I’m sure Highrise Harry would write for free

Which makes you wonder why the Murdoch stable doesn’t cut Robert Gottleibsen’s pay completely and recruit Highrise instead, from BS:

…over the weekend, Australia’s biggest apartment owner and developer, Harry Triguboff, sent me a long email explaining why he is a lot more optimistic in January 2016 than he was during 2015.

I am going to quote large segments of the email because it means that fears of an imminent dwelling collapse in our largest market are fading, although if there was a significant fall in migration or tourism that could change. The trends isolated by Meriton are of great significance to our sharemarket, particularly bank shares.

• Renting: Demand for rental properties is creeping up and there is no sign of falling anywhere. “The market is rising more this year than last year and we believe that the number of people we have is rising not only because of increases from migrants and retired people but also because of rising number of tourists, students and foreign workers. All have to be housed,” Triguboff says….
• Sales: Apartment sales are strong. The only weakness is that the banks cannot guarantee people who buy off the plan how much the banks will lend in two years’ time, when the apartment is completed and the purchase must be funded. “Therefore we believe that completed properties will be in great demand and will rise in value.“We definitely are selling some of our old properties which are rising in price…
• Child-minding centres: The centres are “extremely popular” because there is plenty of work. Many women prefer work to sitting at home. Women’s wages will increase so child-minding centres will flourish even more…
• Stockmarket: “We Australians are the worst salesmen in the world when it comes to promoting our country. We cry forever that the price of coal and iron is dropping but we are the most efficient and cheapest in the world. So we will win, it is only a matter of time.“If you ask an average Australian how the mining weakness affects him he will tell you that petrol is cheaper and interest rates are low”…
• Immigration: People from the most prosperous countries are knocking on our door all the time. Many Australians are coming back. They gain a greater appreciation of home when they try to live elsewhere.

Come to think of it, why not sack everyone and automate the rent-seeker press-release service. Or did they already do that?