Investors struggle to get good information on property markets because ?analysis? in traditional sources, such as newspapers, is so poor. Too often articles presenting data relevant to real estate are distorted because the writer is not an expert in the field.

Take this example: The Mercury, the daily newspaper for Hobart, shouted recently that ?Tasmania?s population has boomed in the past five years?. Its analysis of Census figures was that Tasmania had experienced a ?surprising surge in population?.

The basis for these assumptions? The state?s population rose 15,800 over five years, from 460,681 to 476,481. That?s a rise of 3.4% between 2001 and 2006. If Tasmania had increased 3.4% in a single year, you might have called it a ?boom?. But Tasmania has averaged just 0.67% a year since 2001 ? that?s roughly half the national average and one of the more dismal performances among the states and territories.

The best you can say about it is that Tasmania has stopped the net population loss that occurred before 2001, but it?s hardly the ?dramatic reversal? reported by The Mercury. Tasmania?s situation has improved, and that?s one reason why investors targeted the state in 2003 and 2004, but a population boom? Give me a break.

Another example was an article in The Advertiser, Adelaide?s daily paper, which claimed: ?The top-end city residential market is continuing to boom.? Why did they claim this? Because a developer announced a project to build 13 luxury townhouses. I had no idea the Adelaide market was so small that a development of 13 homes provided evidence of a ?boom?.