filling up now that the downpipes had finally been connected. Little did I know that the plumber had yet to put a bottom bung in the tanks ( as well as a few final connection pieces) so it was all in vain...
by the end of next week with the interior complete, the house will be handed over to the flooring dudes for a final sanding and polishing. after that she is all done barring a few final bits and pieces....