Property search and selection

The Australian property market comprises the trade of land and its permanent fixtures located within Australia. The average Australian property price grew 0.5% per year from 1890 to 1990 after inflation,^[1] however rose from 1990 to 2017 at a faster rate. House prices in Australia receive considerable attention from the media and the Reserve Bank^[2] and some commentators have argued that there is an Australian property bubble.^{[citation needed]}

The residential housing market has seen drastic changes in prices in the past few decades. The property prices are soaring in major cities like Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane and Hobart.^[3] The median house price in Sydney peaked at $780,000 in 2016. ^[4] However, with stricter credit policy and reduced interest from foreign investors in residential property, prices have started falling in all the major cities. ^[5] When compared with the soaring prices of 2017, the housing prices fell by 11.1% in Sydney and 7.2% in Melbourne in 2018.^[6] In 2022 the residential rental market has seen a significant increase in rents, which has been described as a ‘rental crisis’.

In 2011 there were 8.6m households with an average household size of 2.6 persons per household.^[7] Freestanding houses have historically comprised most building approvals, but recent data shows a trend towards higher density housing such as townhouses and units.^[8] Turnover rates vary across market cycles, but typically average 6% per year.^[9] Since 1999-2000 the proportion of households renting from state/territory housing authorities has declined from 6% to 3% while the proportion renting privately increased from 20% to 26% in 2019-20.^[10]

The Australian property market is non-uniform, with high variation observed across the major cities and regional areas.^[11]

In Sydney, as of March 2010, the Property Market's vacancy rate reached 0.53% signalling that the market is recovering, as these rates had reached 2% in August 2009. As of July 2015, the Property Market in Sydney has surged in the first Q of 2015, up 3.1%.^[12] Sydney's eastern and northern suburbs typically attract the highest prices, reflecting their desirability and premium location.^[13] The annual capital growth for houses and units in Sydney is 4.2% and 3.8% respectively.^[14]

In the late 2000s, housing prices in Australia, relative to average incomes, were among the highest in the world. As at 2011, house prices were on average six times average household income, compared to four times in 1990.^[15] This prompted speculation that the country was experiencing a real estate bubble, like many other countries.^[16]

Foreign investment has also been identified as a key driver of affordability issues, with recent years seeing particularly high capital inflows from Chinese investors.^[17]

A number of economists, such as Macquarie Bank analyst Rory Robertson, assert that high immigration and the propensity of new arrivals to cluster in the capital cities is exacerbating the nation's housing affordability problem.^[18] According to Robertson, Federal Government policies that fuel demand for housing, such as the currently high levels of immigration, as well as capital gains tax discounts and subsidies to boost fertility, have had a greater impact on housing affordability than land release on urban fringes.^[19]

The Productivity Commission Inquiry Report No. 28 First Home Ownership (2004) also stated, in relation to housing, "that Growth in immigration since the mid-1990s has been an important contributor to underlying demand, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne."^[20] This has been exacerbated by Australian lenders relaxing credit guidelines for temporary residents, allowing them to buy a home with a 10 percent deposit.

The RBA in its submission to the same PC Report also stated "rapid growth in overseas visitors such as students may have boosted demand for rental housing".^[20] However, in question in the report was the statistical coverage of resident population. The "ABS population growth figures omit certain household formation groups – namely, overseas students and business migrants who do not continuously stay for 12 months in Australia."^[20] This statistical omission lead to the admission: "The Commission recognises that the ABS resident population estimates have limitations when used for assessing housing demand. Given the significant influx of foreigners coming to work or study in Australia in recent years, it seems highly likely that short-stay visitor movements may have added to the demand for housing. However, the Commissions are unaware of any research that quantifies the effects."^[20]

Some individuals and interest groups have also argued that immigration causes overburdened infrastructure.^[21][22]

In December 2008, the federal government introduced legislation relaxing rules for foreign buyers of Australian property. According to FIRB (Foreign Investment Review Board) data released in August 2009, foreign investment in Australian real estate had increased by more than 30% year to date. One agent said that "overseas investors buy them to land bank, not to rent them out. The houses just sit vacant because they are after capital growth."^[23]

Australian property investors often apply the practice of negative gearing. This occurs when the investor borrows money to fund the purchase of the property, and the income generated by the property is less than the cost of owning and managing the property including interest.^[24] The investor is expecting that capital gains will compensate for the shortfall. Negative gearing receives considerable media and political attention due to the perceived distortion it creates on residential property prices. In anticipation of Labor being elected in the 2019 federal election, the banks issued less interest only loans which are used by many investors for negative gearing.^[25]

Buying agents or purchasing agents are people or companies that offer to buy goods or property on behalf of another party.^[1] Indent agents or indenting agents (or firms) are alternative terms for buying agents.^[2] An indent is an order for goods under specified conditions of sale.^[3][4]

There are agents for all kinds of products, from raw material commodities through to specialized custom equipment.

In the United States, agents who buy real estate in this way are also known as property search agents or buyers’ agents and are professionals exclusively acting on behalf of a property buyer who assists the client during the entire purchasing process from sourcing the properties that correspond to the clients' requirements to negotiating the best possible price and terms with the seller and helping the client during the legal process to complete the acquisition.

Buying agents often preview properties on behalf of their clients, shortlist the most suitable, and usually accompany clients to all viewings. In order to ensure the most efficient property viewing experience, most agents offer a chauffeur and sometimes even helicopter viewings to their high-end clients. Often they will also offer personal concierge services which can schedule all viewings, book hotels, transfers and other amenities for the client. These services can be particularly useful to international clients who tend to fly in to view properties. In addition agents are typically able to connect the client with all necessary technical trades people who are required at different stages of the buying process such as lawyers, surveyors and other professionals.

Buying agents might have access to off-market properties through their network of contacts, although this depends on the market conditions and on how well connected the agent is locally.

The ethical behavior is a very important aspect to measure the professionalism of a buying agent: at any time they must advise their clients with no self-interest for their own success fee.

While initially buying agents catered exclusively to wealthier demographics, lately, especially in more competitive markets like London or Paris, the entry-level has significantly dropped to properties valued at around £500,000 or €500,000 (see The Daily Telegraph,^[5])

At one end of the spectrum lie the super introduced local property experts who can be an invaluable resource for a buyer who is set on off-market or pre-market properties as well as private deals. These professionals are often able to source off-market because they have close ties with estate agents (or, in the United States, real estate brokers), they know other local intermediaries who may flag exclusive confidential deals, such as lawyers, private bankers, investment managers or other professionals and they sometimes know personally the owners of the best luxury properties for sale in the area they cover. If this is what the buyer is looking for then the size of the company is less relevant as contacts are made over time and lie in the hands of a few experienced professionals who may operate within larger organizations as well as on their own. Buying agents also often have close ties with property developers where the agent can get access to new properties before they come onto the open market.

The better buying agents will also have extensive knowledge of the properties in your target area and will contact owners of suitable properties directly to enquire if they would sell. This does put you in a weaker position in the negotiations but it means that you will have access to properties that other buyers won't and if your buying agent is a skilled negotiator then you may not have to pay a premium.

At the other end of the spectrum there are agencies that act more like relocation companies, well organized, operate in various languages, help their clients with all required paperwork, are well connected to various professionals and other companies in order to provide a full-blown service; these companies may be less capable of scouting off-market transactions or deal directly with private property owners.

Independent buying agents like to stress their autonomy from selling agencies who, depending on the country, either act on behalf of sellers or as mediators between the two parties (See The Independent,^[6]). On the other side some well known estate agencies also offer buying services despite reservations over conflict of interest.

Because of the different nature of buying agencies, prospect buyers are often advised to contact more than one company to compare and contrast their benefits. As is often the case, it can be better to hire a professional who is more capable to listen and understand our needs even though his or her company does not entirely tick all the other boxes.

Most buying agents have significant transactional experience; however, like estate agents, only few of these professionals have a surveying qualification so they may not be the best advisors when it comes to valuing the property and predicting future market trends. For this reason the buyer may rely on other advisors or their own judgment before taking an investment decision.

From a geographical standpoint buying agents’ coverage ranges from a rather limited focus on few specific city districts or sub regional areas (a few towns and their surroundings) to nationwide 'chain' services. However each company has a few areas where it is stronger and only in those locations may it be able to deliver a superior value, especially when it comes to sourcing special opportunities. Only few companies in Europe have expanded to cover more than one country by employing different professionals.

There are varying terms for a buying agent which include: property consultant, property acquisition consultant, relocation agent and property finder. As per the above paragraph their skill sets vary slightly but the business is very similar. As this specific section within the property industry is still relatively new, in comparison to estate agents for example, the specific terms used are still debated in each country.

In some European countries, like the UK, buying agents do not need to pass any specific exam or get any certification to start practicing their profession while in other countries, like Italy, France or Spain they have to conform to the same qualification and legal requirements as selling agents do, even though the two roles differ substantially. This seeming gap in the regulation may be filled if and when the industry is going to mature.

Buying agents fees depend on the specific property market and often vary within a certain country. The overall fee structure is made of a small registration fee which is refundable (provided that the buyer completes the purchase within a certain time defined in the contract) and is charged upfront, and a success fee which is a percentage of the purchase price of the property and is paid at the exchange of contracts or when a preliminary contract is signed.

Buying agents generally require exclusivity meaning that the client cannot continue to search on its own or via estate agents for the duration of the contract, which generally lasts from 3 to 6 months.

French companies are forbidden from charging any registration fees and are required by law to tie all their compensation to the successful completion of the transaction. However good buying agents do not make any profit from the registration fee; the main purpose of the fee is to increase the likelihood that the client is sincerely committed to the purchase; in case they were not they would lose the registration fee after a certain length of time.

The success fee is a percentage of the sale price. Prospect property buyers should know that there are two different arrangements mainly depending on market conditions:

• In markets where the average selling time of a luxury property is high, buying agents tend to split the fee with the selling agent and therefore the service has no additional cost to the buyer. This happens because the selling agent typically prefers splitting his commission with the buying agent rather than waiting longer to find another buyer and sell the same property. In case the buying agent sources a private deal then they charge up to the selling agent commission (for instance the full 5% in the French Riviera^[7] up to 2% in Spain.
• In very liquid markets (like London or Paris) the buying agent fee is charged on top of the selling agent fee, so the buying agent service comes at an additional cost to the property buyer unless the buying agent is able to find a property that is not sold by an agent. In that case depending on the market buying agents charge an amount up to the selling agent commission (which is generally higher than the buying agent’s fee).
• Some agents charge a success fee based on the purchase price - this is a fixed percentage. Alternatively other agents charge a fixed amount of money plus a percentage of the saving of the discount to the original asking price.

All these conditions are well specified in the contract agreement that the client signs upfront. Buying agents often claim that they can get a higher discount on the sales price than a private buyer could manage because they better know the prices at which similar properties have been recently exchanged in the market and they make use of good negotiating skills.

A full set of code of ethics is set out by The Property Ombudsman,^[8] which any respected buying agent would be a member of.

• International trade
• Personal shopper
• Selling agent
• Property finder
• Buyer brokerage

The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. (March 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Property law
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Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as growing crops (e.g. timber), minerals or water, and wild animals; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more generally) buildings or housing in general.^[1][2] In terms of law, real relates to land property and is different from personal property, while estate means the "interest" a person has in that land property.^[3]

Real estate is different from personal property, which is not permanently attached to the land (or comes with the land), such as vehicles, boats, jewelry, furniture, tools, and the rolling stock of a farm and farm animals.

In the United States, the transfer, owning, or acquisition of real estate can be through business corporations, individuals, nonprofit corporations, fiduciaries, or any legal entity as seen within the law of each U.S. state.^[3]

The natural right of a person to own property as a concept can be seen as having roots in Roman law as well as Greek philosophy.^[4] The profession of appraisal can be seen as beginning in England during the 1500s, as agricultural needs required land clearing and land preparation. Textbooks on the subject of surveying began to be written and the term "surveying" was used in England, while the term "appraising" was more used in North America.^[5] Natural law which can be seen as "universal law" was discussed among writers of the 15th and 16th century as it pertained to "property theory" and the inter-state relations dealing with foreign investments and the protection of citizens private property abroad. Natural law can be seen as having an influence in Emerich de Vattel's 1758 treatise The Law of Nations which conceptualized the idea of private property.^[6]

One of the largest initial real estate deals in history known as the "Louisiana Purchase" happened in 1803 when the Louisiana Purchase Treaty was signed. This treaty paved the way for western expansion and made the U.S. the owners of the "Louisiana Territory" as the land was bought from France for fifteen million dollars, making each acre roughly 4 cents.^[7] The oldest real estate brokerage firm was established in 1855 in Chicago, Illinois, and was initially known as "L. D. Olmsted & Co." but is now known as "Baird & Warner".^[8] In 1908, the National Association of Realtors was founded in Chicago and in 1916, the name was changed to the National Association of Real Estate Boards and this was also when the term "realtor" was coined to identify real estate professionals.^[9]

The stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression in the U.S. caused a major drop in real estate worth and prices and ultimately resulted in depreciation of 50% for the four years after 1929.^[10] Housing financing in the U.S. was greatly affected by the Banking Act of 1933 and the National Housing Act in 1934 because it allowed for mortgage insurance for home buyers and this system was implemented by the Federal Deposit Insurance as well as the Federal Housing Administration.^[11] In 1938, an amendment was made to the National Housing Act and Fannie Mae, a government agency, was established to serve as a secondary market for mortgages and to give lenders more money in order for new homes to be funded.^[12]

Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act in the U.S., which is also known as the Fair Housing Act, was put into place in 1968 and dealt with the incorporation of African Americans into neighborhoods as the issues of discrimination were analyzed with the renting, buying, and financing of homes.^[13] Internet real estate as a concept began with the first appearance of real estate platforms on the World Wide Web (www) and occurred in 1999.

Residential real estate may contain either a single family or multifamily structure that is available for occupation or for non-business purposes.^[14]

Residences can be classified by and how they are connected to neighbouring residences and land. Different types of housing tenure can be used for the same physical type. For example, connected residences might be owned by a single entity and leased out, or owned separately with an agreement covering the relationship between units and common areas and concerns.^[15]

According to the Congressional Research Service, in 2021, 65% of homes in the U.S. are owned by the occupier.^[16]

Major categories

• Attached / multi-unit dwellings
  • Apartment (American English) or Flat (British English) – An individual unit in a multi-unit building. The boundaries of the apartment are generally defined by a perimeter of locked or lockable doors. Often seen in multi-story apartment buildings.
  • Multi-family house – Often seen in multi-story detached buildings, where each floor is a separate apartment or unit.
  • Terraced house (a.k.a. townhouse or rowhouse) – A number of single or multi-unit buildings in a continuous row with shared walls and no intervening space.
  • Condominium (American English) – A building or complex, similar to apartments, owned by individuals. Common grounds and common areas within the complex are owned and shared jointly. In North America, there are townhouse or rowhouse style condominiums as well. The British equivalent is a block of flats.
  • Housing cooperative (a.k.a. co-op) – A type of multiple ownership in which the residents of a multi-unit housing complex own shares in the cooperative corporation that owns the property, giving each resident the right to occupy a specific apartment or unit. Majority of housing in Indian metro cities are of these types.
  • Tenement – A type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access found in Britain.
• Semi-detached dwellings
  • Duplex – Two units with one shared wall.
• Detached dwellings
  • Bungalows
  • Split-level home
  • Mansions
  • Villas
  • Detached house or single-family detached house
  • Cottages
• Portable dwellings
  • Mobile homes, tiny homes, or residential caravans – A full-time residence that can be (although might not in practice be) movable on wheels.
  • Houseboats – A floating home
  • Tents – Usually temporary, with roof and walls consisting only of fabric-like material.

Other categories

• Chawls
• Havelis
• Igloos
• Huts

The size of havelis and chawls is measured in Gaz (square yards), Quila, Marla, Beegha, and acre.

See List of house types for a complete listing of housing types and layouts, real estate trends for shifts in the market, and house or home for more general information.

Real estate can be valued or devalued based on the amount of environmental degradation that has occurred. Environmental degradation can cause extreme health and safety risks. There is a growing demand for the use of site assessments (ESAs) when valuing a property for both private and commercial real estate.^[17]

Environmental surveying is made possible by environmental surveyors who examine the environmental factors present within the development of real estate as well as the impacts that development and real estate has on the environment.

Green development is a concept that has grown since the 1970s with the environmental movement and the World Commission on Environment and Development. Green development examines social and environmental impacts with real estate and building. There are 3 areas of focus, being the environmental responsiveness, resource efficiency, and the sensitivity of cultural and societal aspects. Examples of Green development are green infrastructure, LEED, conservation development, and sustainability developments.

Real estate in itself has been measured as a contributing factor to the rise in green house gases. According to the International Energy Agency, real estate in 2019 was responsible for 39 percent of total emissions worldwide and 11 percent of those emissions were due to the manufacturing of materials used in buildings.^[18]