Digital Finance Analytics (DFA) Blog

Now as the AFR reported fines for underquoting in NSW will be increased by five times as the state government cracks down on real estate agents’ use of misleading price guides in a hot market where buyers are already scrambling to secure a home. Under tough new rules proposed for the state, agents will have … Continue reading "Gazumping and Underquoting City…"

This is our weekly market update, where we start in the US, cross to Europe and Asia and end in Australia, covering commodities and crypto along the way. We got another major dose of uncertainty this week, with doubts about FED rate cuts, Trumps tariff U turns reacting to US affordability issues, rising doubts about … Continue reading "The Bulls Are Getting Airsick, As Reality Bites!"

In this week’s Friday evening chat, journalist Tarric Brooker and I dive into the contentious issues surrounding housing costs in Australia. The latest data tells a sorry story for ordinary Australians, while the political class seem to be driving in a different direction. Tarric’s slides were extra insightful today, and you can see them here: … Continue reading "Australia’s Housing Costs Go Ballistic: With Tarric Brooker"

One of the worst decisions the ABS made was to reduce the reporting of new lending trends from monthly to quarterly, delaying of course any reactions from regulators, or commentary from analysts. And today’s quarterly release relating to the September confirms what we had suspected, namely that the number of investment loans in the September … Continue reading "Investor Loans Go Boom!"

Today we dive into the latest analysis from our Household Surveys with a focus on household cash flows, and where financial pressure, as measured by rental and mortgage stress is most extreme, across post code. Whilst some are benefitting from the “wealth effect”, many are being left stranded. Details of our one to one service … Continue reading "DFA Live Q&A HD Replay: Can Households Balance Their Books? – Insights Into Family Finances …"

Another week, more stupidity across property, as Edwin and I look at the latest news and statistics. We cover the question of mortgage fraud, poor quality construction, and why Edwin believes the Real Estate industry is in for a shock, as reports of underquoting, and slowing sales appear. If you are buying your home in … Continue reading "Its Edwin’s Monday Evening Property Rant!"

Today we examine the difference between the scientific “deductive” method we use in our surveys to examine households and their finances in our surveys and the “induction” method economists tend to use. We walk through results from our latest analysis, ahead of the upcoming live show on Tuesday. Link for that show is here: https://youtu.be/3eDnmurg_G0 … Continue reading "Can Households Balance Their Books? – Insights Into Family Finances …"

This is our weekly market update, where we start in the US, cross to Europe and Asia and end in Australia covering commodities and crypto along the way. Though weirdly, these shows tend to get less views than many of my other productions, for me they are the most important because we dive into what … Continue reading "Rising Global Volatility Drives Markets Lower On Tech Valuation Concerns"

The latest home price data to the end of October revealed further median price rises across the board. Momentum has been building in the rate of housing value growth since the first rate cut in February, pushing the annual pace of growth to 6.1% nationally. The step up in growth rates also coincides with the … Continue reading "Have We Reached Peak Housing Stupidity Yet?"

Hard to believe only now is the main stream media catching up with the real estate agents practice of underquoting, something which Edwin and I have been highlighting for months now, and which is rampant especially in the Sydney market. Underquoting is the illegal practice of setting property price guides well below what the seller … Continue reading "Underquoting Rules…."

This is an edit of a live show as we dive into the latest financial markets action with Damien Klassen, Head of Investments at Walk The World Funds and Nucleus Wealth. Given the US data deficits, the massive AI investments and rising markets, how can investors make sense of the considerable uncertainty, especially given safe … Continue reading "DFA Live Q&A HD Replay: Investing Now: Navigating Peak Uncertainty With Damien Klassen"

Well, well, the Australian Treasury has a tiger by the tail now, because their exposure draft of the proposals relating to the use of cash appears to have misfired completely. To recap I made a show the other day titled The Empire Strikes Back On The Future Use Of Cash! Despite all the hype the … Continue reading "The Cash Con Objection Last Chance Saloon …"

This is our weekly market update, where we start in the US, cross to Europe and Asia and end in Australia, covering commodity and Crypto along the way. Things are, well complicated, following a busy week of US corporate results, with investors concerned about the strength of the artificial intelligence trade and about how aggressively … Continue reading "Fooled: Markets Claw Through Self-Deception To Uncertain Highs!"

In the latest chat with journalist Tarric Brooker, we dive into the migration question, in the light of the latest inflation and employment data and look at recent results from Canada, where migration has been dialled back as a counter factual. We also consider the latest smoke and mirrors on housing, and how politics is … Continue reading "Stagflation: Trick Or Treat? With Tarric Brooker…"

This is an edit of a recent show I recorded with Adam Stokes on his channel, where we did a deep dive into international trade, Albo’s recent US trip and the questions surrounding AUKUS, Rare Earths and Australian Superannuation. We got pretty philosophical!

Australia’s core inflation accelerated beyond expectations last quarter, complicating the Reserve Bank’s path to further policy easing and prompting money markets to slash bets on a near-term interest-rate cut. The latest data is way off the RBA’s August forecast, from 0.6% for the trimmed mean to 1%, and clearly heading in the wrong direction. Heads … Continue reading "SURPRISE! Time To Forget About More Rate Cuts As CPI Jumps?"

Today we dive into the thorny question of First Time Buyers and the recent attempts by Government to stoke the market. With the help of Founder and Principal of Good Deeds Property Buyers Veronica Morgan, we pull apart the current market and consider issues raised from viewer questions. Veronica Morgan is the Founder and Principal … Continue reading "DFA Live Q&A Replay: Avoiding Traps For First Time Buyers: With Veronica Morgan"

This week Edwin and I delve into scams, price movements along transport hubs, and explain why people are still wanting to get out of Melbourne, even as rental property supply is dwindling further in Sydney. Meantime the Real Estate industry is spruiking to high heaven, matched only by the massive spread of reports in the … Continue reading "Its Edwin’s Monday Evening Property Rant!"

One of the critical aspects of our freedoms in Australia is to be able to hold our elected representatives and the machinery of Government and its associated agencies to account. We are facing another battle as Australia’s Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation is on the brink of significant reform through the Freedom of Information Amendment … Continue reading "Turning Freedom Down Another Notch!"

Well, October is living up to its status as the most volatile month of the year as markets reach new highs, despite signs cockroaches are hiding in the woodwork from rising private credit risks, liquidity concerns, and rising delinquencies especially in US credit cards. The Global MSCI Index reach another high, up 1.78% across the … Continue reading "The Bulls Roar Some More; Despite The Cockroaches Lurking…."

I am joined by Edwin Almeida, our property insider as I walk through a 1:1 session on a really interesting and fast changing suburb. http://www.martinnorth.com/ Details of our one to one service are here: https://digitalfinanceanalytics.com/blog/dfa-one-to-one/ Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/ Find more at https://digitalfinanceanalytics.com/blog/ where you can subscribe to our research … Continue reading "What’s Happening In Ashfield 2131? With Edwin Almeida"

Housing affordability, whether for those seeking to rent or to purchase, is at peak stupidity, driven directly by Government policy. Leading the charge (yes we can of course talk about first time buyer bribes, blocked approvals and developer taxes) is migration. High migration leads to more demand for property, period. The recent March for Australia … Continue reading "The Migration Con Gets Another Leg Up!"

Despite all the hype from the Banks, as at August 2025, the total value of Australian banknotes in circulation was a record $104.094 billion. This is the first time in history that the $104b mark has been eclipsed in Australia. This reflects a recent surge in cash usage, with strong withdrawals and a record amount … Continue reading "The Empire Strikes Back On The Future Use Of Cash!"

This is an edit of our live show as we dive into the latest ructions in crypto with evangelist Adam Stokes. Why is Bitcoin moving as it is, and what are the implications of the emergence of US Government supported stable-coins? https://www.youtube.com/@adamstokes Details of our one to one service are here: https://digitalfinanceanalytics.com/blog/dfa-one-to-one/ Go to the … Continue reading "DFA Live Q&A Replay: What The F… Just Happened In Crypto? With Adam Stokes"

This week Edwin and I go to town on the gap between the hype and reality in the market, as underscore the risks which ensure from being misled by the former. And we highlight the differences across regions and locations, and the implications for those thinking of buying “further out”. It may not be as … Continue reading "Its Edwin’s Monday Evening Property Rant!"

There is a long con going on around investment property which few want to discuss. Despite the hype surrounding demand and price rises, analysis of true returns are often very disappointing, and well below current returns from financial markets or gold, at least at the moment. So today using our granular data we examine the … Continue reading "The Property Investment Mirage…."

This is our weekly market update, where we start in the US, cross to Europe and Asia and end in Australia, covering commodities and crypto along the way. This past week saw significant gyrations in the market as trade tensions with China, US company results, rising debt risk, more AI investments and crypto mayhem all … Continue reading "When Markets Confuse As Things Fall Apart…"

Today I want to discuss a crisp question: are current AI trends a speculative bubble, or do they represent a lasting change in economic fundamentals? Given that most of the US markets rise has been driven by the rise of a few stocks, centred on AI, this is important, not least because when a bubble … Continue reading "AI: Bubble Or Transformational (Or Both)?"

This is my edit of a monthly show I record with Nuggets News on the latest finance, markets and property news. Things are closing in on peak stupidity, and valuations remain stretched, and in Australia, property looks likely to rise further, despite the prospects of rate cuts receding. We are in bubble territory, and recent … Continue reading "The Pain Game: Economic Update October 2025"

This is an edit of a live show as we go through our latest analysis, and deep dive on households and their finances. We will have the post code engine on line, so you can nominate specific post codes for analysis. Ratios of net disposable income to mortgage and rental payments are still very elevated. … Continue reading "DFA Live Q&A HD Replay: How Real Households Are Coping With The Property Pickle, Despite The Hype"

Some important news in today’s show, as Edwin’s audio is returned to pristine condition (yeh), as we pull apart the latest property news. It seems property auctions are still on the nose, rents are rising, and Chalmers backs down over superannuation tax reform. Albo’s holiday came just at the right timer eh? If you are … Continue reading "Its Edwin’s Monday Evening Property Rant!"

Associate Professor John Wright is back to dive further into the root cause of the property market crisis: carry trades. In his earlier show we discussed the philosophy based on his new book. https://youtu.be/fWTsHsGBHzY In this show we go deeper, as John Wright centres on the concept of Carry Trades and the practical implications. When … Continue reading "The Real Estate Carry Trade Is A “Death Star”: With John Wright"