INDUSTRY NEWS
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Latest ABS migration data shows Aussies are looking for a sea or tree change
Give me a home among the gumtrees…or the beach. It seems this is the anthem most Aussies follow as latest figures show people are migrating most to coastal or regional areas. The ABS publishes data every year on internal migration across regions of Australia that counts the number of residents moving within a state as well as across state borders.…
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RBA leaves cash rate unchanged
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has announced they will leave the cash rate unchanged at 1.5 percent after its monthly meeting yesterday. RBA Governor Philip Lowe said the broad-based pick-up in the global economy is continuing, but while he had an optimistic tone on strength of the labour market, he said wage growth remains low and this was likely to…
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Demand for Property Surges in May according to REA
While demand for property seemed to subside somewhat in April according to the REA Group Property Demand Index, the month of May saw demand for housing reach a new record high. The latest figures from REA Group suggest more price growth in major cities, despite other reports, such as the CoreLogic Home Value indices for the same period showing small…
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Foreign resident capital gains withholding tax too low: REIA
The initiative outlined in the 2017 Budget for foreign resident capital gains withholding is too low says REIA President Malcolm Gunning. The Government propose to reduce the foreign resident capital gains tax withholding to $750,000 from the current $2 million from 1 July 2017. REIA President Malcolm Gunning said in REIA’s view the proposed threshold of $750,000 is unjustifiable. “If…
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Stamp Duty changes to affect buyer demand: Tim Lawless
The decision last week by the News South Wales Government Premier Gladys Berejiklian to provide first home buyers with a stamp duty exemption for properties with a price tag under $650,000 is likely to boost demand for this under-represented segment of the market, according to Tim Lawless. Based on recent Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data, first home buyers comprised…
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Preliminary clearance rate holds above 70 percent as the number of auctions held slips lower
The first week of winter saw auction volumes fall, with 2,545 homes taken to auction, compared to 2,885 the previous week. The preliminary clearance rate across the combined capital cities was higher (73.9 percent) compared with last week’s finalised result, which was the third lowest clearance rate so far this year (71.3 percent). National auction clearance results for the week ending 04/06/2017 courtesy…
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Multiple Indicators Point to a Softer Housing Market: CoreLogic
The CoreLogic May Home Value Index results out today confirmed that the capital gains trend has slowed over recent months with dwelling values edging 0.4% higher over the three months ending May 2017. Highlights over the three months to May 2017: Best performing capital city: Adelaide +2.0% Weakest performing capital city: Canberra -1.5% Highest rental yields: Hobart houses with gross…
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NSW Government Tackles Housing Affordability with changes to Stamp Duty from July 1
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced a raft of measures yesterday to tackle housing affordability for first home-buyers in NSW. These measures include: Abolishing stamp duty for first home buyers for homes up to $650,000 from July 1. (This lifts the value of eligible properties from the existing $550,000 and reintroduces existing homes to the scheme.) Providing a discount on stamp…
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Juwai.com Appoints Georg Chmiel to its Board of Directors
Juwai.com announced today the appointment of Georg Chmiel to its Board of Directors. Mr Chmiel has nearly 17 years of experience directly in the online real estate and property industry. Chmiel is currently Group CFO and Director International of iflix, the streaming entertainment service available to one billion consumers across 18 markets throughout Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.…
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REA Group moves into new Sydney home
REA Group has moved its Sydney headquarters into a new 950 sqm ‘home-styled’ office, mirroring what the company does best in connecting people and homes. Designed by leading interior and architectural design firm Futurespace, the new REA Group Sydney office is sectioned into the same kind of rooms you would find in a home. Managing Director of Futurespace, Angela Ferguson…
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APRA Data shows easing of LVR Lending, CoreLogic
CoreLogic research analyst Cameron Kusher comments on data released by APRA earlier the week showing LVR lending is easing up with a further slowdown expected. Data released by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) earlier this week has shown that high loan to value ratio (LVR) lending continues to fall indicating new buyers are in many instances using larger deposits.…
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Property Council welcomes deferring FESL
The Property Council of Australia welcomes the Premier’s announcement today that the Government will defer the introduction of the Fire and Emergency Services Levy (FESL). “The Property Council has had serious concerns about the FESL model with some commercial, inner city and industrial property owners reporting bill rises of nearly 600 per cent,” Property Council of Australia NSW Deputy Executive…
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New report demonstrates value to the Australian economy from foreign investment in real estate
A new ACIL Allen Consulting report, commissioned by the Property Council of Australia, has highlighted the strong and substantive benefits to the economy of foreign investment in commercial and residential real estate. The report, released at a high-level summit of domestic and international property and finance leaders at Parliament House yesterday, is in response to ongoing union and political campaigns…
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NSW Tradie Prices Drop: ServiceSeeking
Tradies continue to prosper from Australia’s renovation obsession as the nation’s market for renovation services eclipses a colossal $31 billion. Competition remains tight in NSW, however, where according to ServiceSeeking.com.au prices fell across all industries last quarter, putting the cost of a tradie four per cent below the national average. The quarterly Tradie Price Index released this week by tradie comparison site…
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‘Long overdue’ WA strata title reform welcomed by leading industry bodies
The Western Australian State Cabinet decision to move forward with the strata title reform process has been commended by the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia, Strata Community Association WA, Property Council of Australia and Urban Development Institute of Australia WA. Announced yesterday, the Honorable Rita Saffioti MLA said strata title reform was important to the future housing needs of…
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realestate.com.au joins forces with The Property Couch
realestate.com.au is teaming up with The Property Couch, one of the country’s best property podcasts, to bring Australians the property information, insights and advice they need to help with one of life’s biggest decisions. The Property Couch is made up of two of Australia’s most respected property experts, Bryce Holdaway and Ben Kingsley, who are passionate about helping people make smart…
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Budget Boost For Housing Could Build 100,000 Homes
New economic modelling commissioned by Master Builders Australia forecasts that the $75 billion infrastructure and housing affordability measures announced in the Budget will deliver a substantial 41% boost to the supply and affordability of housing. “Increasing supply is the only effective way to keep the dream of home ownership alive. Master Builders has lobbied for measures to support the building…
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PM Pioneer Leah Jay Reaches Summit of Mount Everest
Property management pioneer, Leah Jay, has completed a climbing expedition to the summit of Mount Everest. The climb marks another victory in her attempt to climb the ‘seven summits’ – the highest peaks on each of the seven continents. Mount Everest, which stands at 8,848 metres high, is the world’s tallest mountain. This is the sixth summit that Leah has…
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New $270 levy for WA investors is irresponsible, REIWA
REIWA has slammed talk of introducing a $270 levy for investors as a means to help raise revenue and fix the State Budget as short sighted and irresponsible. REIWA Councillor Suzanne Brown said it was extremely disappointing the industry was not consulted about this policy change. “The private rental market is crucial to the provision of rental accommodation in WA,…
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Auction volumes continue to strengthen and combined national preliminary clearance rate at 78 percent
Preliminary figures show a combined national clearance rate of 77.9 percent of auctions were successful across the combined capital cities, while auction activity rises week-on-week National auction clearance results for the week ending 21/05/2017 courtesy of CoreLogic Auction activity across the combined capital cities increased this week, up from 2,409 auctions last week, to 2,794 this week, making it the sixth busiest week…
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New Player in the Bid for Fairfax
The battle for Fairfax Media and its lucrative property portal Domain took another interesting turn yesterday after a second US private equity player entered the fray with a rival and slightly higher offer. The latest bidder is San Francisco-based Hellman & Friedman (H&F) which has offered between $1.225 and $1.250 per share for 100 per cent of the company.…
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Tentative Signs of Pickup in Mining Regions
There haven’t been many glimmers of hope for property owners in once-booming mining towns lately but an analysis released by CoreLogic yesterday may contain the first hints of an improvement since the end of the commodity boom. In its latest Property Pulse report CoreLogic found evidence of an uptick in sales volumes across a number of hard-hit mining areas…
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REA Group named one of Australia’s best places to work
REA Group has been named one of the best places to work in Australia for the second year in a row, according to the latest LinkedIn Top Companies list. LinkedIn yesterday announced the top 25 companies where Australians would love to work the most, based on an analysis of consumer behaviour to the professional networking site. Ranked 16th, REA Group…
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Who will you be rubbing shoulders with at AREC2017?
Delegate numbers up for AREC2017 as the focus this year is on “Super Growth”. With just 10 days to go, the diverse line-up of speakers is proving to be a drawcard with nearly 4,000 delegates already registered for the conference. Conference organisers Total Real Estate Training (TRET), have indicated this will prove to be the most popular AREC in its 20th…
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Cooley Auctions Golf Classic raises $500,000 for Youth off the Streets
The 10th and final Cooley Golf Classic was held on Friday 12 May at Bonnie Doon Golf Club raising over $65,000 for Youth Off The Streets. The goal for the final year of the event was to raise $500,000 over the 10-year period and Youth Off The Streets and Cooley Auctions are thrilled that that result was achieved. Prior to…
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Pressure being felt across Sydney rental market, REINSW
Residential vacancy rates across Sydney are showing no signs of relief, according to the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales. REINSW President John Cunningham said the April 2017 REINSW Vacancy Rate Survey saw the Sydney metropolitan area remain steady at 1.7 per cent, despite a decline of 0.2 per cent at 1.2 per cent in Middle Sydney. “A vacancy…
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New App Removes Price Barrier to Augmented Reality
The case for using augmented reality (AR) technology in the real estate industry has always been compelling but for many, implementation costs have put it way out of reach – until now. Imagine consumers being able to use Augmented Reality to see how their furniture might look in a new property at the touch of a button on their mobile devices;…
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LPMA 2017 Annual Award Winners Announced
The Leading Property Managers of Australia (LPMA) had their Annual Awards Dinner at The Star Gold Coast on 4 May 2017. Executive Director of LPMA, Bob Walters said “This year we had a record number of entrants and the calibre of entries was outstanding. It shows that the level of service, efficiency and professionalism of LPMA member firms gets better…
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Investor housing finance moderating
The latest housing finance figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) confirm that finance approvals for investor housing is moderating, according to the Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA). “The value of investment housing commitments decreased by 0.3 per cent in March 2017 in trend terms. This is down from its 2015 peak,” Malcolm Gunning, REIA President…
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realestate.com.au Launches ‘property curation’ feature for users
realestate.com.au is making it even easier for Australians to find their next home or property thanks to the launch of Collections, available with the latest app update on the realestate.com.au iOS and Android apps. Signed in app users have for a long time been able to save their favourite searches, but now, with to Collections, they can also categorise and…
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New Program for Female Students
The property industry has come up with a smart idea to grab the attention of the next generation of potential recruits with the latest initiative in its campaign to promote diversity and equal opportunity in the sector. The Property Council of Australia yesterday kicked off a new pilot program in Sydney to introduce female high-school students to the range of…
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Chinese Buyers Still Dominate But Buying Fever Has Eased
The head of the world’s leading Chinese website for international real estate has praised the latest Foreign Investment Review Board annual report as proof the current system is working well. Juwai CEO Charles Pittar said it showed foreign investment was going right where Australia wanted it and was one of the few bright spots in the economy. FIRB chairman Brian…
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Auction volumes increasing with the combined preliminary clearance rate holding in the mid 70’s
Auction conditions remain strong with a rebound in auction volumes and higher preliminary clearance rate over the second week of May with 2,376 auctions nationally and a combined national auction clearance rate of 76.6 percent (76.2 percent weighted average) National auction clearance results for the week ending 14/05/2017 courtesy of CoreLogic Auction markets have remained resilient, with both volumes and the preliminary…
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WA heads towards deadline for mandated online property settlements
The WA land registry, Landgate, has announced a timeline for taking property transactions online, with a view to 100 per cent of transactions going digital. Deadlines for implementation of online transaction requirements apply to WA settlement agents in August, October and December 2017 for phasing in mandatory electronic settlements. Property Exchange Australia – PEXA – is the system that has…
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Property investors to lose in budget changes, says Bradley Beer
The 2017 Federal Budget, handed down by Treasurer Scott Morrison this week includes proposed changes which will affect residential property investors Australia-wide. The Australian Tax Office (ATO) allows owners of income producing property to claim depreciation deductions for the wear and tear that occurs to a building’s structure and the plant and equipment assets within. The proposed changes relate to…
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