"Prices are still very healthy and may stay that way for a while yet. The change I have noticed from those around me is the consistent talk about rising interest rates and cooling off of the property market. A friend of mine, whose been very bullish, is now toying with the idea of selling one of the houses he has on his central (ugly) Frankston block. He recently built a 2 story house on it which looks out of place.
I said to him how would he feel if he sold his older house for the $360k it's valued at only to find it's worth 700k in 3 years time? His reply was that he's seeing a lot more and more houses coming onto the market in his area which is making him a little anxious. He's up to his eyeballs in debt, does not know the words 'self control', his wife spends more than he earns and won't work, and he wants to buy a large property in whoop whoop for around 120k as a get away for his kids (all this stuff he 'wants' his friends and inlaws have).
The banks will not lend him another cent! Is he an exception, or is he type of person banks are increasing seeing everyday and refusing to lend money to? Tighter lending standards means that these fools are now out in the middle of the ocean without a paddle. It's liquidation time or sink!"
Update - I spoke to him yesterday and he's getting anxious as he 'wants' to borrow more money. I couldn't be bothered asking what for, but he said that he had his 2 houses valued last weekend and that the valuations were $50,000 lower for 'each of them' compared to the valuations at the end of last year. I don't know if the valuer was the same person, but $50,000 is a big difference.
He finished by saying that "if the banks catch on then he'll never be able to borrow any more!"
