The author has been described by News Ltd as an "iconoclast", "Svengali", a pollie's "economist muse", and "pungently accurate". Fairfax says he is a "Renaissance man" and "one of Australia’s most respected analysts." Stephen Koukoulas concludes that he is "85% right", and "would make a great Opposition leader." Terry McCrann claims the author thinks "‘nuance’ is a trendy village in the south of France", but can be "scintillating" when he thinks "clearly". The ACTU reckons he’s "an enigma wrapped in a Bloomberg terminal, wrapped in some apparently well-honed abs."

Thursday, February 24, 2011

With rates on hold, auctions bouncing back

This is a very interesting development. On the basis we expected rate hikes in every quarter (pretty much) this year, we thought the housing market was going nowhere fast in 2011 and extending the flat-lining it had experienced since May 2010 in capital cities. But we now have some hard data that the market is recovering, with auction clearance rates improving materially from the sub 50% levels recorded at the end of last year. The longer rates stay on hold, the more likely this will continue.

at 8:44 AM