The true cost of home delivery

The true cost of home delivery, Australia's worst suburbs for pests revealed, and gold prices just dived. Here are five things you may have missed this week.

The cost of convenience? Almost 40% more for groceries

No time to head to the supermarket? No worries. There's an app for that.

But convenience comes at a cost.

Consumer group CHOICE found a basket of groceries costing $40.56 when you buy in-store at ALDI, can end up costing $53.22 if you place an order through DoorDash.

The same basket, costing $44.95 in-store at Coles, can cost $60.53 if you order through Uber Eats.

At the top end of scale, using a delivery service can see shoppers almost 40% more for an order of groceries to be delivered compared to grabbing a trolley and trudging around the aisles.

The higher cost isn't just about the delivery fee.

Delivery services can also add their own mark-up to products, in some cases pushing the cost of a basket of groceries 13% higher before the delivery fee is tacked on.

The extra cost may see some shoppers decide they have time for a quick run to the shops after all.

Australia's pest hot spots identified

It's shaping up to be a lot hot summer - perfect conditions for creepy crawlies that can wreck expensive damage on our homes or just be less-than-welcome house guests.

New research by AirTasker reveals the worst areas for pests, and those suburbs where even bugs think twice about settling down.

Sydney has officially claimed the title of Australia's pest hotspot. Eight of Australia's top 10 pest-infested areas are located within the city, lead by the CBD and Inner South, which topped the league table with a pest score of 61.04 out of 100.

Inner city Brisbane's took fourth place nationally with a score of 48.33, while Melbourne's inner suburbs came in sixth at 44.18.

The least pest-infested regions tend to remote and rural, where lower population density and reduced environmental pressures contribute to fewer domestic pest issues.

Cockroach infestations are the chief problem in Sydney and Perth, while in Melbourne the leading pests are mice and rats.

Brisbane tells a different story, with fleas emerging as the city's biggest pest problem.

The cost of pest control depends on the type of pest, the severity of the infestation, and where you live.

Allow anywhere from $166 to $654 to have cockroaches professionally treated, up to about $373 to rid your place of rodents, and $373 to clear out fleas.

Treating a termite infestation can cost over $4,000 according to AirTasker.

Gold loses its lustre - fast

Too bad if you are among the many who've queued to buy gold recently.

Having soared to record highs, the price of gold was hit with a reality check this week, recording its sharpest decline in 12 years.

After peaking at $6,628 per ounce at the end of last week, gold was trading below $6,300 by Thursday as jumpy investors cashed in their profits.

History shows that buying when the price of gold hits a high is often a risky strategy.

But gold may yet regain its mojo.

Gold prices have surged this year on the back of geopolitical and trade tensions plus economic uncertainty - factors that don't seem to be going away any time soon.

Webull drives down cost of trades

Webull Securities Australia has reduced the fee for its CHESS-sponsored stocks to a minimum of $1.

It makes Webull the lowest-cost CHESS-sponsored broker in Australia.

The pricing structure for US share trading is also being simplified, moving to a minimum $1.00 for regular, extended, and overnight hours.

Rob Talevski, CEO of Webull Securities Australia, says, "We are throwing down the gauntlet and setting a new benchmark in Australia to make share trading more inclusive for local traders and investors, regardless of trade size.

"We're introducing competition that will benefit local investors in a market that is often looked upon globally as an expensive place to trade."

The new fee structure is available for all account types on the platform, including individual, SMSF, and trust accounts.

Australian and US ETF trades on the platform remain at $0 brokerage.

One more train stop can save home buyers over $1 million

Property has always been about 'location, location, location'.

But if you're looking for affordability, maybe the mantra should be 'station, station, station'.

Research by PropTrack reveals dozens of suburbs where house hunters could save hundreds of thousands of dollars by looking in neighbourhoods just one train stop further from the city.

The biggest saving nationally is in Melbourne, where home buyers can potentially save a whopping $1.1 million by looking in Caulfield (median house price of $1.87 million) rather than neighbouring Malvern ($2.9 million).

In Sydney, house prices in Como ($1.75 million) in the city's south, are typically around $747,500 cheaper than in Oatley ($2.4 million) - one train stop closer to the city.

Brisbane buyers can potentially pocket savings topping $500,000 by looking at homes in Corinda ($1.22 million), one station along the line from Sherwood ($1.722 million).

The findings come as Domain reports Australia's house prices are rising at their fastest rate in four years.

According to Cotality, one in three property markets across Australia now have a median value of $1 million plus, a new record-high.

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