Doubt.....What doubt? There seems to be a self uncertainty that builds up in the mind every time one makes a mistake or fails to accomplish a task, and with every successive blunder the uncertainty grows stronger until one doubts one's ability to do anything right. Being human we are host to a number of frailties, each one of which disturbs and depresses us, and makes us doubt our worth. We are not a mechanically precise machine, we are a bundle of nerves which often tangle and get jangled, but are capable of amazing performance.
We have more strength than we believe, there is more fight within us than we know, and far more potential than we could ever call forth or even dream of being possible. Never doubt yourself.
1. OCR steady at 3.0 per cent As was widely predicted, the Reserve Bank decided this week to leave the Official Cash Rate unchanged for the fourth month in a row. In his statement announcing the Bank's decision, Governor Glenn Stevens said that while there has been an improvement in both global economic sentiment and economic conditions in Australia, the most likely outcome in the near term is a period of sluggish output, with consumer spending likely to slow somewhat and investment remaining weak. As was widely predicted, the Reserve Bank decided this week to leave the Official Cash Rate unchanged for the fourth month in a row. In his statement announcing the Bank's decision, Governor Glenn Stevens said that while there has been an improvement in both global economic sentiment and economic conditions in Australia, the most likely outcome in the near term is a period of sluggish output, with consumer spending likely to slow somewhat and investment remaining weak. "Stronger dwelling activity and public spending will start to provide more support to overall
demand soon, and growth is likely to firm into 2010", he said. Governor Stevens observed that housing credit has been solid and dwelling prices have risen over recent months. "The Board's judgment is that the present accommodative setting of monetary policy is appropriate given the economy's circumstances", he concluded. 2. Strong half year for new home sales The number of new homes sold moved sideways in June, but were still up by 13 per cent for the first half of the year, according to the Housing Industry Association (HIA). Commenting on the HIA's latest survey of Australia's largest builders, HIA Chief Economist, Dr Harley Dale said that while the modest June monthly result was weighed down by softer sales results in New South Wales and Queensland, the first half of 2009 clearly marked a healthy turnaround from the last half of 2008. The number of new homes sold moved sideways in June, but were still up by 13 per cent for the first half of the year, according to the Housing Industry Association (HIA). Commenting on the HIA's latest survey of Australia's largest builders, HIA Chief Economist, Dr Harley Dale said that while the modest June monthly result was weighed down by softer sales results in New South Wales and Queensland, the first half of 2009 clearly marked a healthy turnaround from the last half of 2008. "Sales of detached homes rose by 18 per cent over the first half of 2009, signalling a pick-up in single dwelling starts in the back half of 2009", said Dr Dale. For the month of June, detached New Home Sales increased by 1.2 per cent in Victoria, 24.2 per cent in South Australia, and 8 per cent in Western Australia. Sales fell by 4.2 per cent in New South Wales and by 9.9 per cent in Queensland. Over the six-month period to June detached home sales were up in all five mainland states with the strongest gains evident for Victoria (up by 35.2 per cent) and New South Wales (up 25.7 per cent), followed by South Australia (up 7.7 per cent), Western Australia (up 4.2 per cent) and Queensland (up 3.5 per cent). 3. Dwelling approvals bounce back A bounce back in dwelling approvals in June almost made up for the big fall in May as unit and townhouse developments finally show some sign of improving, according to the peak body for the building and construction industry, Master Builders Australia (MBA).
MBA Chief Economist Peter Jones said that provided investors can overcome funding hurdles, the emerging signs of recovery in dwelling approvals should flow through to an improvement in residential building activity over the course of the year. A bounce back in dwelling approvals in June almost made up for the big fall in May as unit and townhouse developments finally show some sign of improving, according to the peak body for the building and construction industry, Master Builders Australia (MBA).
MBA Chief Economist Peter Jones said that provided investors can overcome funding hurdles, the emerging signs of recovery in dwelling approvals should flow through to an improvement in residential building activity over the course of the year. "The housing recovery is still being threatened by fragile confidence and particularly tight lending requirements enforced by the banks, with approvals of investor-driven units, apartments and townhouses still down by a massive 45 per cent on this time a year ago", Jones said. "Strict pre-sales and other bank lending requirements are frustrating investor-driven activity and availability of finance remains a concern for builders and developers." Jones warned that systemic structural issues such as developer levies, land release and delays in the planning process still remain major challenges that could prevent an adequate supply
response needed to cater for Australia's underlying demand for housing. The total number of dwelling units approved, seasonally adjusted, rose by 9.3 per cent to 11,086 in June, to be 14.3 per cent lower than the same month in the previous year. Private sector house approvals rose by 4.9 per cent to 8,385 to be down 1.3 per cent on the same month last year. The more volatile private sector `other dwellings' (apartments and townhouses) rose by 27.7 per cent in June to be 45.7 per cent lower than in June 2008. 4. Dutch development rides the tide King Canute knew he couldn't control the tides and it seems the Dutch have recognised the same, choosing to work with the ebb and flow rather than against. In an effort to make the best of the surrounding conditions, design house Waterstudio have developed The Citadel, the world's first floating apartment complex. King Canute knew he couldn't control the tides and it seems the Dutch have recognised the same, choosing to work with the ebb and flow rather than against. In an effort to make the best of the surrounding conditions, design house Waterstudio have developed The Citadel, the world's first floating apartment complex. Built on top of a floating foundation of heavy concrete caisson, the complex will house 60 luxury apartments, each with a garden terrace and view of the lake, a car park, a floating road and boat docks. Greenhouses will be placed around the complex, and the water will be pumped through submerged pipes, acting as a cooling source to reduce energy usage by 25%. 5. Keep your cool about fridge space It can be easy to create a happy, healthy environment while living with others, but sharing a fridge can be a whole different ballgame. From naturally occurring science experiments gone wrong, to ignored "this is mine, do not touch" notes, wouldn't it be easier if you could divide up the fridge into separate blocks? That's the idea behind Flatshare Fridges, a concept that landed a design student in the top nine finalists of Electrolux's Design Lab competition for 2008. Consisting of up to four stackable modules on top of a base station, each module can be further customised with add-ons like bottle openers or a whiteboard, effectively giving each housemate their own fridge without taking up the whole kitchen. 6. A welcome wake up call A New Zealand man found this week that wrong number phone calls aren't always an inconvenience, even in the early hours of the morning. The Waikato Times reports the Hamilton man awoke around 6.45am to answer a (misdialled) call, and while he was up, noticed smoke in the air. Investigating further he found a heater alight, so he raced naked out into the front yard where he put it out. When he called back the `wrong' number to express gratitude for the wake up call, he found the caller - who had been trying to ring a radio station - had coincidentally been a firefighter for eight years. | |
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