National
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Shorter meetings but longer days – how COVID-19 has changed the way we work
One of the many things COVID-19 has had a dramatic impact on is the way many of us work. Those fortunate enough to be able to work from home have been able to adapt to this new reality – and it certainly has been “new”. Perhaps the biggest question for both employers and employees is whether working from home has…
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South Coast agent named one of Raine & Horne’s best
South Coast agent and Raine & Horne Mollymook/Milton Principal Ben Pryde has been named the ‘Top Salesperson (Principal) – Number of Sales’ at the 2020 Raine & Horne Awards. Held virtually for the first time in the property group’s 137-year history, this year’s awards saw Mr Pryde edge past Raine & Horne Double Bay principal Ric Serrao to take out…
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Josh Tesolin recruits three top agents for new Ray White office
Since joining the Ray White Group a little over a month ago, Josh Tesolin hasn’t let up for a minute. He has listed 30 properties, sold five, and this week recruited three top agents for his new Ray White Quakers Hill office. The new acquisitions are Taylor Bredin, Nathan Beazley, and Marc Haddad. “I am on a mission to be…
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RE/MAX Awards go virtual
RE/MAX Australia is doing things a little differently this year, moving to a virtual platform to announce its top performers for the January to June 2020 period. Coinciding with the RE/MAX Evolve II event, which brought together members and guests from Australia and New Zealand in a virtual platform, as well as speakers from across the globe, the announcement of award…
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REIA announce new CEO, Anna Neelagama
The Real Estate Institute of Australia has announced the appointment of Anna Neelagama as its new CEO. Ms Neelagama is replacing the outgoing Jock Kreitals, who spent five years as CEO and 12 years in total with the REIA.“Earlier in the year REIA embarked on a recruitment process for a new CEO and we received over 100 applicants for the…
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Illawarra, Launceston, and Ballarat the hottest regional markets
CoreLogic’s latest quarterly regional review analysed 25 of Australia’s largest non-capital cities, and while people seem to be leaving the capitals in droves, elsewhere in Australia there is a far more rosy outlook. Illawarra has recorded both the largest rise in housing values, and the biggest jump in home sales over the past 12 months. Illawarra’s annual growth rate sits…
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MBA calls for HomeBuilder extension, plus new $3.8b scheme
Master Builders Australia (MBA) has released its Pre-Budget Submission, which calls for an extension of HomeBuilder, plus a further stimulus measure named CommunityBuilder which would inject a further $3.8 billion into the industry. The submission
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LJ Hooker honours top performing individuals and offices
LJ Hooker has reinforced its commitment to service excellence, recognising its top performers across Australia at the real estate network’s awards and recognition nights, held virtually this year around the country. The five annual events, held by regions, recognise the top performing individuals and offices working across each part of real estate, including sales, property management, marketing, business strategy, and…
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Auction clearance rate holding firm
The preliminary auction clearance is holding firm, with the capital cities this week returning a success rate of 64.3 per cent on the back of slightly lower volume. This week CoreLogic reports 1042 properties were…
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Vendors adjusting asking prices suggests a broader slowdown: Domain
Almost 15 per cent of listings on the Sydney property market were reduced in price during July as vendors struggled to sell, according to a report from Domain. These figures have been reflected nationwide, with the larger capitals being much harder hit than smaller cities and regional areas. Sydney’s 14.7 per cent is down from a June high of 15.2…
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The science of social selling
Social media is a fantastic tool to market and sell property, but it won’t replace the experience and expertise of real estate agents, Novak Properties Director Lisa Novak says. Speaking as part of Transform 2020, Lisa says just because you can Google your symptoms when you’re unwell doesn’t mean you will make a good doctor. “These days we can get…
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Talk of ‘the end of offices’ not supported by data
The end of the office is far from nigh, according to the Property Council, who recently released their latest Office Market Report. “While there is plenty of commentary about the end of the office, the data doesn’t suggest this, and there is a long way to go as business works its way through the economic and social impacts of COVID-19,”…
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Brownlow Medallist ‘Aker’ joins Ray White Ascot
Brownlow Medallist, and three-time AFL Premier Jason Akermanis has joined Ray White Ascot, in the role of sales agent and auctioneer. The former Brisbane Lions player enjoyed a stellar 248-game career, kicking 263 goals over the years. Now he is returning to the state that made him famous, but in an entirely different role. “Having a professional purpose, the ability…
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Unused buildings will make good housing in the world of COVID-19
We are entering an era of profound change in how we work, learn, socialise and live with COVID-19. Many people will adjust to this new world order and work remotely at home if they don’t have to attend an office or other workplace. This, in turn, will create an opportunity to adapt unused buildings, which were needed for the previous…
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Australia won’t recover unless Victoria does too
Brendan Coates, Program Director, Household Finances, Grattan Institute and Matthew Cowgill, Senior Associate, Grattan Institute The announcement of stage 4 restrictions in Victoria marks a new, and depressing, stage in Australia’s response to COVID-19. The new measures will close non-essential retailers and most child-care centres across Melbourne, and impose stringent controls on industries such as meatworks and construction. The Victorian government estimates the measures will stop…
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Susie O’Neill’s riverfront home on the market
Eight-time Olympic medallist turned breakfast radio host, Susie O’Neill has put her family home of two decades on the market. Christine Rudolph of Ray White New Farm is selling the Yeronga home, which overlooks the Brisbane River. O’Neill and her ophthalmologist husband Cliff Fairley bought the house 19 years ago. “We have loved this house since we bought it back…
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CBA boss expects a 10-12% drop in housing prices
Yesterday, the Commonwealth Bank delivered a full-year cash profit of $7.3 billion, along with welcome news that the property market had been more resilient than first feared. In May, CBA chief executive Matt Comyn detailed a worst-case scenario, in which values would drop by 30 per cent. Yesterday, he was more optimistic. “I think a reduction…in the order of 10…
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Wage growth slumps to new national low
Wage growth is now at the lowest point on record, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reporting the national wage price index (WPI) increased by only 0.2 per cent in the June quarter, up 1.8 per cent over the past year. “After a steady period of wage growth over the previous 12 months, wages recorded the lowest annual growth…
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The Sydney suburbs with the most million-dollar mortgages
A study of Sydney’s housing market has revealed that 20 per cent of homeowners across the city are currently facing mortgage debt of over $1 million. According to findings by Digital Finance Analytics (DFA), over 20,000 homeowners have mortgages in the millions, a figure higher than anywhere else in Australia. It is also a historical record. The research, based on…
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Australia starting to feel the HomeBuilder effect
The last two months of data suggests that HomeBuilder has been successful in bolstering new builds and protecting jobs in the short term. And although HIA are cautious of over interpreting data from only two months, they believe these two months are “a clear indication that HomeBuilder will help protect jobs in the sector in the second half of 2020…
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Melbourne topples Sydney as largest CBD office market
Three recent office completions have helped tip the scales, making Melbourne the largest CBD office market in the country. JLL Research notes that, with the completions of Victoria Police Centre, The Lendlease Two Melbourne Quarter, and Dexus 80 Collins Street, the Melbourne CBD now boasts 5,107,840sq m of office space, surpassing Sydney’s 5,024,240sq m. “The completion of these three projects…
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HTW property clock shows general stability, but Sydney and Melbourne in decline
This month’s Herron Todd White property clock paints a picture of relative stability when it comes to market positioning, but with a few notable exceptions. Melbourne is officially “starting to decline” in both the housing…
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The power of certainty
As we head into the second half of the year, 2020 has been one of those years we wish we could forget. First there were bushfires, then floods, and now we are in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, more than ever, we need to sell leadership and mindset when we stand in the living room of would-be clients.…
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Buy a private QLD island for less than $400K
If you’re the type to have your Desert Island Discs list ready and waiting in case the BBC call you up to appear on their show, then you’ve probably already considered the joys of living on a secluded island. For everyone else, Worthington Island is just a half hour boat trip from Gladstone Airport, just off the coast of the…
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Survey: Aussie property investors buy an average of 300km from home
Gone are the days when property investors go and ‘kick the tyres’ themselves, so to speak. A new study by MCG Quantity Surveyors shows an abundance of Aussie-based property buyers are looking further afield for their investments, with 300km being the average distance between owners and their investment properties. Mike Mortlock, director of MCG Quantity Surveyors, analysed depreciation reports commissioned…
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Billion-dollar buildings may become stranded assets
A new report released by the Australian and New Zealand Green Building Councils today warns that billions of dollars of industrial buildings face becoming ‘stranded assets’ if they cannot prove that are low or zero carbon. Green Star in focus: The case for sustainable industrial buildings finds Green Star certified buildings reduce emissions by two-thirds at a minimal 2 per cent…
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Direct Connect and PropertyMe making moving easy with new integration
From August 10, Direct Connect will be integrated with leading property management software PropertyMe, providing property managers with an even easier way to submit their connections. PropertyMe is one of the largest and most complete cloud based software solutions for property managers, so for Direct Connect there were benefits in joining their panel of integrations to support value partners already…
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Auction clearance rates buoyed by a strong preliminary result across Melbourne
Auction clearance rates buoyed by a strong preliminary result across Melbourne This week’s preliminary clearance rate has come in at 65.9 per cent on the back of higher volumes than both last week and last…
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Changing times lead to new C21 mobile agent offering
Century 21, a real estate organisation with over 120,000 staff in 82 countries, recently launched their C21 IGNITE model, which tailors the franchising experience to agents wanting to operate remotely. Realising that the real estate industry was evolving, C21 introduced a new fully supported model for high performing real estate agents to operate their own business without the need for…
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Report: REA Group resilient against ‘unprecedented market conditions’
REA Group has announced its results for FY20, and considering the state of our economy, the figures are very pleasing.They report revenue of $820.3m, down only 6 per cent, with operating expenses of $328.2m, down…
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Westfield malls fall 10% in just six months
Owner of the Westfield malls, Scentre Group, has seen the value of Australia’s largest shopping centre portfolio plummet in value by 10 per cent, over the past six months. The official report will be released on August 25, but they have stated the ‘expected fall’ was “principally due to the estimated impact of the COVID-19 pandemic”. Scentre released figures last…
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Winners revealed for Openn Negotiation agent awards
Australian real estate tech platform Openn Negotiation held its third annual awards night yesterday with agents across the country tuning in live to the virtual event. Hosted by comedian Peter Rowsthorn, the night celebrated the agents and agencies achieving outstanding success using the digital sales process, which recently reached a $1 billion sales milestone. While Openn Negotiation has its founding…
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The race is on: home loan rates drop to 1.95%
It was only a fortnight ago that Loans.com.au broke the 2 per cent floor, offering introductory home loan rates of 1.99 per cent. Then Homestar Finance shaved 0.01 per cent off their variable rates, with a one-year fixed rate of 1.98 per cent. Now it’s Easy Street Financial stepping up, with an ongoing variable rate of 1.95 per cent. The…
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Residential land purchases rose 33% in June
Housing finance figures released by the Housing Industry Association (HIA) today show that buyers returned to the market in June, reflecting both improved confidence and the announcement of the HomeBuilder scheme. While the total number of home loans still dipped well under the figures for June, 2019, there was a 9.7 per cent rise in lending to those buying established…
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RBA: Economic recovery “likely to be both uneven and bumpy”
The Reserve Bank of Australia has maintained the current policy settings, leaving the cash rate on hold at 0.25 per cent in their August meeting. Below are truncated comments from Governor, Philip Lowe: “The global economy is experiencing a severe contraction as countries seek to contain the Coronavirus. Even though the worst of this contraction has now passed, the outlook…
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