Rising Damp Melbourne

Asia-Pacific property boom slows as authorities try to rein in prices

From Mumbai to Melbourne, Asia’s property boom is stalling as the highest interest rates and government efforts to curb prices take hold. In China’s biggest cities, growth slowed in April after the government stepped up property measures. In India and Australia, prices are falling after the steepest interest rate increases among major economies. In the financial hubs of Hong Kong and Singapore, price growth is moderating after increased deposit requirements and land releases. In Japan, the worst earthquake on record snuffed out signs of a recovery, while South Korean banks remain weighed by soured property loans.

“Across Asia-Pacific, you have seen a policy induced pullback,” said Rod Cornish, the head of real estate strategy at Macquarie Capital Advisers. “It’s a required pullback because if some of these markets had been allowed to continue, you would have had more overbuilding, more overvaluation, and a bigger correction down the track.”

Asia’s recovery from the credit crisis turned into a boom for many of the region’s property markets as surging economic growth and low interest rates threatened to create an asset bubble jeopardising the fastest economic expansion.

The signs of moderation in prices may reduce the need for further tightening measures and bring Asia closer in line with Europe and the US, where housing markets remain weak almost three years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

Home prices in 20 US cities dropped in March to the lowest level since 2003, showing housing remains mired in a slump almost two years into the economic recovery. Prices in Ireland, among the worst hit nations by the global recession, fell 1 percent in April from March and have now tumbled 40 percent since peaking in 2007.

Cooling momentum

“Central banks are raising rates and that is certainly helping to cool the momentum along with the different macro-prudential measures,” said Tai Hui, the head of Southeast Asian economic research for Standard Chartered. “We are still expecting more rate increases, which will continue to be helpful in containing any exuberance in the property markets.”

Asia’s developing economies will grow 8.4 percent this year, compared with 1.6 percent in the euro region and 2.8 percent in the US, according to International Monetary Fund (IMF) projections.

efflorescence - rising damp - Somersoft Property Investment Forums

I have a unit in Ashwood,Melbourne belonging to a 22 unit complex. Built in 1983 eleven inch cavity brick. A sloping site. Have just returned to my unit from Japan after teaching there for 12 years. Have discovered efflorescence on the lower levels of brickwork on the lower side of my unit. It is evident that water has been seeping down from the front, from the front garden, over all these years. How the hell can this happen? Can anyone recommend a builder/plumber/landscape architect/etc. to identify the source of water. Many thanks, Jack As a uni student I shared a house for a year with the house's owner (a mature age student in the same course). It was on a hill too but under the house there was a sort of a pond, which filled every time it rained. He spent a few weekends digging trenches out from under the house and down through the front garden. Hardly ag drains, but they did the trick. That might be all your place needs (ag drains that is, not open-air run-off trenches). The recommended method is to dig a 300mm trench to sufficient depth and fall to protect the foundations, then fit a 90mm pvc slotted pipe in the bottom of the trench. Fill the trench to the top with 20mm scoria or screenings. Do not backfill top of trench with soil, mulch etc. Sand can be used to cover the top surface. The agi-drain should be discharged via a silt pit with sump and removable lid to an appropriate legal point of discharge, e.g. storm water system. Clean pit regularly. The silt discharge pit is an important component of any drainage system - especially agi-drains - this allows monitoring the flow rate (if there is not a good flow of water into the pit during heavy rain the system may be blocked and require further investigation The recommended method is to dig a 300mm trench to sufficient depth and fall to protect the foundations, (in my case the engineer recommended 1.2 metres). First place geocloth at the bottom of the trench. Cover this geocloth with 50mm of screenings. Then fit a 90mm pvc slotted pipe in the trench. Fill the trench to the top with 20mm scoria or screenings. Do not backfill top of trench with soil, mulch etc. (All scoria should be enclosed in geocloth). The agi-drain should be discharged via a silt pit with sump and removable lid t o an appropriate legal point of discharge, e.g. storm water system. Clean pit regularly.