The Real Estate Podcast
Brisbane, Sydney & Dubai Property Growth Markets — Are Phones Killing Productivity and Wealth?
20 Dec 2025
Brisbane, Sydney and Dubai continue to dominate global property growth headlines — but are we sabotaging our own financial future by wasting hours scrolling on our phones? Do you know how much time you are spending on your phone? ► Record A Message https://www.speakpipe.com/realestateradio ► Subscribe here to never miss an episode: https://www.podbean.com/user-xyelbri7gupo ► INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/therealestatepodcast/?hl=en ► Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100070592715418 ► Email: [email protected] The latest real estate news, trends and predictions for Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra, Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. We include home buying tips, commercial real estate, property market analysis and real estate investment strategies. Including real estate trends, finance and real estate agents and brokers. Plus real estate law and regulations, and real estate development insights. And real estate investing for first home buyers, real estate market reports and real estate negotiation skills. We include Hobart, Darwin, Hervey Bay, the Sunshine Coast, Newcastle, Central Coast, Wollongong, Geelong, Townsville, Cairns, Ballarat, Bendigo, Launceston, Mackay, Rockhampton, Coffs Harbour. #PropertyInvestment #RealEstateInvesting #FirstTimeInvestor #PropertyManagement #RentalYields #CapitalGrowth #RealEstateFinance #InvestorAdvice #PropertyPortfolio #RealEstateStrategies #sydneyproperty #Melbourneproperty #brisbaneproperty #perthproperty #adelaideproperty #canberraproperty #PerthRealEstate #hobartproperty #RealEstate #RealEstateNews #MortgageTips #PropertyMarket #FinanceAustralia #BrisbaneInvesting #RealEstateDevelopment #adelaide #PerthRealEstate #FirstHomeBuyer #AustralianProperty #AustralianRealEstate #PropertyMarketUpdate #MortgageAustralia #FinanceTips #HousingAffordability #RealEstateTrends #AussieProperty #MortgageRates #HomeLoans #PropertyMarket #MortgageTips #InterestRates #BrisbaneProperty #QLDRealEstate #PropertyInvestment #AustralianHousingMarket #AdelaideProperty #AdelaideRealEstate #InvestInAdelaide #SouthAustraliaProperty #AustralianRealEstate #HousingTrends#MelbourneHousing #MelbourneInvestment #MelbourneMarket #PropertyInvestment #RealEstateTips #WealthBuilding #InvestmentStrategy #HomeBuying #AustralianProperty #RealEstateAdvice #SmartInvesting #UnitPricesPerth #SydneyProperty #SydneyRealEstate #SydneyAuctions #PropertyMarketUpdate #RealEstateNews #AustralianProperty #PropertyInvesting #AuctionResults #HousingMarket2025 #RealEstateAustralia #PropertyTrends #NSWProperty #HomeBuyersAustralia
Chapter 1: What is the impact of phone usage on productivity?
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I put one of those social media apps on my phone to tell me how much social media I am consuming every day. And I got to tell you, I was extremely shocked. I am on my phone 28 minutes a day and I thought, well, that's got to stop. That's got to come down. Almost half an hour a day I am losing from staring at my screen. How bad is your addiction?
Let's go to Sydney and catch up with Veronica Morgan from Good Deeds.
Chapter 2: How much time do Australians spend on social media daily?
Welcome to the Real Estate Breakfast. Have you calculated your total social media time on your phone?
Good morning, Craig. No, I haven't. I would think 28 minutes a day sounds light on compared to what a lot of people would be spending. I would hope I'm only spending that on it. I think I suspect a little bit more because I do use it for work. You know, I do post a bit on LinkedIn and comment on LinkedIn, also on Instagram, a little bit sort of Facebook sort of personal, it shows my age, I guess.
But I try to limit it and I try to stay off it and get out of the doom scrolls, that's for sure. But, you know, I'd be really happy if I was only 28 minutes a day because I am using it professionally as well.
Yeah. But what about walking around using the camera on your phone as a periscope for looking where you're going?
That is next level. You know, it's interesting. Whenever I go to a concert and I see these people who basically record the whole concert on their phones and I'm like, yeah, here. Are you really going to go away and watch any of this stuff? Because, you know, every now and then I do record a little bit and I've
very rarely gone back and watched any of it like it's pretty sad that you're actually watching experiencing life like through the lens as opposed to or through your screen as opposed to actually experiencing life I think that's really scary
Yes, no, that is absolutely 100%. I never understand why people do that. They're spending hundreds of dollars on these concert tickets. Some of them are streaming it, which means if they're streaming it, they can do that stream for the entire concert, which is, well, it's just daft, if I'm to coin an old 70s phrase. And regarding the phone, you know, what I do when I'm out...
I leave my phone in my car as much as possible. People who know me know that this is my behavior because I do try to live as much as possible in the 1980s. It was a much simpler life and less noise.
I have the discipline of not sleeping next to my phone. So I have to get up and go and get it.
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Chapter 3: What are the trends in the Sydney property market?
If I do decide I want to start scrolling in the middle of the night, which a lot of people do, I think it's really hard of rudeness to sit at the dinner table and be scrolling your phone. And there are some pretty bad manners out there in the sense that it's like, please pay attention to the people you're with. Stop trying to pay attention to people you're not with.
And certainly with my daughter, I've got a 19 year old and she's probably walks around using a phone as a periscope. I don't know. But we don't have the phone at the dinner table. And even when we're driving around, obviously not when she's driving, but if I'm driving, I'm like, please, can you put that away? Talk to me, you know, you need to be vigilant. And sometimes it's funny.
My daughter visited some family recently and came away and said, you know what, mom, I'm so glad that you were really strict with me about the phone in my bedroom and everything when I was younger, because we've got family members who are so addicted to their phones. They actually don't have a life. That is their whole life, which is really sad. And so that's her observations.
I'm glad that now she's a little bit older. She's thanking me for that discipline.
One of the key things about next year has happened, and that was with Michelle Bullock. You know, the RBA, they're a little bit nervous at this time of the year because of the Christmas spend. What is that going to do with the economy? All eyes are going to be on the first quarter of next year, which is fast looming. as to what they might do?
Well, yeah, I think the markets were pricing in rate drops at some point in 2026 for some time. And in fact, earlier in the year, in 2025, they were thinking that there was going to be more in 2025. And in the last couple of weeks, we've seen a complete about face. And now even some markets are pricing in some increases in 2026.
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Chapter 4: What social media habits are affecting our daily lives?
But I guess what I would say is to be careful about thinking that that's doom and gloom for the property market. We can argue whether prices should or shouldn't continue rising at the rate that they have been in various markets or not.
Be that as it may, if interest rates were purely responsible for price movements, then you would not have had booms in sort of Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth in 2023 when rates were still rising. Melbourne should have taken off in 2025 when rates started falling, you know. So I think what we need to recognise is that Australia is more than just one property market. Not all markets move in sync.
Even within a capital city, you've got different, you know, you've got micro markets and interest rates don't affect everybody equally. If you really don't want rates to go up and your mortgage repayments to go up, then stop spending it as Christmas on bulk, you know.
Now, I just want to give you some context to the dollars that we're going to be talking about, because if you break down 500,000 Australian dollars in local money, that breaks down to 1.2 million dirhams. And there are some cheap examples that we're going to be giving. For example, buying in local currency is and spending 350,000 local money.
Now that is converted into Aussie dollars of just over $122,000. And we'll also look at the capital of Abu Dhabi prices. So let's go to Mario Volpi, our expert resident on the ground in the UAE, and let's kick off with Dubai.
And for people trying to make sense of the apartment market, there are people, nurses perhaps, builders, you know, these people that are looking for these cheaper stock options. And you want to start us off in areas like international city discovery gardens and some parts of dubai south with those price points
Yeah, that's right, Craig. And just to add to that, there are also teachers. I mean, education is a very big growing sector here in the UAE and Dubai, especially teaching staff need somewhere to live. And often they look for the more affordable areas.
So if we start with the one bedroom range in the areas that you've mentioned, you're looking for purchasing power of around sort of four hundred and fifty thousand going up to seven hundred thousand for a one bedroom. The two bedrooms, they start probably around $700,000 and go up just over the million mark.
Now, these are practical value locations where unit sizes tend to be a little bit smaller, but the price per square foot is actually low.
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