Rowan Crosby

Rowan Crosby is a senior journalist at Elite Agent specialising in finance and real estate.
  • Real Estate News

    HTW monthly update – Property prices deliver strong end to 2019

    As 2019 draws to a close Herron Todd White have assessed where the nation’s property markets currently sit and how their predictions stacked up over the course of the year. We saw a slow start for property in 2019 thanks to an uncertain regulatory environment and the federal election which had big implications for property investors. Since that point, market…

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  • Real Estate News

    The RBA leaves rates on hold at 0.75% at December meeting

    The Reserve Bank of Australia has left the official cash rate on hold at 0.75 per cent in the final meeting of the year. Headed into today’s announcement, there was only a five per cent chance of a cut to the cash rate. We’ve already seen three 25 basis point cuts this year, however, there is still the expectation that…

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  • Elite Agent

    Sydney house prices jump the most since 1988

    It was a record-setting month for house prices across the country as Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart continue to lead the charge. Sydney dwelling values increased by 2.7% for the month of November, according to CoreLogic, making it the biggest monthly increase in 31 years. At the same time, Melbourne dwelling values also jumped by 2.2%,…

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  • Elite Agent

    Weekend Auction Wrap: Sydney and Melbourne continue to see strong clearance rates

    It was another huge weekend of auctions in Australia’s two largest property markets as the spring selling season closed out with strong demand from buyers. Again it was Sydney that led the field, finishing the weekend with a preliminary clearance rate of 84.7 per cent, according to CoreLogic. In total there were 1,131 auctions held in Sydney, making it the…

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  • Elite Agent

    Weekend Auction Wrap: Positive signs for the market in 2020

    It was a huge weekend of auctions across the country with Sydney again leading all comers, as buyers are continuing to make aggressive moves in a bid to get deals done by Christmas. Sydney’s preliminary auction clearance rate came in at 82.3%, which was up sharply on up on last week’s final clearance rate of…

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  • Elite Agent

    Weekend Auction Wrap: Sydney and Melbourne buyers getting aggressive

    It was another busy weekend for auctioneers across the country, with the 2,571 homes taken to auction making it the second busiest weekend of the year. Melbourne saw another strong result this weekend with 77 per cent of homes selling based on preliminary clearance data from CoreLogic., while Sydney was also strong coming in at 77.2 per cent. While volumes…

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  • Elite Agent

    Weekend Auction Wrap: Sydney’s second busiest weekend of the year

    Once again, Sydney was the market leader for auction results over the weekend, coming in with a preliminary clearance rate of 81 per cent. According to the latest data from CoreLogic, Sydney had 931 homes taken to auction making it the second busiest weekend of the year. In Melbourne, however, there was also a surge in volumes, but the clearance…

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  • Real Estate NewsElite Agent The News Source for Real Estate Professionals

    The RBA keeps interest rates on hold at 0.75%

    The Reserve Bank of Australia has kept interest rates on hold at 0.75 per cent at its November meeting. After three cuts since June which saw the official cash fall from 1.5 per cent, the odds of a cut were low. Headed into the meeting there was just a five per cent chance of a 25 basis points cut, with…

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  • Elite Agent

    Weekly Auction Wrap: Lower volumes but strong sales

    There was a lower number of homes going to auction over the weekend, thanks to the Spring Racing Carnival in Melbourne. But that didn’t stop Sydney and the rest of the country from putting in another solid performance. The auction clearance rate in Sydney remained at a very upbeat 79.4 per cent, while Melbourne dipped to 73.3 per cent on…

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  • Real Estate News

    Weekend Auction Wrap: Supply shortages keep driving demand

    The top-end buyers were once again out in force in Sydney with a lack of supply continuing to force buyers to pay higher prices. In Sydney, the preliminary auction clearance rate was again well above 80%, finishing up at 84.3% according to the latest data from CoreLogic. The result was up sharply on last week…

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  • Real Estate News

    Open for a haunted inspection

    US-based real estate platform Bungalo is taking Haloween to the next level and will offer Paranormal Inspection Reports, as a part of its home inspection process for the month of October. Bungalo will be offering the special reports alongside its standard 160-point inspection. Every home for sale on the Bungalo platform in Charlotte, Dallas and…

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  • Real Estate News

    Where are the strongest yields for investors: Herron Todd White

    While new investors are almost always initially drawn to the potential for a property to generate significant capital gains, savvy investors have long been on the hunt for yield. Generating cash flow through strong rental returns might not be as exciting as picking the next hotspot, but it forms a strong foundation for many investors in the current market, given…

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  • Real Estate NewsElite Agent The News Source for Real Estate Professionals

    The RBA cuts rates to 0.75 per cent

    The Reserve Bank of Australia has cut official interest rates by 25 basis points to a record low of 0.75 per cent. Going into the meeting of the RBA, markets were predicting that there was a 79 per cent chance that there would be a rate cut at the October meeting. This year, the RBA has cut rates three times,…

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  • NationalElite Agent The News Source for Real Estate Professionals

    House prices are booming again in Melbourne and Sydney

    House prices across the nation have seen their biggest jump since March of 2017 in what is a return to boom times for many capital cities. Once again Sydney and Melbourne led the way, both jumping 1.7 per cent for the month of September, while Canberra was the other strong performer leaping 1 per cent, according to the latest data…

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  • Elite Agent

    Weekly Auction Wrap: Sydney’s busiest week of the year

    In a weekend where Victorians were busy watching the AFL Grand Final, Sydney recorded its busiest Saturday of the year for auctions. Sydney recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 78 per cent from 939 auctions, according to the latest CoreLogic data, which was up from 608 this time last year. With attention elsewhere in Melbourne, there were only 103 auctions,…

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  • SELLING + MARKETING PROPERTY

    Weekly Auction Wrap: Clearance rate strong amidst a surge in listings

    It has been another strong weekend for auctions across the country as the national clearance rate once again finished above the 70 per cent mark. With the weather heating up across the country, so too were the number of listings, which jumped nearly 20 per cent. Sydney recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 76.6 per cent while Melbourne came in…

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  • Elite Agent

    Weekly Auction Wrap: Has the clearance rate topped out?

    While it was another strong weekend across the country for auctions, we’ve had the first downtick in a number of weeks, which could signal that the surge in the clearance rate is starting to ease. Over the weekend, the latest Corelogic data has shown 75.7 per cent of homes sold at auction across the country, marking what is expected to…

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  • NationalElite Agent The News Source for Real Estate Professionals

    PropertyGuru planning Australian IPO

    Southeast Asian online realtor PropertyGuru Group is said to be planning to list on the ASX in the coming months. PropertyGuru operates real estate classifieds sites in Asia as well as a number of other property related businesses. The company is one of Southeast Asia’s leading online property groups and operates in Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. One of…

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  • Real Estate NewsElite Agent The News Source for Real Estate Professionals

    Regional areas record strongest rental yields

    Australia’s regional areas have once again proved they are the best source for strong rental yields, with one Queensland country town recording a rental return of 11.7 per cent, according to the latest report from Corelogic. The Corelogic top rental performers report identifies the top 100 suburbs where houses or units have an estimated gross rental yield of 5 per…

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  • Elite Agent

    Weekly Auction Wrap: The buyers keep coming as spring arrives

    The traditional spring selling season has officially begun, but it’s still the buyers who remain in control at auctions around the country. This weekend saw Sydney finish with a preliminary auction clearance rate of 83.1 per cent while Melbourne was also higher at 76.6 per cent. Nationally, the clearance rate was an incredibly strong 77 per cent. However, the number…

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  • Elite AgentElite Agent The News Source for Real Estate Professionals

    How population is impacting house prices

    Population movements are one of the key reasons house prices rise and fall, and according to Herron Todd White, it’s not just about how how many people are moving to or from your city, but also the demographics of those people. The leading Australian valuer has studied the impact that the current population trends have been having in our major…

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  • Real Estate News

    Three Aussie cities make top 10 most liveable in the world

    Life in Melbourne is the second best in the world, according to the latest Economist liveability survey. The Global Liveability Index saw the Austrian city of Vienna crowned the world’s best for the second year in a row, narrowly beating Melbourne. The big improver, however, was Sydney, which moved up from fifth to third.  The other cities that made up…

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  • Elite AgentElite Agent The News Source for Real Estate Professionals

    The RBA leaves interest rates unchanged at 1%

    The RBA has left the official cash rate unchanged at one per cent at its September meeting, however, more cuts lie ahead if global conditions continue to weigh on the economy. In a statement that largely mirrored the August update, RBA Governor Philip Lowe suggested Australia is still in for an extended period of low interest rates. “It is reasonable…

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  • Real Estate NewsElite Agent The News Source for Real Estate Professionals

    House prices jump across the country

    Buyers are coming out in numbers in Australia’s two major cities and it was the driving force behind the first big jump in house prices that we’ve seen in many months. According to the latest data from CoreLogic, Sydney house prices rose by 1.6 per cent, while Melbourne jumped by 1.4 per cent. Across the country, dwelling values increased by…

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  • Elite Agent

    Weekly Auction Wrap: Are the boom times back?

    It’s been another strong weekend for auctions across the country as the clearance rate remains at boom-time highs. Sydney had a preliminary auction clearance rate of 78.9 per cent while Melbourne was also strong at 76.1 per cent. These are the same types of numbers that we were seeing in the recent housing boom in mid-2017. Across the country, the…

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  • INDUSTRY NEWSElite Agent The News Source for Real Estate Professionals

    Rent.com.au improves earnings in tough market conditions

    Rental property website rent.com.au has reported improved earnings for the 2018/19 financial year, amid a slowdown in the property market nationwide. The company had a net loss after tax of $2,497,183 for the year ended 30 June 2019. This was up from the previous year by 8.7 per cent, however topline revenue was lower by -6.9 per cent. Established in…

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  • Elite Agent

    Weekly auction wrap: It’s official – clearance rate at highest level in two years

    It’s been another strong result for auctions across the country as the clearance rate hit a two-year high. Again it was Sydney and Melbourne leading the charge with Sydney coming in strong with a preliminary clearance rate of 84.7 per cent, three per cent higher than last week. Melbourne was also strong with their preliminary rate almost hitting 80 per…

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  • Real Estate News

    Facebook announces pop-up cafés across the UK

    In a bid to help users better protect their privacy and to get closer to the customer Facebook has taken the interesting step announcing ‘Pop-Up Café’s’ across the UK. While free coffee will be available at the new Facebook café’s, the main goal will be to help users better understand their security options by way…

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  • INDUSTRY NEWS

    Weekly auction wrap: Clearance rate set for a two-year high

    It was another strong weekend for auctions, with the nationwide preliminary rate sitting at a very strong 76.6 per cent. If the final clearance rate finished above 70 per cent, it will be the first time since May 2017 and a really strong sign for property prices headed into the spring selling season. Sydney led the playing field with 81.7…

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  • Real Estate News

    Domain Profits Down But Upbeat About Outlook

    Releasing their full-year Financial Results last week, Domain Group’s profits have fallen 30 per cent compared to last year, with the property slowdown in its major markets of Sydney and Melbourne hurting the bottom line. After an ‘extraordinary’ series of events, listing volumes around the country were down 20% to what is a 20-year low. Sydney and Mebourne in particular…

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  • Real Estate News

    Going paperless could save you $5K this year

    Millions of workers around the world are often overwhelmed by the amount of paper they have to deal with on a daily basis. Real estate professionals in particular can at times be overloaded with more documents than they know what to do with.  Moving away from paper in the office not only has the potential to save your office more…

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  • FEATURE INTERVIEWS

    Tom Larkin: Director of two offices at 29 with further growth plans ahead

    Tom Larkin started in real estate on his 18th birthday. By 23 years old he had his own real estate office in an area he knew nothing about – Barry Plant in Frankston. By 26 he had become that area’s most successful agent and now, at 29, he is director of two offices, has a…

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  • National

    Weekly auction wrap: Registered bidder numbers jump

    The buyers returned over the weekend as auctioneers saw another strong auction clearance result across the country. Both Sydney and Melbourne saw jumps to 81.2 per cent and 73.2 per cent respectively, both up on last week’s final results. Elsewhere the numbers were also strong, with another week where auctions closed out above the 70 per cent level nationally, finishing…

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  • Elite AgentElite Agent The News Source for Real Estate Professionals

    A ‘challenging’ year for REA Group but outlook is positive for property

    Despite challenging market conditions, REA Group has posted an eight per cent increase in both earnings and revenue for the financial year ending June 30. Australia’s major real estate listing service announced their results to the market on Friday, which also showed an eight per cent decline in listings over the past year, with the Sydney and Melbourne markets being…

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  • Elite AgentElite Agent The News Source for Real Estate Professionals

    HTW Market Wrap: Sydney and Melbourne bottom out

    The national property market continues to be a tale of very different states and cities, with some strength in areas like Canberra and Hobart, and clear weakness in Sydney and Melbourne. The positive news for property owners is that the latest commentary from national valuers Herron Todd White is that both Sydney and Melbourne are approaching the bottom with their…

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