The Carbon era is upon us. Since our Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has ratified the Kyoto Protocol we now have a unanimous agreement among the Commonwealth Government and the State and Territory Governments to introduce a national greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme. We will see this coming into effect in 2010 most likely in the form of a Cap and Trade system and I will be posting the legislation as it is released but for now we have to sit and wait and see what they come up with.

The Gold Coast market remains buoyant and is still the strongest residential property market in southeast Queensland. Underlying uncertainty about interest rates, which have been on the decreasing and are expected to lower somewhat over the course of calendar 2008, did little to dampen buyer enthusiasm which over the past 18 months has generated solid prices for Gold Coast properties. Demand remained strong in all categories and, in all price brackets, indicating that considerable upside potential remains despite the gains that have been made over the past two years.