Centralian Advocate, Friday, July 15, 2011 — 13

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Saturday: Kids Gymkhana, Unregistered Horse Races, Rodeo Events, Tyre Race. Jumping Castle

for kids. Saturday Night Ball- “Wild Wild West East”

(Gentlemen must wear tie - which you can purchase at the door)

Sunday: Family Sports Morning, (Track & Field Novelty Races), Adult Gymkhana, Rodeo Events.

Sunday Night Dance: Talent Quest with DJ Daran Rumbal.

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Entry: Adults $30/weekend or $15/day ticket,KIDS U16: Free for all activities.

Ball: $5 entry, Camping with Amenities: $10 per car.BYO Alcohol. Ice, canteen with food & drinks available. More details see www.hartsrangeraces.org.au

No fi reworks or motorbikes

The original Picnic Weekend Races Meeting - 210km NE of Alice on the Plenty Highway.

$10,000IN PRIZES

TO BE WON!64 Annual

Meeting

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July 31st - 1st Aug

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NEWS

Housing slump fear KO’dSteve menzies David Forrest

... property willincrease invalue at afaster rate

Doug Fraser ...forecasterssuggestAustralia has anunder-supply ofhousing

FEARS of a property slump,which saw prices plunge in the USby up to 30 per cent, are unfoundedin Australia, according to econom-ists, despite the market dipping inmany major centres.

And Alice Springs is expected tomaintain the old adage of realestate being a solid investment.

Real Estate Institute of NT vice-president David Forrest said his-torically Alice Springs has provenover the long term that pricesincrease in value.

He said: ‘‘It will be important toevaluate the industry figures forthe June quarter. But anyonelooking at real estate as an invest-ment needs to look at the longterm.

‘‘I have always found that prop-erly purchased and geared proper-ty will increase in value at a fasterrate than inflation.

‘‘Anyone looking to make a quickgain out of rapidly moving mar-kets is not an investor but a trader

and should accept the risks as partof their involvement in the mar-ket.’’

Alice Springs house prices andavailability of land have been aconstant topic for discussion.

For a number of years the de-bate has raged about whether ornot prices are too high, if there is ahouse price ‘‘bubble’’ and fearsthat it might burst.

But Alice Springs’ longest serv-ing real estate principal DougFraser said real estate agenciesand economists expect prices totrack sideways in the short termand then rise in line with house-hold disposable incomes.

He said: ‘‘Supply features of the

housing market support this as-

sessment.

‘‘Most forecasters, including of-

ficial agencies, suggest that Aust-ralia has an under-supply of hous-ing.’’

In this regard, the Alice Springsreal estate market is in line withthe national situation.

After almost two years of extra-ordinary growth in the averageprice of a residential home in AliceSprings, the property market isgoing through a correctionalphase.

Mr Fraser said the market wasremarkably predictable from 2002through to 2009 with an almost

uncanny regular increase of about8.5 per cent per annum.

He said: ‘‘In 2010 and 2011 how-ever, prices increased by 22.4 percent and 9.86 per cent respectively.

‘‘With large recent price in-creases it is only natural for mar-kets to go through a correctionalphase otherwise the price of prop-erty would soon be out of reach formost buyers, particularly first-home buyers.

‘‘Also banks and other financialinstitutions tend to become morecircumspect with their lendingcriteria to ensure that borrowersdo not fall into the trap of beingunable to meet their repaymentcommitments.

‘‘They tend to become evenmore cautious when there hasbeen a spike in prices,’’

‘‘What does all this mean for thelocal market?

‘‘I think we can except thatprices will more than likely fallback into line with the traditionalincrease of about 8.5% per annum

resulting in a short- term adjust-ment.’’

Mr Fraser said sellers who hadtheir properties on the marketright now may need to adjust theirprices back to where the marketsuggests they should be.

Anyone who bought their prop-erty before 2009 will still make ahealthy capital gain which is wellabove the national average.

A slight price adjustment willmake properties more attractiveto home buyers with a resultantstimulus in the overall propertymarket.

This is good for both buyers andsellers.

Mr Fraser said the six monthsfrom January through June gavea much clearer picture of whatprices were likely to do in the shortto medium term with averageprice decreases of 2.7 per cent inthe March quarter and 0.7 per centin the June quarter.

He said these slight movementswere indicative of a correctionrather than a fall in prices.

Saving a billion litres of waterCameron Boon

Simon Brisbane from PowerWater shows Senator Don Farrell, Steve McKenzie andMark Wiltshire the process of detecting leaks in underground water pipes

MORE than a billion litres of Alice Springsdrinking water will be saved, thanks to thenew Alice Water Smart initiative.

The $15 million, two-year project waslaunched by the Parliamentary Secretaryfor Urban Water and Sustainability, Sena-tor Don Farrell on Tuesday.

Senator Farrell said: ‘‘We live in a climatewhere there’s an ancient cycle of droughtand flood.

‘‘Sometimes, as has happened in the pastsix months, that change can come veryquickly.

‘‘We know the droughts will return andthe Alice Water Smart project is aboutpreparing ourselves for when that happens.

‘‘In the Centre, you’ve always had prob-lems with water and this program aims tosave about 1.6 gigalitres of water every year.

‘‘That is equivalent to about 1 per cent ofthe water that Adelaide uses in a year, so it’san enormous amount.’’

The Federal Government put forward $7.5million for the project while thePowerWater Corporation, the Departmentof Natural Resources, Environment and theArts and Sport, the Alice Springs TownCouncil, the Arid Lands EnvironmentCentre and Tourism NT also contributed tomake up the $15 million.

Initiatives to save water include a $6.5million boost for water re-use infrastructurewhich will allow recycled and treated waterto be used in irrigation. Rebates for house-hold items have also risen from $200,000 to$1.5 million and the Town Council will get$1.2 million to improve irrigation to parksand ovals.