Letter from the editor: A Christmas and another year ahead

It has been a really long year, and a thrilling one for property, so Merry Christmas and Happy 2014!

The Property Observer team has been busying away, and after moving to Melbourne from Sydney and joining the team in September it has been a quick and steep learning curve. We saw Jonathan Chancellor move into the strategic editor at large position, and his commentary on the market and of some of the rich and famous' properties and buying habits has never been more insightful.

It can be a hard task putting the newsletter together, not to mention staying on top of all the different goings on in the industry across the country. However, it isn't my task alone - it's the strength of the entire team here that has it hitting everyone's inboxes daily like clockwork. We'll never tire of looking at the beautiful and not-so beautiful properties, reading the hilarious listings, or bringing you news of the scandals affecting the industry. A big thanks for me goes to the editorial team here, as well as the other departments at the Private Media offices.

I've been gratified to receive mail from so many of you, and to hear what you want to read more about, and we've tried our hardest to respond to all of the emails received. I started writing these regular 'letters from the editor' to discuss some of the more pressing issues for Property Observer, property reporting and to share the experiences of our journalists. It has been great to see you responding so well to this. I'll continue to write these over 2014, as we want to share with you how things operate and give you the chance to have your say - after all we write this for you. Whatever it is, send me a line.

We've noticed increasingly that readers are accessing the site by their mobile phones and tablets, and so there are a number of changes currently underway. The design, the way our newsletters function, and our mobile offerings for the site will all be updated and you may have noticed a few smaller changes already. All your constructive feedback, negative or positive, is welcome and will be taken into account. You may also notice some new names writing for us as we strengthen our team and panel of experts.

While the majority of the editorial department here is heading off on holidays after next week, Property Observer will still have fresh content over the break, including some Christmas- and New Year-themed property posts and a number of other surprises. We hope this light-hearted approach over the festive season will be a welcome relief from some of the harder news stories of the year, however we'll have some important updates throughout. You'll also see some of our 'year in review' stories, where we look back at our Top Ten headlines and trophy homes from the year gone by. It's always interesting to see what was being talked about at this time last year, and how the market has changed.

Some of the bigger events of our last few months:

September
Jonathan and Margie Blok begin He Said/She Said regular columns

November
We started spotlighting different suburbs requested by readers

December
The iconic Nelson Mandela passed away, leaving people gathering outside his home to lay tributes.

Thank you for an amazing 2013. Spend Christmas with your loved ones, whether you are renting, paying off a mortgage, owning outright or somewhere else. Not everyone is as privileged, and it's always good to step back and be thankful. So thank you to you all, the readers.

As always, you can email me: jduke@propertyobserver.com.au I'll keep an eye on it over the break and will get back to you.

Send us your Christmas property decoration photos, and let us know your plans for the New Year. Also let us know if there's anything you want to read, see more of or get access to.

Onwards and upwards.

MY 2013 PROPERTY OBSERVER HIGHLIGHTS:
Valuers speak out: What's happening from their perspective
Letter from the editor: Misunderstandings lead to bad decisions
Is there a property bubble? The experts have their say