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 17, 2010

Housing market lets off steam...

Some of the first signs of the long-anticipated cooling in housing market conditions is starting to flow through the auction clearance rate data with a discernible decline in Sydney and Melbourne rates from their circa 80% highs late last year (see RP Data's latest information below). This is something that we have been expecting to see for a while now and is good news for all concerned. APM have been showing similar trends with Sydney clearance rates dipping back to mid 60%.