Ballina, Yamba are property ‘hot spots’
June 25, 2008
Ballina and Yamba have been identifed as property ‘hot spots’ in a national survey.
“Regardless of the stage of the property cycle, there are always new hot spots emerging that have the potential to out-perform the market and deliver above-average growth to investors,” said national property market forecaster Terry Ryder of http://www.hotspotting.com.au/.
Woman’s relocation hassles spark new business venture
June 6, 2008
A Ballina woman’s hassles in relocating from Brisbane has led to a new business, Swift Packing Service, a pre-removal packing service for residential and commercial customers.
“It came about by my own relocations,” said business owner Olivia Hughes.
“After much research I discovered there was no such service in the Northern Rivers area available to me.
“On speaking to removalists, I discovered that they could pack my belongings. However, the common comment was that it was quite a steep charge because mainly they had to pack for the elderly and it was a complete hassle for them.
Rising sea levels could cause 50m loss of shoreline: academic
June 3, 2008
A sea level rise of up to half a metre will lead to an average loss of around 50 metres of shoreline, impacting heavily on many parts of Northern NSW.
That’s the grim prediction from Dr John Hunter, who will give the keynote address at Southern Cross University’s 2nd Regional Forum on Climate Change and Coastal Communities on July 3 and 4.
Dr Hunter, an oceanographer with the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Co-operative Research Centre based in Tasmania, said the sea level was predicted to rise by up to one metre in the next 100 years, leading to a dramatic increase in flooding and erosion along the coast.
“In the last part of the 19th century we have seen sea levels start to climb significantly and we can expect that by the end of the century it will rise by half to one metre,” Dr Hunter said.
Mortgagee in possession legislation opposed
April 10, 2008
The NSW Labor Government abandoned thousands of families who are struggling to pay their mortgages today when they opposed Coalition legislation designed to ensure the equity in their houses is protected, Member for Ballina Don Page said.
The legislation introduced by Mr Page provides that a mortgagee in possession must ensure homes are sold at market price and not just at a price to cover the lender’s interest in the property.
“This protects the borrower’s equity in the home. Last week the Reserve Bank said there are 40,000 home owners in NSW who are 30 days or more behind in their payments and 15,000 of those are 90 days or more behind,” Mr Page said.
“These people would benefit from my legislation becoming law now in the event they are unable to maintain their loan.
