INDUSTRY NEWS
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REIV commercial and industrial awards celebrate magnificent marketing
The REIV have celebrated the best in commercial and industrial advertising, marketing and promotion across commercial sales and leasing campaigns at the annual Commercial and Industrial Marketing Awards. REIV President Richard Simpson said the awards are a great opportunity to recognise the increasingly innovative and tailored campaigns. “Congratulations to the winners and finalists in the 18 categories on their dynamic and…
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Chinese buyers invested $23.9 billion in Australian real estate in 2017
Juwai.com’s 2018 Chinese Global Property Investment Report has revealed that Chinese buyers purchased $23.9 billion of Australian real estate in 2017. That consisted of $19.4 billion in residential and $4.5 billion in commercial acquisitions, and made Australia and New Zealand the biggest market for Chinese investment. That figure is a drop of 26.8 per cent from the estimated spending in…
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Keller Williams adds Contract Smarts to Virtual Assistant
KUNGFU.AI US-based artificial intelligence services company, and Keller Williams (KW), one of the world’s largest real estate companies by agent count, have announced a partnership to together build a robust new real estate contract-reading skill for Kelle, a proprietary artificial intelligence-based personal assistant for KW agents. Launched in mid-February 2018, Kelle has more than 97,000 monthly active users and the Kelle…
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ANZ and CBA follow Westpac in home loan rate hike
Following last week’s announcement from Westpac that they would be raising their variable home loan rates by 14 basis points, ANZ and the Commonwealth Bank have announced they will raise rates by 16 and 15 basis points respectively. “The latest interest rate hike from ANZ and the Commonwealth Bank comes as no surprise after Westpac opened the floodgates earlier. The big…
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REIV calls for a fair go on rental laws before Parliament this week
The Victorian Parliament’s Legislative Council will consider the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill (RTA Bill) this week, the second last sitting week before the caretaker period ahead of the Victorian Election in November. Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) President Richard Simpson said the REIV has worked closely with all political parties to help shape the best possible legislative outcome. “The…
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Top Takeaways from The Business of Real Estate Day 2
The Business of Real Estate 2018 finished up yesterday on the Gold Coast with real estate professionals and leaders gathering for sessions on delivering more than customer expectations and improving the PM division of their business. Here are the top takeaways from Day Two. Good CX needs good TX Do you care for your team? Do you spend time connecting…
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September 2018: Interest rates on hold, Industry reaction
Yesterday (4 September 2018) the RBA Board decided to leave the cash rate unchanged at 1.50 per cent for its 23rd consecutive meeting. “Conditions in the Sydney and Melbourne housing markets have continued to ease and nationwide measures of rent inflation remain low,” says RBA Governor Dr Philip Lowe. “Housing credit growth has declined to an annual rate of 5½ per cent. This…
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Top Takeaways from The Business of Real Estate Day 1
The Business of Real Estate 2018 kicked off yesterday on the Gold Coast with real estate professionals and leaders gathering for sessions on delivering superior customer experiences to savvy consumers. Here are the top takeaways from Day One. Does your team actually know the difference between customer service and customer experience? If they don’t, you need to address that. You…
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MadeComfy opens for business in the Sunshine State
MadeComfy, Australia’s first performance-based short-term rental specialist, has opened a Brisbane office and appointed 13-year property veteran Melissa Baker as its new Queensland General Manager. Following $6 million capital raising in May and 500 per cent year-on-year growth in Sydney and Melbourne, MadeComfy has been actively planning on expanding its services and reach in and around Brisbane. MadeComfy recently released…
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Harcourts win big at REINZ awards
Harcourts New Zealand have won the top prize in six categories at this year’s 2018 Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) awards. These include Harcourts Cooper & Co picking up three awards. On winning the Medium Agency of the Year and Community Service Award – Office, Managing Director of Harcourts Cooper & Co Martin Cooper said, “The North Shore is…
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Experts say Spring will predict how the Australian property will act over the next 12 months
The first weekend in September traditionally sees a boost in listings across the country, as the warmer weather hits and sellers begin to emerge. With the current listing numbers down significantly on the same time last year, the boom has well and truly worn off, and experts are predicting we’ll be able to see how the market will act over…
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US-based brokerage Compass to acquire Pacific Union International Realty
A plan has been announced for US-based brokerage Compass to acquire Pacific Union International Realty, one of the largest brokerages on the West Coast. Pacific Union made $14 billion in sales in the last year and is the fifth-largest brokerage in the US, with 1,700 agents across 54 offices. Pacific Union CEO Mark McLaughlin has been critical of Compass in…
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Juwai.com launches World’s Top China-Focused Real Estate Developers and Agents awards
The world’s top real estate developers and agents are vying for recognition in the Chinese market via the first-annual Juwai Global Chinese Choice Awards. Juwai.com is the No. 1 Chinese international property portal and international property partner to both Tencent and JD.com. “China is the cutting edge for property marketing worldwide. Excellence in China-focused international property development and services deserves…
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Top Ten Takeaways from ARPM Day 2
The Australasian Residential Property Management Conference (ARPM) kicked off yesterday with a whole host of speakers sharing tools and insights for property managers and principals. Here are ten great takeaways from Day 2. 10. Fake reviews = fake news and they’re bad for your business REA Group’s Nigel Dalton says businesses don’t know enough about where their reviews are coming…
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McGrath looking to business turnaround
McGrath Real Estate is looking to the positive after a tough financial year, yesterday noting “…the core fundamentals of McGrath are robust” and the company remains “one of Australia’s leading sales agent teams” with “brand, customer service offering and network reach”. The publicly-listed company released its end of financial year results on Monday, reporting the revenue and Earnings Before Interest,…
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Strong financial results for rent.com.au
Rental property website rent.com.au has reported strong results for the 2018 financial year, noting revenue growth of 41 per cent. The company, which specialises in rental property searches and associated products, released their full financial year results yesterday morning, stating revenue for 2017/18 was $2,324,880 – up from $1,654,395 in 2016/17. In their report to shareholders, rent.com.au directors explained that…
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Top Ten Takeaways from ARPM Day 1
The Australasian Residential Property Management Conference (ARPM) kicked off yesterday with a whole host of speakers sharing tools and insights for property managers and principals. Here are ten great takeaways from Day 1. 10. Recover your workday Lauren Kirk of Real+ discussed how our need for immediacy (ordering your coffee via an app anyone?) is affecting our ability to realise…
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Cream of the crop battle for REIQ Auctioneer of the Year title
Four of Queensland’s leading auctioneers will battle for the title of REIQ Auctioneer of the Year next Thursday, August 23 at Victoria Park Complex. Reigning REIQ Auctioneer of the Year and Australasian Auctioneering Champion Justin Nickerson will compete with former REIQ Auctioneer of the Year Mark MacCabe, former REINSW Auctioneer of the Year Gavin Croft and former REIQ Auctioneer of…
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Reapit demos new platform at ARPM 2018, showcasing Agentbox integration
CRM and property management solution platform Reapit were at ARPM 2018 demonstrating the first phase of their partnership with leading Australian real estate CRM solution Agentbox. The Reapit Group is a leading provider of CRM and property management solutions in the UK residential real estate space. The company first announced their partnership with Agentbox in May this year, and are in…
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New Zealand bans sale of property to foreign buyers
In a bid to fix a growing affordability issue, the New Zealand government has passed the Overseas Investment Amendment Bill. The bill will stop the majority of non-resident foreign buyers from purchasing existing property in New Zealand. It passed on Wednesday night by 63 votes to 57. The plan was announced in October to end the purchase of existing houses…
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Melbourne falls from top of liveability ranking as Sydney rises
For the first time in seven years Melbourne has been knocked from the top of the The Global Liveability Index. The ranking, produced by The Economist Intelligence Unit, has put Vienna, Austria, in the top position for 2018, moving Melbourne to second place. The upset comes as Sydney rises significantly through the ranking, up to fifth position from 11th last…
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Ray White Commercial recognises its top performers in 2017-18
Ray White Hotels Australia Managing Director Andrew Jolliffe has claimed the major individual honours at the annual Ray White Commercial awards for the fourth consecutive year. The awards were held on Sunday night at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, which kicks off the Ray White Group’s Connect Conference, with 2,500 attendees from across the entire group. Andrew Jolliffe,…
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Tameka Smith takes the crown in PM Transform 2018
PM Transform 2018, in partnership with Real+, realestate.com.au and Rockend saw participants from across the country take part in a 30-day intensive training program, including live classes, daily challenges and exercises focused on helping them achieve their career goals. A number of industry-recognised coaches and trainers participated, delivering live sessions and exclusive training content for the participants across the month.…
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Palaszczuk Government makes a commitment to introduce mandatory CPD for Queensland agents
The REIQ has welcomed the commitment from the Palaszczuk Government to introduce mandatory continuing professional development (CPD) for real estate professionals, but as of yet there is no time frame for the changes to come into place. REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella said the promise, made by Treasurer Jackie Trad, was the successful outcome the REIQ had been working towards. “We…
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Australia’s prestige market remains resilient in the face of tougher conditions
Three Australian cities sit in the top 20 of the Knight Frank Prime Global Cities Index, showing the prestige market is still performing strongly. The report from Q2 2018, which tracks the progress of 43 cities worldwide, shows Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are still keeping up with growth elsewhere, coming in as 15th, 17th and 20th respectively. Perth also showed…
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Reiwa.com launches app to make it easier for buyers to find property in WA
reiwa.com has launched a new app which makes searching for property in WA easier. REIWA CEO Neville Pozzi said the reiwa.com app provides West Australians with a convenient way to find their dream home, investment property or rental accommodation. “The WA public can take their property search on the go, using an array of intuitive features that make searching for…
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First-home buyers come out on top in June, according to new ABS data
First-home buyers are currently dominating owner-occupier housing loans, with the number rising again in June 2018 to the highest rate since October 2012. The ABS housing finance figures for June 2018 show that FHBs now account for 18.1 per cent of owner-occupier home loans. The number of FHB owner-occupier loans has now increased by 11.4 per cent over the last…
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The Agency partner with superannuation startup
Superestate, the first non-SMSF superannuation fund to invest in residential property, has partnered with The Agency, appointing the network’s property management team to manage the first investment. The model sees members choose either a 25 per cent or 50 per cent exposure to residential property as the Superestate team builds a national residential property portfolio. The team behind Superestate includes…
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August 2018: Interest rates on hold, Industry reaction
Yesterday (7th August 2018) the RBA Board decided to leave the cash rate unchanged at 1.50 per cent for its 22nd consecutive meeting. “Conditions in the Sydney and Melbourne housing markets have continued to ease and nationwide measures of rent inflation remain low,” says RBA Governor Dr Philip Lowe. “Housing credit growth has declined to an annual rate of 5 1/2…
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Winners announced in Openn Negotiation Excellence Awards 2018
Over 80 real estate professionals gathered on 26 July to recognise the best-performing agents and agencies at the inaugural Openn Negotiation Excellence Awards. Led by Peter Gibbons, Openn Negotiation Co-founder and Managing Director, it was an opportunity to celebrate not just the finalists and the winners, but all agents who had decided to embrace technology and the need for better…
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Zillow to allow renters to search, apply and pay for rentals online
US-based platform Zillow has debuted a system which will allow renters to find, apply for and pay for rentals online. The system will be rolled out across the company’s three platforms – Zillow, Trulia and HotPads – but not New York-based StreetEasy. “Renters tell us they want the entire rental process to happen online, from search to application to payment.…
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Property Connect enter licensing agreement with Clearmatch for use of tech platform
Realty services group Property Connect Holdings has signed a minimum five-year licence agreement to us a technology platform from marketplace treasury company Clearmatch. Property Connect is aiming to use the technology as part of a plan to develop peer to peer lending products focused in the property sector, especially project development financing. The new lending products will generate revenue from…
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Kingston Lane CEO to lead the stellar line up at The Business of Real Estate
The Business of Real Estate leadership event is open to all principals, leaders and managers in the real estate industry. This multi-speaker event features presentations from leading business minds within the Australasian real estate industry, as well as international guests. The program will see attendees walk away with key insights, knowledge and strategies which put them to the forefront of…
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REA Group appoints Sam Boer as Smartline CEO
REA Group have announced the appointment of Sam Boer as CEO of Smartline mortgage broking franchise group. Mr Boer joins Smartline from Commonwealth Bank Australia, where he served as General Manager Third Party Banking in the Retail Banking Sector. REA group acquired an 80.3 per cent stake in Smartline in June 2017, strengthening its home loan offering, which also includes…
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First Australian property developer partners with digital co-ownership platform
Australian apartment builder Dyldam has partnered with Kohab to enable more buyers to get into the property market. Kohab is a digital platform and marketplace for co-ownership. The platform aims to enable more Australians to buy their own property through co-ownership and has partnered with Dyldam to provide maximum affordability for investors and first-time homebuyers. Kohab’s platform differs from fractional property…
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