Property Trends

John Edwards, chief executive of Residex on current property price trends: "We are at the end of a normal housing cycle and at the start of a new one. Everyone in Sydney thinks house prices' growth in the last decade before this downturn was huge. The reality is the rate of growth was quite normal. People only invest in an asset if it provides an acceptable rate of return. If homes don't provide an acceptable rate of return it means rental returns go through the roof. We've seen rent returns as high as 20 per cent in previous downturns. We focus too much on capital growth. Housing is an asset like any other asset sector. We may live in it, but it's an asset." Edwards says Australia's housing market, including that of greater Sydney, is "in an upward trend. All measures are past the worst."