Hot Property: The biggest property headlines from the week 16-20 November

1 in 5 prioritises ‘buy now, pay later’ payments

Twenty-two per cent of “buy now, pay later” customers have prioritised paying this debt off over loan repayments or bills.

The findings come in a new report from the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) on the buy now, pay later industry, which enables consumers to buy and receive goods and services immediately from a merchant, and repay a buy now, pay later provider over time.

Joust appoints new head of sales, farewells co-founder

The home loan auction marketplace has appointed a new head of sales to replace Mark Bevan, who has announced that he will step down from the company.

John Maxwell has been named as Joust’s new head of sales, as the company bids farewell to its co-founder and outgoing head of sales and distribution, Mark Bevan.

‘Centuries-old’ stamp duty set for overhaul

Acknowledging stamp duty as “one of the biggest financial barriers to home ownership”, state Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the current stamp duty system is in need of an overhaul.

Reform could take place as soon as mid-2021 and could see NSW residents given the choice between paying upfront stamp duty or a smaller annual property tax.

REINSW reacts to ‘long overdue’ stamp duty reform

REINSW CEO Tim McKibbin indicated that people in NSW have previously elected not to pay stamp duty – by not buying property – and so “on this basis, we welcome the news that stamp duty will finally be phased out in NSW”.

However, he flagged that the REINSW does not support the replacement of one property tax with another property tax, arguing that the property industry, including property consumers, carries a disproportionate amount of the state’s tax burden.

(See also: Why NSW reform won’t fix Australia’s stamp duty problem)

‘Any idiot can sell the property at market value’

Century 21 Radar Properties principal Peter Brack has highlighted that a transactional approach to real estate is designed to benefit agents only, considering that while a lot of property sales may look good to an agency and the owners of a business, “it’s not good for the vendors”.

According to Mr Brack, the role of a real estate agent is not to get market value. Instead, it’s to “market the property, to deal with the buyers, and to negotiate the highest possible price we can”.

Revealing the finalists for the Women in Real Estate Awards 2020

REB is pleased to reveal the final tranche of finalists for the Women in Real Estate Awards 2020.

(See also: Unveiling the full list of finalists for REB’s Women in Real Estate Awards 2020)

SA shuts down real estate activity

Open inspections and auctions are among the business activities across South Australia that will be closed for the next six days as the state grapples to contain a COVID-19 outbreak.

Property guru John McGrath predicts which suburbs will boom

Australia’s leading real estate identity John McGrath has pinpointed the suburbs he believes will boom in a post-coronavirus world, across Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Canberra and regional areas.

Why investors should focus on the next 1-5 years

InvestorKit’s head of research, Arjun Paliwal, encourages investors to look at the first one to five years of a property’s growth as a way of avoiding opportunity costs.

“Which means, as best as possible, an investor should be focusing on how they can have the best one to five years ahead.”

For more analysis and insight into these stories, tune in to Momentum Media’s new live talk show on Facebook, What’s Making Headlines, featuring Momentum Media’s executive editor - real estate, Phillip Tarrant, and business coach and Real Estate Gym trainer Tom Panos.

You can also catch up on the show via the What’s Making Headlines podcast, which is released every Friday.

[Related: Hot Property: The biggest property headlines from the week 9-13 November]