NEWS 09

HERALDSUN.COM.AU FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2016

Were a boom town

Melbournes home prices double for the second decade in a row
MELBURNIANS alone among the nations capital-city
dwellers have seen home values double in the last decade.
Sydney home values skyrocketed last year, but in the 10
years to last month Melbourne
home values grew by 100.9 per
cent, leaving Sydney a distant
second on 78 per cent growth.
But analysis by CoreLogic
RP Data found this wasnt a

BENN DORRINGTON
patch on the previous decade:
between 1996 and 2006 values
rose by 167 per cent, and also
more than doubled in every
capital city but Darwin.
WBP Property Group property valuer Greville Pabst said
Victorias stable economy and
growing population were the
key in Melbourne.

The city has been favoured

by ideal conditions over recent
years, including record low interest rates, low unemployment, population growth and
low energy prices, he said.
Melbourne isnt expected
to continue to perform at current levels for the forthcoming
decade, simply because it has
already experienced such
tremendous growth.

Mr Pabst said he expected it

would be about a dozen more
years before the citys home
values redoubled.
CoreLogic RP Data research showed home values
jumped 75.3 per cent in Darwin
in 2006-2016. In Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Hobart values grew less than 50 per cent.
CoreLogic research analyst
Cameron Kusher said home

values around the country had

been affected by poor wage
growth and continuing economic uncertainty.
While there was a time
when home values doubled
over a 10-year period, the data
suggests that the days of such
rapid value rises are behind
us, Mr Kusher said.

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estate news
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heraldsun.com.au

benn.dorrington@news.com.au
@BennDorrington

URGENT CALL
FOR RSPCA TO
SAVE BOBBY
KATHRYN POWLEY
A SKIN-and-bone Shetland
pony could die within a month
on an agistment farm, despite
pleas for the RSPCA to save
him, a rescue group says.
Bobby, the 10-year-old
Shetland, is emaciated and
on his last legs unless urgent
action is taken, says White
Angels Horse Rescue, which
is blaming the RSPCA for his
demise.
The RSPCA has confirmed
it is investigating, but wont
say more. Its officers have
visited the animal twice, and
Nillumbik Council has also
been to the property after
being notified of Bobbys
condition.
He will be lucky to last a
month, said Kirriley Scanlon,
of White Angels.
Its negligence and
aggravated cruelty. They
should be charged for letting a
pony get so emaciated, she
said of the RSPCA.
Ms Scanlon said Bobbys
condition was heartbreaking.
Last week when she saw
Bobby, he had no feed. This
week, when she returned with
the Herald Sun, he had hay.
Ms Scanlon said his poor
health was easy to spot, with
his skin pulled tight over
sunken hips, his ribs and back

Bobby the shetland pony

on a farm in Kangaroo
Ground (main) is under
investigation by the
RSPCA amid reports of
negligence; and (inset
below) with Kirriley
Scanlon of White Angels
Horse Rescue.
Picture: ALEX COPPEL

bone visible, and a distended

tummy likely due to worms.
He is badly underweight.
Its a disgrace, she said.
Ms Scanlon said she had no
legal grounds to remove
Bobby, which was why she
was angry with the RSPCA,
which has the power to do so.
Nobody was at the farm
when the Herald Sun visited

on Wednesday, but the owner

later acknowledged Bobby
was slightly underweight.
We do feed him twice
daily, he said.
He rejected criticism
against the RSPCA, saying it
was grossly unfair.
The RSPCAs
spokeswoman, Sharon
Mackenzie, confirmed an

investigation was ongoing.

As such, we are not able to
make any comments on the
matter, she said.
Nillumbik Council issued a
statement, with acting chief
executive officer Conal
Creedon saying the council
was aware the RSPCA was
investigating a horse.
kathryn.powley@news.com.au

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