National
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Ex-AFL player kicking goals in real estate
Nathan Wright played for St Kilda Football Club between 2013-2018, before an injury sidelined his career prematurely. Now, he has gone on to join another stellar team, as a sales executive with Barry Plant Bayside, turning a hobby he held while playing in the AFL to a thriving career. “While playing AFL, I was lucky enough to purchase a couple…
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Housing values drop for a third month in a row
Australian housing values have suffered a third consecutive month of declines. CoreLogic’s home value index dropped 0.6 per cent over July, an ever-so-slight improvement from June’s 0.7 per cent drop, but a drop all the same. CoreLogic’s head of research, Tim Lawless, explains: “The impact from COVID-19 on housing values has been orderly to-date, with CoreLogic’s national index falling only…
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Clearance rate rises on the back of lower volumes and fewer withdrawals
The combined capital city preliminary clearance rate improved this week, coming in at 65.3 per cent on the back of lower auction volumes. CoreLogic reports 1162 properties were taken to auction at the weekend with…
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High-yield commercial property investments still in demand
Investment in high-yield commercial properties, especially those with long-term tenants, is flourishing despite the pandemic, according to RE/MAX U’s Deepen Khagram. “Investors are very focused on yields and we are achieving very good outcomes with commercial property that we are taking to the market,” he said. Mr Khagram recently re-sold a 7-Eleven Service Station in Burpengary East for $5.4m, representing…
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HomeBuilder yet to halt downturn in building approvals
Despite the many incentives in play to help potential home buyers, residential building approvals fell by an additional 4.9 per cent in June. As HIA Senior Economist, Geordan Murray explains, this trend existed long before COVID-19. “The COVID-19 shock has occurred on top of a well advanced cyclical downturn in home building activity that began back in 2018,” he said.…
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Home loans rates drop even lower
After home loan rates dipped under 2% a week ago, with Loans.com.au offering introductory rates of 1.99%, Homestar Finance have pipped them as the lowest variable rate in Australia, with a one-year fixed rate of 1.98%. As Rate City reports, the loans do revert to an ongoing variable rate of 2.49 per cent, plus required a 20% deposit and upfront…
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Government looks to extend First Home Loan Deposit Scheme
As the Federal Government readies to bring down its October budget, an expansion of the first-home buyer loan scheme could be on the cards, following a rush of demand. National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation figures show that over 40 per cent of the 10,000 available slots have been filled in less than a month. In comparison, the first 10,000…
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Rent prices take first quarterly fall since 1972
In the first quarterly fall since 1972, rent prices were down 1.3 per cent for the June quarter, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The downward trend coincided with the biggest drop in consumer prices since 1931, with the consumer price index for the June quarter falling 1.9 per cent. “Weak rental market conditions…
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New Australian homes will soon be required to meet Green Star status
Double-glazed windows, air filtration systems and LED lighting are some of the elements new Australian homes will have to feature in order to achieve ‘Green Star certification’. A draft of the Green Star Homes Standard was released today, as part of the Building Council of Australia’s Future Homes Strategy. “The Standard is being developed collaboratively with rigorous consultation and input…
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Homely secures auctioneer Damien Cooley as a brand ambassador
Real estate portal, homely.com.au, has named acclaimed auctioneer Damien Cooley as their new brand ambassador. Off the back of announcing a massive partnership with 400 top real estate agents from across the country, Homely has today shared that two-time REINSW Award for Excellence in Auctioneering recipient, Damien Cooley has become their first official brand ambassador. Mr Cooley has been brought…
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Rent hikes ‘inevitable’ as vacancy rates soar
While the latest CoreLogic figures show that rental prices dropped by half a per cent nationally during the June quarter, projections suggest that a hike of rent prices is inevitable. The national vacancy rate fell to 2.2 per cent over June, according to SQM research, with Propertyology finding that only four of the 52 largest cities and towns in Australia…
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Laing+Simmons tackle mental health
Laing+Simmons has struck a new partnership with Making Meditation Mainstream to bring mediation to local people and help tackle the challenges of mental health in the community. Each Saturday at sunrise, Making Mediation Mainstream takes members of the community through a peaceful, and free, mediation experience. Since launching in 2018 on the Northern Beaches, the movement now operates from 14…
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National rent prices fell over June quarter
National rents have fallen by half a per cent over the June quarter. New figures from CoreLogic’s Quarterly Rental Review show that, although COVID-19 was a significant factor in the drop, the rental market was already weak. Rent values dropped 0.3 per cent in the month of June, and 0.5 per cent over the entire quarter, the largest quarterly fall…
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Auction volume increases, but Victorian withdrawals weigh down results
Continuing lockdowns in Melbourne again saw a high volume of properties withdrawn from auction this week, weighing down the national preliminary clearance rate, which came in at 59.2 per cent. This week’s preliminary figure was the same as last week, but came off the back of higher volume. CoreLogic reported 1344 capital city homes were taken to auction this week.…
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Regional house prices rise despite pandemic
While home prices in every capital city aside from Hobart and Canberra fell during the last quarter due to the continuing COVID-19 crisis, homes are rising in value across much of regional Australia. The latest Domain House Price Report shows that ‘median dwelling values’, a combination of houses and units, rose over the last quarter, albeit by 0.1 per cent.…
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AFG teams with 86 400: Australia’s only digital mortgage offering
86 400, the first bank in Australia built for smartphones, has signed a partnership with Australian Finance Group Ltd (AFG), expanding its broker distribution network. AFG is one Australia’s largest aggregators, with over 3000 brokers, and a loan book exceeding $140 billion. 86 400 enables electronic signatures, digital ID verification, collection of expense and income information, plus is the only…
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Home loan rates offered for under 2%
Loans.com.au are making a big play, offering introductory home loan rates of 1.99 per cent, which are touted as the lowest variable rate in Australia. They are also offering a two-year discounted variable rate of 2.09 per cent. These rates are available to “new customers who apply for an owner-occupier loan paying principal and interest repayments” with a 20 per…
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Mixed results for Q2: all unit prices fall, houses rise in select capitals
Results are in for the second quarter of the year and, according to Domain, all major capital cities saw unit prices fall across the June quarter, with house prices rising in Adelaide, Canberra, and Hobart. It appears the…
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RBA declare pandemic downturn worst since the Great Depression
The Reserve Bank of Australia is optimistic about the future of the economy, despite conceding the pandemic downturn was the “worst contraction since the Great Depression”. “Consumer spending in May and June had been stronger than expected and had also held up better than in most other countries,” the RBA said, in minutes released from the monthly monetary policy meeting.…
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Shopping mall windfall kicks against COVID trends
Two Sydney shopping centres have been bundled up and sold for $91.5 million, a price in step with valuations made in a pre-COVID market. This is despite shopping mall vacancies hitting a 20-year high in May. The Pemulwuy Marketplace and West Ryde Marketplace were taken to market by the Charter Hall Retail Partnership No.1 Trust. “Both centres represented an opportunity…
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JobKeeper extension applauded as “right move”
The Property Council and Master Builders Australia are among the many industries to applaud the government’s extension of the JobKeeper program. “Today’s announcement by the Prime Minister and Treasurer provides businesses and their employees with the certainty they need for the coming months as we continue to grapple with the public health and economic impact of COVID-19,” said Ken Morrison,…
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Pets, provisions, periodic leases: the proposed changes to WA Residential Tenancies Act
Ahead of an upcoming review of the WA Residential Tenancies Act, REIWA has released a list of policy options they hope will “help reinvigorate the rental market”. While they state that few aspects of the current rental legislation require “a complete overhaul” and that it is “generally working well,” they have outlined the below seven key policy options: Maintain the…
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Finalists announced for Openn Negotiation Excellence Awards
Online real estate sales platform, Openn Negotiation, has announced the finalists for their upcoming virtual awards night on the 6th of August. This year marks the tech platform’s third annual awards night and first virtual…
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JobSeeker cuts likely to cause real estate crisis
The removal of the current JobSeeker supplement will result in 242,000 renters and 246,000 mortgage holders suddenly living in poverty. Those are some of the grim findings from The Australia Institute’s new report, which tips that Thursday’s announcement could place untenable pressure on the housing market. The report, led by TAI’s senior economist Matt Grudnoff, estimates 650,000 Australians, including 120,000…
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Environmental reform for building codes “sensible and long overdue”
Reforms to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act that aim to streamline regulatory legislation for both housing and commercial property projects have been welcomed by The Property Council of Australia as “sensible and long overdue.” “There has never been a more critical time to ensure that our regulatory regime is free of unnecessary process and strikes the right balance…
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Why COVID-19 might not change our cities as much as we expect
The coronavirus pandemic has thrust us into a moment of rapid change. Like all change, it is difficult to predict. But lessons from history provide us with two important insights. First, temporary change sometimes has remarkably little lasting effect. Second, what looks like a lasting effect is often the acceleration of existing trends, rather than new, crisis-caused trends. COVID-19 impacts…
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‘Adjusted’ clearance rate paints an interesting picture
Withdrawn properties in Victoria continued to weight down the clearance rate this week, but as CoreLogic and others reflect, it’s important to keep things in perspective. This week 1167 properties went to auction across the…
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JobKeeper extension likely, but it will come with conditions
An extension of the JobKeeper scheme looks increasingly likely, with Finance Minister Mathias Cormann foreshadowing the likelihood of continued conditional support and the unions welcoming the prospect of further assistance. According to the ABC, details…
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Crown looking to build billion dollar retail portfolio
Since launching in Sydney in 1996, Crown Group has built a $5 billion development pipeline across Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Los Angeles, that includes residential communities, luxury apartments, hotels, a fund management platform, and shopping centres. It’s the latter of those interests they are looking to further develop, announcing a long-term plan to develop a $1 billion portfolio of retail…
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The best suburbs for auctions
CoreLogic’s recent auction data for the June quarter showed that both the number of auctions and the clearance rate dropped significantly. But certain suburbs performed much better than others. In Sydney, the highest performing suburb was Cremorne, with 23 of 30 properties under the hammer selling, a 76.7 per cent clearance rate. Other hot areas in Sydney included Leichhardt with…
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Fine print may dash numerous HomeBuilder hopes
Australians with plans to pull their super and use it as part of a deposit for a HomeBuilder claim may run into some pesky fine print that sets their plans back considerably. Real Estate Buyers Agents Association (REBAA) president Cate Bakos warns of a little-known rule that banks are beholden to when lending money: a rule that may completely throw…
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Confidence within the property industry is on the rise
The easing of COVID restrictions over the last few months has resulted in a surge of confidence in the property industry since April. The latest ANZ/Property Council survey took place between June 15 and July 1, surveying 955 industry folk. Not surprisingly, the states and territories with the biggest shift in sentiment were those least impacted by COVID-19: South Australia,…
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New homes under construction dipped well before COVID-19
New research from HIA shows that the low numbers of new houses under construction was a major issue well before the fiscal and physical pressures associated with COVID-19. At the end of March, as the first restrictions started to come into play, there were around 188,000 new homes under construction. This was the lowest number since 2015. While the figures…
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Surprise drop in national residential property listings
National residential property listings dropped by 1 per cent from May to June, according to new figures from SQM Research. Listings are also down 7.5 per cent from last June. There were just shy of three thousand fewer properties listed in June, with listings down from 304,137 in May to 301,140. Perth and Melbourne were the only capital cities to…
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Rental vacancy rates dropped nationally in June
More rental properties are being filled, with the national residential rental vacancy rate decreasing to 2.2 per cent throughout June, according to SQM Research. In May, 2.5 per cent of properties were vacant, with the vacancy rate this time last year sitting at 2.3 per cent. As of June 30, there were 77,132 vacant residential properties across the Australia. In…
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