Smoke Alarms

Do you know how to minimise the risk of fire to your family at home?

Under section 2.16 of your lease, a tenant has the responsibility of taking reasonable steps to regularly check and test if these devices are in good working order, and to immediately report to your property manager if they are not.

All properties leased and sold must now have hard wired smoke alarms, which have a maximum life of 10 years before they require replacement. If the unit starts beeping don’t detach the cover to stop it, as the beeping means the internal 9V battery will need to be replaced straight away to help ensure your safety in the event of a fire. The green light in the unit indicates that the unit is connected to the mains power.

The WA Department of Fire and Emergency Services recommends that regular testing of a smoke alarm be undertaken no less than once per month to check that the battery and the alarm sounder are working. It is also a good time for everyone at home to listen and learn the sound the alarm makes. The Department recommends that the battery is replaced once per year so it may be worthwhile fitting a new one when you move in to your home and again on the anniversary each year.

If you have any queries please give your Portfolio Manager a call!

Thank you for your support

Thank you to all our most valued clients, for partnering with us this year. 

Please take a moment to watch this video to see what your partnership has allowed us to achieve through our charitable organisation, DQ Foundation.

REIWA Awards Night

We are very proud to congratulate our award winning team at this year’s REIWA Awards Night.

Stephen Humble achieved a new milestone breaking through to the $10-$15 Million Dollar Club award, sharing this milestone achievement award with Darran Deacon who again claimed this prestigious category award, well done Darran. Johann Dique had again been awarded the $16 - $20 Million Dollar Club category with Team Rolt, David and Marina Rolt, taking out the offices top award with an outstanding $31 - $34 Million Dollar Club award, an incredible achievement evident of the hard work and professionalism in assisting home sellers and buyers throughout the year.

Whilst it is fantastic for our whole sales team to have received remarkable industry recognition we could not have done this without partnering with you, our administration, support and property management teams. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the property owners who partnered beside us and had great success throughout 2012 – 2013. DQ Real Estate looks forward to bring you Peace from the outset, Hope for an ideal result and the Joy of having and expert walk the journey with you.

Thank you for supporting us and recommending us, from your team at DQ. 

Set to rise

Capital growth expectations over the next 12 months improved at all price points for established houses and apartments. NAB’s view of the market takes into account rising unemployment expecting to dampen house price growth, however NAB sees capital city house prices are set to rise by 3½% in the year to September 2014 and 3% in the year to September 2015.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics released the latest CPI figures for the September quarter this week. Perth is now second only to Darwin (3.4%) with the nation’s highest inflation rate.

At 2.6% for September this indicates Perth’s annual inflation rate is double the previous June quarter rise for Perth. The interest rate could well be on the move again, financial professionals may be holding out for a rate cut whilst other property professionals are tipping a rise towards the middle part of next year.

Listings continue to trend down taking the average selling days from 50 in the June quarter to 49 in the September quarter.

Reiwa.com data indicates the overall market median for WA has fallen 2.8% in the September Qtr with a surge in first homebuyer activity and softer upper end sales. Taking the revised June Qtr median from $523,000 to around $508-510,000. A mix of both first homebuyer and investor activity in the September quarter could well have attributed to an increase in multiresidential sales. WA remains the national first homebuyer powerhouse with the latest monthly ABS finance data (ABS Cat 5609) for August 2013 indicating the proportion of first home buyer loans in WA (excluding refinancing) actually rising to 34.5% The national trend masks the performance of some states with WA continuing to be the standout national first home buyer state both in 2012-13 and into 2013-14.

A combination of slow rental growth and faster capital appreciation suggest rental yields are marginally falling in WA with a median weekly rent at $475 for houses and 

$450 for units, dropping for the first time since mid 2000 by 1% respectively for the quarter.

An 81% increase in properties for lease over the past 12 months has finally flowed through into lower market rents as landlords adjust asking rents.

Properties available for lease have remained stable throughout the September quarter peaking in late August at 4,160. The last 6 months has seen total rental listings increase 20% but the last quarter dropped 6%.

The drop in listings has seen Perth’s vacancy rate drop back to 3.1% for the September quarter. Falls in both the median house rent to $475 / week (-1.1%) and median multi- residential rent to $450 / week (-2.2%) contributed to the fall in the overall median rent which fell 1.1% to $470 / week.

Property remains in high demand, improving for all types of new and established property. If you’re thinking about selling or leasing and would like to consider your options in today’s market, talk to the experts at DQ we will walk the journey with you.