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."

Monday, May 30, 2011

Let's just say Point Piper denizens weren't happy with this AFR quote of mine

And, no, I am not talking about David Crowe and Mathew Dunckley's "capitalise on chaos" line today apropos internal Liberal Party ructions. What I am referring to is Deidre Macken's question to me about where one might find Australia's most overvalued homes. Suffice it to say, a large local landowner promptly expressed extreme displeasure to my mother, accusing me of talking down Point Piper property values. Here's the text from the Weekend AFR:

“In terms of the most overvalued housing in Australia, I would probably pick land on Point Piper,” says Rismark International managing director Christopher Joye. “The uber-luxury end is extremely volatile and has had the rug whipped from under it via a combination of the soaring Australian dollar and the enormous destruction of wealth across many of the largest asset classes during the global financial crisis. “A final fly in the ointment is the much lower and more sobering growth expected by the financial services industry in the years ahead. As a result, the very top end of the market has realised little to no capital growth since 2006 and it is not at all clear that the $5 million-plus segment of the eastern suburbs is likely to benefit from much capital growth in the next 12 to 18 months.”