Economic updates

Rental rates for real estate in Brisbane have relaxed only slightly over the past quarter according to the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) Rental Vacancy Rate survey for the first quarter of 2013.

The first three months of the year saw a few unusual trends in the metropolitan real estate rental market in Western Australia.

The new 2013-14 Victorian State Budget contains measures that will help all real estate owners - but some will receive more support than others.

The latest cash rate cut could make an essential contribution to recovery in the Australian housing market - but only if banks pass the latest reduction on in full.

Softer real estate market performance across the country in April is likely down to seasonal factors and will represent a small "blip" in the likelihood of broader recovery in the market.

On the whole, metropolitan Adelaide saw some improvement compared with the same quarter of 2013, with a 1.96 per cent growth in median real estate prices, which now stand at $390,000.

The business sentiment for the Victorian property sector has risen for the third quarter in a row, according to new figures from the Property Council of Australia-ANZ Property Industry Confidence Survey.

If you are thinking about a Queensland real estate investment in a unit or townhouse, Cairns may be one destination well worth considering.

Values of real estate in Australia have increased by 3.8 per cent for houses in the December quarter, with capital cities also seeing a 2.4 per cent rise for other dwellings.

Queensland approvals for the construction of units have seen an increase of 12 per cent in January, when compared with the same month in 2012.

Real estate values for capital cities rose by a combined 0.3 per cent in February, following a 1.2 per cent increase in January.

Experts have lauded the latest auction data for real estate in Melbourne, with clearance rates doing better than the ten-year average.