Lack of transparency in property a concern



A lack of transparency with reporting asset prices in the property market misleads investors and ultimately costs them money, according to Wealth Within chief analyst Dale Gillham.
Aside from returns, the two most important factors are liquidity and transparency - and property loses to shares on both fronts, Gillham said.
He said the transparency of the share market is evident in every transaction being recorded and reported immediately, and is made available to anyone who chooses to explore the data.
"Therefore price manipulation is quite hard and if it actually does occur it would normally balance out quickly because of the liquidity and transparency of the market," Gillham said.
"However, with property, finding out details of actual transactions is often a huge challenge if not impossible to get, and further, it is also not timely information."
The ability to understand what price trends are doing in both shares and property can save thousands, Gillham added.
"Surely in this technology age the sale of each house could be reported in a very timely manner and made available to all," he said.
"Doing so would bring more transparency and make the property market fairer."
Recommended for you
Infrastructure assets are well-positioned to hedge against global uncertainty and can enhance the diversification of traditional portfolios with their evergreen characteristics, an investment chief believes.
Volatility in US markets means currency is becoming a critical decision factor in Australian investors’ ETF selection this year.
Clime Investment Management is overhauling the selection process for its APLs, with managing director Michael Baragwanath describing the threat of a product failure affecting clients as “pure nightmare fuel”.
Global X will expand its ETF range of exchange-traded funds next month with a low-cost Australian equity product as it chases ambitions of becoming a top issuer of ETFs in Australia.