With predictions aplenty for 2021, all things seem to be heading skyward this month except for rental vacancies in coastal towns, which are heading towards zero.

We finished the year in a big way with 2 of our auctions reported prominently on large news feeds – it has been a crazy last month to an even crazier year!

Big news this month is the visionary tax reform changing the loathed stamp duty to a land tax model, and we look around for what people say the ramifications could be

This month records tumble with Sydney housing prices starting to show signs of a sometime rapid increase, and 2 auctioneers win a Nobel Prize!

This month media outlets seem to be focussing on the ramifications of the COVID-19 work from home paradigm shift, and how this could affect property values.

This month property values soldier on albeit at a slight negative, research shows that investors can take a chunk of the blame for Sydney’s exorbitant house prices, and there are further developments to try and help people with renovations.

The NSW Government made a significant change to stamp duty rules, and living strategies are being adapted to work with the new normal as workers embrace working from home tech.

Having now hopefully reached a ‘new normal’, people are relaxing, business is starting to return and the blog series is picking up from where it left off. Things have been happening!

Possibly as a result of the introduction of the new first home owners scheme, there seems to be a slightly greater focus on ‘affordability’ at the moment, though the relativity of the term is also noted

After the east coast bushfire disaster of the last few months, people are focussing more strongly on environmental concerns, including how well built (or otherwise) their homes are.