Hi, did you miss us? We took a little break last month but we are back with our new, improved Flat Chat Wrap podcast.We – Sue Williams and JimmyT – are now working on the basis that less is more. We are still going to talk about the apartment living issues of the day, large and small, to keep you informed and amused.But we’re going to put a clock on it so while our thoughts may occasionally wander down the odd tangent, our chat will never meander.We’re aiming for somewhere between 20 and 25 minutes per episode which is just long enough for a decent coffee break or a short commute.Listen HereDo let us know what you think and please, by all means, feel free to suggest topics we could discuss. It’s always good to get fresh ideas.This week we talk about the growing disparity between the median prices of apartments compared to houses and why this is happening. And you can also read more about that HERE.Jimmy will be talking about the window-sized hole he found in strata renovation regulations and how Fair Trading dodged the opportunity to fix it. You can also read more about that HERE.And Sue explores the world of community and neighbourhood Facebook pages while Jimmy dreams of a Mexican restaurant called Three Chihuahuas.On with the show (we did say it was going to be short and sweet).Transcript in FullJimmy 00:00And we're back. And in case you thought you dropped into the podcast halfway through, we're back from a little break we took over the holidays, to give you the Flat Chat Wrap again. Hello, Sue.Sue 00:11Hi, Jimmy, nice to be back!Jimmy 00:13Happy New Year.Sue 00:13And the same to you.Jimmy 00:15Today we're going to be talking about a flaw I found in the New South Wales strata regulations, and you've got something about apartment sales?Sue 00:26That's right. There's a huge report on apartment and house prices this week by Domain.Jimmy 00:33And there's a new piece of hardware being used for the Flat Chat Wrap now; it's a clock. We're gonna try and keep it tight. People seem to like podcasts that last less than half an hour, so we'll keep it tight, keep it snappy, keep it going. Keep it light, keep it funny, keep it short, keep it sweet. I'm Jimmy Thomson. I write the Flat Chat column for the Australian Financial Review and edit the Flat Chat website.Sue 01:02And I'm Sue Williams, a property writer with Domain.Jimmy 01:05And this is the Flat Chat Wrap.Growing gap in house and unit prices JimmySue, there's been a big report about the difference between apartment prices and house prices.Sue 01:28The latest Domain house report came out last week, and it showed house prices surging remarkably all around the country, but unit prices either rising a little bit or even falling in some areas. The gap between house prices and unit prices has now reached a record 66%. So, the median house price is 66% more than the median unit price, which is the biggest gap they’ve ever had.Jimmy 01:57Why is this happening?Sue 01:58Dr. Nicola Powell, the research analyst with Domain, says it's for a number of reasons. Investor activity is down, and investors mostly buy apartments. Because rents are down and the number of tenants are down as well, because we don't have overse
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Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.
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Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.
