Breaking Square | 01/11

Who’s afraid of the big, bad wolf? Trump vs Harris, which candidate is the wolf in sheep’s clothing?

America, distance wise, is a fair way away and the politics of that country should just be a mild distraction for us all, but there is danger lurking and the implications may be far reaching, which is no surprise, given the old saying, “when America catches a cold, the whole world sneezes”.

Mr Trump during his campaign has stated he will reduce company tax to 15% and place a 60% tariff on imported goods from China. America has a balance of trade with China in the order of $500 billion, so you can understand what impact this would have on their economy and inflation, it would sky rocket.

America already has a huge deficit and Congress continues to approve these large spending budgets, so what impact would these types of policies have on the world and in particular Australia?

High inflation in America would translate to higher interest rates in Australia, as we import inflation through money markets and trade. Our dollar might reach parity, so that could buffer us a little bit, but America is the world’s economy and if they run bigger deficits due to lower taxes and drive up inflation due to tariffs, we are in for a very bumpy ride.

Saying all this, Trump may just be spruiking this as part of his strategy to win back the White House; imagine a politician saying one thing and doing another – heaven forbid. Of course, any policy has to work its way through the House and Senate, so it may all end up being wishful thinking. It is a concern and we should pay attention to the result.

Ms Harris doesn’t really have any policies to speak of, one policy she has touted is to control grocery prices; unsure how that works, but it gives you an insight into their thinking; possible government intervention into free markets.

October was a very busy month, possibly our best this year in terms of sales volume and we continue to list and launch properties to the market. We are getting the point where we will need to push any new listings to next year, as time is running out. On Sunday we launch two great homes in Kalinga and a beautiful home in Toowong; we wish our sellers well.

Our For Lease properties are ticking over and I am confident we will not have any vacant properties over the Christmas break.

Corelogic released data on house prices yesterday and as has been the case over the last several months, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide continue to enjoy price growth, albeit at a slower pace. Sydney has come off a bit and Melbourne continues to bring up the rear with Darwin.

I have gone on record and stated that I believe Brisbane will continue to grow, not at a frantic pace, just a nice sustainable rate. When interest rates do finally get cut, the pace may quicken initially, but over the long term I don’t see a spiking.

November will be busy, aside from listing, selling and renting, we are formulating our plans and strategies for 2025; we have ambitious growth targets for our team. We want to grow our sales team by 4 lead agents to compliment an already high performing sales business. I am working through employing a BDM to drive new managements and will implement support systems that allows me to remain the contact point for all our owners – continuity has been the one aspect of our service that I feel sets us apart.

I will share more of our goals and plans in the near future, but I feel we have an exciting 2025 ahead and I know the strategies we put into action will benefit our clients.

Until next week, stay safe and be kind.