Thursday 7 May 2015

Net Worth: March 2015

Not much change overall, with gains in my retirement account and home valuation mostly offsetting weakness in my stock portfolio during March. The home valuation is more approximate than usual this month as I missed getting some of the online median sales price data. In any case the home valuation may turn out to be highly conservative, as it is based on median sales data for the entire suburb/postcode area, whereas the value of our house may be boosted if there is rezoning (for medium or high density housing) in the near future due to the construction of a new regional hospital in the vicinity.

Some neighbours on the adjacent main road (opposite the hospital construction site) have already been offered an 'option' to sell their property to a developer for around $2.5 million in two years time (they only get a 1% payment up front). While not everyone has accepted the offer (some are holding out for a higher price, while others don't wish to sell their home at all, or wish to sell and move out immediately rather than having to wait for two years before selling their house), construction of the hospital is already underway and redevelopment on the surrounding area will soon follow. While our house is a bit further away from the hospital site, it is still within the surrounding 'zone' earmarked for strategic redevelopment, and a council decision on rezoning is due very soon. It is quite likely that our house with get rezoned from current standard residential (single dwelling, maximum 8m/2 storey) to medium density (eg. townhouses/villas or blocks of 3-storey flats). DW fondly imagines we will eventually be able to sell in a couple of years for $2.5m or more (compared to the current valuation of around $1.15m), but I will wait and see how the zoning goes and what offers from developers actually eventuate. As the 'family home' isn't subject to capital gains tax in Australia, any windfall profit would be tax-free, allowing to replace our house and still have money left over to invest or add to our super.



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