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Kiwis among the world's happiest people

Monday October 7th, 2013

New Zealanders are some of the happiest, most positive people in the world, a new global study has found.

Kiwis smile and laugh more than most people, while being well-rested and feeling that they are treated with respect.

New Zealand is ranked 15th, alongside Canada, in the annual Gallup poll entitled 'Positive Experience Index' which measured positive emotions in 143 countries last year.

People in war-torn Syria and and post-war Iraq are the least likely in the world to report experiencing positive emotions.

Australia (75 per cent), the UK (76 per cent) and the US (77 per cent) were also ranked below New Zealand's 79 per cent on the index.

But Latin Americans, particularly those who live in Paraguay and Venezuela (86 per cent) top the table.

The results come just two weeks after Kiwis were ranked among the happiest people in the world, coming 13th out of 156 nations examined in the latest United Nations World Happiness Report.

Source: ODT.co.nz

Australian renters on the rise

Monday September 9th, 2013

The share of Australian families that rent has drawn level with those who own their homes outright, as a growing number of young people appear to be giving up on the dream of buying a house.

The proportion of households that are outright home owners has fallen from almost 42 per cent in the mid-1990s to 30.9 per cent in 2011-12, new Bureau of Statistics figures show. That is the lowest proportion collected by the bureau's survey of housing occupancy and costs, which started in 1995.

The share of renters has risen nearly 5 percentage points to 30.3 per cent in the same period. The proportion of households paying off a mortgage has risen from 30 per cent to 37 per cent.

Sydney University housing expert Judy Yates attributed the decline in total home ownership - from 71 per cent to 67 per cent since the mid 1990s - to the spiralling cost of housing. ''This is all about affordability,'' she said.

But Associate Professor Yates said the decline in the share of outright home owners was also being driven by well-established families using their mortgages to fund other purchases, especially investment properties.

CommSec chief economist Craig James said Generation Y - now aged in their 20s - seemed to have a different outlook on home ownership to previous generations: ''There has been a major change in attitudes concerning home ownership, with renting continuing to be preferred - either because Generation Y is choosing a different lifestyle or because the cost of purchasing a home continues to lift.''

Source: Domain.com.au

Melbourne’s housing market transformed by Asian investment

Thursday June 20th, 2013

City’s residential sector is dominated by overseas investors lured by its universities and business district.

Overseas Asian money is steadily transforming the residential landscape of Melbourne, luring buyers away from the suburbs and into the city.

Since 1990, Melbourne’s skyline has added 28 residential skyscrapers, each with more than 30 floors, and most built by Australian developers.

And yet since 2009, overseas developers have aggressively taken hold of the city’s property market.

Prices are at record highs. “For the Chinese, it’s only just the start,” he says, predicting they will soon be the dominant group buying land for residential development in the central business district (CBD).

Melbourne has been ranked the “world’s most liveable city” for the past two years by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The survey also notes that Melbourne is a “safe haven” for the current wave of overseas investors, who see huge numbers of Asians in a lively inner city with tree-lined boulevards and green spaces. Plus, prices are still below those of other blue-chip markets, such as Hong Kong and Singapore.

Asian investors are also looking to buy property beyond the CBD. After a 15-month lull, prices are beginning to rise. In Toorak, the area’s most expensive suburb and 5km southeast of the CBD, property agents point to a huge influx of Chinese investors eager to send their children to elite schools nearby, such as Scotch College.

Source: Financial Times

Australia is ranked No.2 best place to live in the world

Monday June 17th, 2013

Once again Australia has been recognized as one of the best places in the world to live.

In fact only a country of reindeer, oil and gas is a better place to live than Australia.

The United Nations has ranked Australia No.2 behind Norway in its annual human development index that measures the quality of life across 187 nations.

They measure factors such as life expectancy, quality of schooling, governments spending and suicide and Australia finished second for the second consecutive year.

Australia is ahead of the US (third is the Netherlands, Germany, New Zealand and Ireland.

Britain is 26th on the index and South Africa ranked 121st.

Australia’s top spot is because of several factors:

The UN’s annual human development index shows that Australia kept its No. 2 position even though across most indicators there was an improvement in life for most Australians.

Australia has one of the highest life expectancies in the world at 82 years. By contrast, it is 78.7 in the US.

Despite complaints about the nation’s schooling system, international testing of 15-year-olds shows Australian students above all but a handful of nations. Australian children ranked higher than their counterparts in Norway.

Australia has kept spending on health under control compared with other nations, giving governments scope to spend in other areas.

Source: PropertyUpdate.com.au

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