News Bulletin
Buying up the town…
You could be lord of all you survey. Also in the news this week, house prices raise the bar; who’s borrowing money now; and painting your walls green - naturally…
House prices continue to rise
House prices have grown by almost one-fifth over the past year, according to a report released by the Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA).
"This quarter has seen the Australian weighted average median house price increase by 0.8 per cent to $518,624", REIA President David Airey announced this week.
Families stay put
Investors continue to dominate the market, taking out over a third of mortgages sold in May, according to a new report released by mortgage broker AFG.
AFG's latest Mortgage Index shows that the largest proportion of mortgages (38 per cent) were arranged for refinancing purposes followed by 36.7 per cent for investors and 9.9 per cent for first home buyers.
How green is my wall
A few years ago, when the new Quai Branly museum opened in Paris, there was a mixed reaction to its four-storey high `living wall' - a vertical garden built into the face of one external wall comprising 15,000 plants of 150 different species.
The living wall is now a happily accepted feature of the Parisian landscape and has spawned vertical garden systems all over the world, for both commercial and domestic use.
Not so many now
Preliminary estimates of Australia's annual population growth rate slowed to 2.0 per cent over 2009, according to figures released this week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Your own village
Many of us dream of owning a home, but those who dream big now have the chance to own a whole village, complete with villagers and a pub.
The small New Zealand village of Otira (population 40) is located on the west coast of the South Island, tucked into the foothills of the Southern Alps, newzealand.com reported recently. Now the retired Kiwi owners of Otira, which has a colourful history, are putting it on the market because they no longer have the energy to run it.
Bill and Christine Hennah, who are originally from Auckland, are in their sixties and bought the village in 1998 after falling in love with it while driving through.
"We felt sorry for the dilapidated pub and run-down houses and decided to buy," says Christine.
The Hennahs say they would like to see Otira go to a younger couple bursting with enthusiasm and ideas - someone to build it up again. They believe there is a lot of potential and opportunity, and have currently attached a price tag of NZ$1M.
Wrapped up in a bedtime story
If you like to rug up with a good read, the Bedtime Stories blanket has you covered.
The polycotton blankets cover the bed with a giant storybook outlay (currently available is the Brothers' Grimm "Sleeping Beauty"), whose pages can be turned, depending on how far into the story you are or how warm you like your blankets (the more page-layers, the warmer you'll be). And for insomniacs, it sure beats counting sheep.