There are more interesting articles, commentaries and analyst reports on the Web every week than anyone could read in a month.
Each Saturday morning I like to share some of the ones I’ve read during the week.
The weekend will be over before you know it, so enjoy some weekend reading…and please forward to your friends by clicking the social link buttons.
The Block 2018: Work begins at former Gatwick Hotel in St Kilda
While it feels like audiences have just started recovering from all the drama of this season’s The Block, there’s already a new plan in the works – and what a a location it is.
Any true Melbornian will no doubt be familiar with St Kilda’s Gatwick hotel – and now so will the rest of the country.
This article from Domain.com.au takes an inside look into the iconic building – and what audiences can expect next year.
Work has begun on the site of St Kilda’s infamous Gatwick Hotel, where the next season of The Block will be filmed, after the local council signed off on the plans.
The Port Phillip council issued a planning permit last month after considering six objections to Channel Nine’s application to redevelop the iconic hotel.
No appeal was lodged with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, giving the television network the green light to begin construction work.
Hard-hatted workers now occupy the site, scaffolding has been erected around the building and parts of its street frontage boarded up.
The Block‘s executive producer Julian Cress said a massive amount of work would be carried out over the next couple of months to ensure the building was structurally sound.
“It’s a very old building and it wasn’t in the best condition,” he said.
“What we are planning to do with the building requires a lot of structural integrity work.”
A strip of Loch Street, which borders the north-eastern side of the property, has already been closed and converted into a work zone.
The street is not expected to open until April next year, signalling a long construction period lies ahead.
Filming for the 14th season of the reality television renovation series is expected to begin early next year but the network remains tight-lipped about further details.
Speaking to Domain, Cress only said that the contestants would have their work cut out for them as soon as they arrive on site.
“The challenge that they have will be harder than ever, as always,” he said.
“We like to keep a few surprises up our sleeves for the contestants.”
The infamous rooming house at 34 Fitzroy Street closed earlier this year after Micjoy, a company owned by Channel Nine, bought it for $10 million.
It was listed for sale following years of complaints from local traders and residents, who have reported a drop in violence and drug-related activity since the Gatwick’s closure.
Once a destination of last resort for the homeless, drug-dependent and disadvantaged, the building will be transformed into eight luxury apartments.
Read the full article here
For those about to work…
It looks like there’s more good news for unemployment rates in Australia.
This Blog by Pete Wargent shows the statistics behind the results.
Jobs ads…shoot!
Back Down Under, meanwhile, the unemployment rate in Australia is presently at a 4-year low of 5½ per cent.
And the good news keeps coming, steadily.
ANZ’s Job Advertisements series picked up the pace in rising to 169,577 in October, to be +12.5 per cent higher than a year ago.
There were more vacancies when the mining construction boom was in full swing, but the labour market has been improving fairly gradually for a few years now.
ANZ believes the figures are consistent with ongoing strength in hiring, although reported employment growth does appear to have overshot the ANZ job ads series.
That implies that we may be due a weaker monthly employment result at some point.
Read the full article here
Character or contemporary? Which is best when buying a home?
When it comes to buying the best possible home – is it wise to find a property with character, or one that’s contemporary?
An article on Allhomes.com.au looks at what you need to consider when making your next property purchase.
Something old.
Something new.
That’s often the choice when buying a home with the final decision really coming down to personal taste.
Contemporary homes deliver all the advantages only “newness” can while character homes present just that – character, charm and a sense of history.
Tim Burke, co-director of Luton Properties Weston Creek and Molonglo Valley, says one of the main attractions of contemporary new builds is the tempting prospect of minimal maintenance for an extended period of time.
“Standards have changed over the years and homes are now built with stricter regulations and are delivered with stronger warranties,” he says.
“That provides peace of mind for homeowners – they won’t be up for either continual maintenance or early repair costs.”
Burke says buyers also value the whole package of inclusion like stone benchtops, butler’s pantries, dishwashers, ovens and stoves.
Bree Currall of Peter Blackshaw Manuka says history and charm are the key drivers of character homes.
“They have quite a following among a subset of home buyers,” she says.
“These buyers appreciate the history of a home and look for authenticity – particularly when those homes have been extended and renovated.”
Currall says sash windows, picture rails, high ceilings, and timber floors are sought-after inclusions.
“Presentation is paramount. A character home should exude warmth and welcome; that’s a strong part of the appeal,” she says.
Read the full article here
An overview of the Sydney property market
What’s really going on in the Sydney property market?
Is it all as gloomy as some would have you believe?
In this article for Switzer, John McGrath looks at current state of the market.
Sydney continues to offer one of the most appealing lifestyles of any city on the Asia-Pacific rim.
In our newly released McGrath Report, we discuss Sydney’s rising international status and how the market is finally beginning to cool, following a 66.95% surge in home values since 2012.
Sydney is receiving rising global attention and is certainly on the radar of the world’s elite for its stable economy, proximity to Asia, world class health care and education, pleasant year-round climate and endless natural beauty including its magnificent harbour, pristine beaches and clean air.
It is ranked 11th out of 40 top cities that matter most to wealthy people – behind London, New York and Hong Kong but ahead of Paris, Frankfurt and Dubai, according to Knight Frank’s City Wealth Index.
With its melting pot of cultures, Sydney continues to attract new riches from Asia, with China overtaking England as our No 1 source of immigrants over the past five years, according to the 2016 Census.
The 2017 Global Wealth Migration Review tells us that Sydney is currently the globe’s No 1 hot spot for millionaire immigrants and more of the uber-wealthy are buying second
homes here, with a 29% jump to 3,500 owners in 2016 alone.
The weight of demand for residential housing has separated Sydney from the rest of Australia in terms of property values.
A strong economy, rising population and chronic shortage of housing, coupled with low mortgage rates is keeping property prices rising.
We expect this to continue over the next few years albeit at a slower pace.
Sydney now has a median house price of $960,000 and a median apartment price of $717,000, according to CoreLogic-June 30, 2017.
We appear to be at, or through, the peak of the boom, with the pace of growth slowing and auction clearance rates trending down in 2017.
Key factors cooling Sydney’s market include affordability, higher mortgage rates for investors and APRA-led restrictions on investor borrowings.
The prestige market, which operates on a different cycle, is experiencing rising demand from expats, foreigners and local buyers.
Top-end home prices surged 11.5% in FY17, making Sydney the world’s sixth best performing luxury home market on Knight Frank’s Prime Global Cities Index.
With prices rising, it has become tougher for young people to buy without employing non-traditional methods, such as rentvesting or using the bank of mum and dad.
Read the full article here
What Your Coffee Order Says About You
Do you enjoy a cappuccino? A latte? Or are you more of an Espresso drinker?
Did you know that your choice of coffee could say a lot about your personality?
Find out more with this article from Urbanlist.com and see what your next coffee order really means.
It may be something you do with hardly a second thought, but the way you order your coffee gives an astonishing insight into who you are as a human being.
You might think you ask for a flat white or a macchiato because you like the way it tastes.
False.
As your friendly barista knows perfectly well, the choice you make at the café in the morning reveals everything about who you are, where you have been and what is running through your head.
Here is what your coffee order says about you:
ESPRESSO
If you’re not Italian, you’re doing a good job of imitating an Italian.
You undoubtedly have a penchant for gold jewellery and a borderline-sexual fixation with tomatoes.
You may have considered writing an epic poem about woodfire pizza.
To complete the picture, try standing at the counter to sip your espresso (while talking loudly) next time you go to the café, rather than sitting at a table.
Sure, you’ll annoy the buggery out of the wait staff, but you’ll look swank doing it.
DOPPIO
If you were a dog you’d be a Great Dane-St Bernard cross.
If you were a car you’d be a gold-plated Hummer.
If you were a former Communist state you’d be the USSR.
You are robust and ferocious, just like your coffee.
You are magnificent.
MACCHIATO
Your teachers at school called you a ‘dreamer’ but probably meant it in a derogatory way.
You often lose sleep wondering who would play you in a biopic of your life. If the hoverboard has not been invented by the end of 2015 you will be genuinely devastated.
PICCOLO
When you draw the coffee cup to your mouth you also instinctively raise your little finger.
If you don’t currently drive a Toyota Yaris, you will at some stage of your life.
AMERICANO/LONG BLACK
Coffee is something you do to pass the time between Ben Affleck films.
You are eagerly waiting for 1950s-style bullet bras to come back into fashion.
You wish you knew how to quit Myspace.
RISTRETTO
You see life as a kind of game featuring a series of elimination challenges. Every decision for you is a momentous test; every question a baffling riddle.
You must be operating at 110 percent mental capacity at all times merely to subsist. All of this is why you favour the potent caffeine hit that comes with a ristretto.
CAPPUCCINO
Unless you only drink your cappuccino in the morning, you’re doing it wrong.
Don’t let a Calabrian see you drinking one after 10am or you’ll end up sleeping with the fishes like Luca Brasi.
Regardless, taking your coffee with chocolate sprinkled on top indicates you are either a big cuddly teddy bear or a simmering sociopath.
FLAT WHITE
The difficulty you have dealing with those around you is not actually your fault; rather it’s due to the fact you were born in the wrong place, in the wrong era.
Your responses to everyday situations and ways of coping with conflict would be perfectly normal if you were living in the French Concession of Shanghai in the 1930s and making a living as a calligrapher, or perhaps waiting tables at a tea shop/brothel.
Explain this to people when you first meet them and you will find things run a lot more smoothly.
SOY FLAT WHITE/SOY LATTE
Nobody at your work realises you worship Pagan gods.
CAFÉ LATTE
At the end of high school you were torn between becoming a priest/nun or trying your luck in the real world.
Notice how life constantly baffles you?
Let’s just say you made the wrong decision.
Have you not yet heard of flat whites?
+ SYRUP
If Earth was invaded by an alien race, you would be the first to jump on board with the new regime.
You are best friends with your cousin or another close relative.
Your desire to add syrup to your caffeinated beverage suggests you may be suffering from Irukandji syndrome.
Read the full article here
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