INDUSTRY NEWS
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REINSW’s Tim Anderson recognised with OAM
Long-standing member of the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales and Life Fellow Tim Anderson has been recognised with the Medal of the Order of Australia in the General Division (OAM). REINSW CEO Tim McKibbin said throughout his career, Tim Anderson has actively promoted professionalism and integrity in the industry and has applied these attributes to all his activities.…
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Memo to the property industry: Get Ready for ‘Golden Week’ starting Jan 28
Despite the restrictions, there is still interest among the Chinese buyers wanting to purchase properties in Australia and most do so during Lunar New Year holiday period which starts from January 28. The celebration also marks the start of the period known as Chinese Lunar New Year Golden Week where Chinese workers often take holidays and head overseas some for…
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Virtual reality live-streaming the next best thing for property management?
Virtual Reality (VR) live streaming has helped one Melbourne-based property management company to achieve zero vacancy rates since switching to the technology over a year. Neesh Property managing director Michael Sanz describe the change as phenomenal for his business and wants to teach other agents on how to use the technology and achieve the same results. “Twelve months I bought…
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ASX-listed disruptor realtor buyMyplace records exponential Q2 revenue
ASX-listed buyMyplace, a commission-free real estate agency has recorded a strong second quarter by clocking in 147 percent in revenue earnings for the 2017 financial year ending in June from the prior corresponding period (PCP). The Melbourne-based online real-estate company’s gross profit rose by 117 percent while residential property listings on the website grew by 84 percent from the previous…
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Purplebricks may fail in Australia too, says First National Real Estate chief
The head of one of Australia’s largest networks believes that the arrival of Purplebricks in Australia has failed to ignite consumer interest and that the company is on track to replicate the significant losses incurred on its home soil. “Since its August 2016 launch, when more than a quarter of a million properties were listed for sale with Australian agents,…
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Australasian Real Estate Results Awards 2017 Finalists Announced
The top performing independent real estate agencies and individuals across Australasia have been revealed last week as finalists in the 11th annual Australasian Real Estate Results Awards (ARERAs), to be staged in Sydney next month. Hosted by the Real Estate Results Network (RERN), the ARERAs is the industry’s pinnacle awards event that recognises and celebrates the outstanding achievers in property throughout…
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State-by-State Round Up: Electronic Signatures, January 2017
The current waters are still a little murky in relation to the use of electronic signatures. According to white papers released by CoreLogic on the use of DocuSign, an electronic signatures software product, electronic signatures are legal in most Australian Jurisdictions. Rundl, powered by progressive law firm LawLab, already have clients transacting with electronic signatures across many of the Australian…
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Domain House Price Report: December Quarter 2016
National prices have increased over the quarter, although the annual growth rate is the lowest since 2012 – according to the latest quarterly Domain House Price Report. Over the quarter, median house prices increased in all capital cities, except Perth and Darwin. The national median house price increased by 3.4 per cent to $780,887, the strongest quarterly result since the…
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Domain Rental Price Report: December Quarter 2016
House rents have increased in most capitals, with the rental market outlook looking positive for investors – according to the December quarter Domain Rent Report. Median house rents increased in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra and Hobart. The resource capital of Perth continued to remain the clear exception to the trend, with high vacancy rates and rents continuing to fall.…
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New NSW Premier to prioritise housing affordability, industry reacts
Just hours after being elected as New South Wales (NSW) 45th Premier, Gladys Berejiklian has vowed to address the much-touted housing affordability crisis and has made that her top priority while in government. “I want to make sure that every average, hard-working person in this state can aspire to own their own home,” Berejiklian told a media conference after being…
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Increase to First Home Owner’s Grant and New Mine for WA: Hope for property market
WA’s State Government announced a $5.6 billion iron ore mine for the Pilbara Region, and combined with an increase in the First Home Buyer’s Grant, bringing the grant to $15,000, WA’s property market may have just the stimulus it needs to strengthen again. Perth-based Nicheliving, a real estate and property management company director Ronnie Elhaj said the $15,000 grant…
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Realtor.com Unveils News Features For Instant Home Details with a Simple Point of a Smartphone
Realtor.com in the US this week announced two new products that Australia saw close prototypes of at AREC 2016; Sign Snap and Street Peek. The Sign Snap feature, available today, uses image recognition technologies, as well as the smartphone’s camera and GPS capabilities. Users can snap a photo of a real estate for-sale or for-rent sign they happen to be…
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New research says Brisbane’s property market a haven for investors
A new report has found that Brisbane’s affordability and strong rental yields were likely to attract more demand from local and interstate investors this year. Brisbane’s affordability in comparison to states like Melbourne and Sydney, was one of the many factors that made the city so attractive in the eyes of investors said the report entitled: Property Market Spotlight: Brisbane.…
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Reader Poll: Do you want the ‘right to disconnect’ from work?
The French government is implementing a new law that requires companies to negotiate the hours of their employees’ ‘right to disconnect‘. We wonder how this would work in the real estate context. Would you want the right to switch off from work?
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Premier Mike Baird leaves strong legacy, says Property Council NSW
In response to Mike Baird’s announcement to retire, the Property Council NSW has congratulated the outgoing NSW Premier on the strong legacy he will leave for the people of the state. Property Council NSW Deputy Executive Director Cheryl Thomas has commended Premier Mike Baird for implementing a range of reforms that have placed the state in a good economic position. “True to his…
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Silver lining present, but hiding, in WA Outback market
Residential property markets in outback mining towns are struggling in the wake of the national mining and construction downturn. While a crisis for many, low prices present an opportunity for regional locals to access affordable property. The Australian yesterday published a story on the plight of residential property in the mining towns in the wake of a significant contraction in the…
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Holiday season impacts vacancy rates: REINSW
Residential vacancy rates were affected by the Christmas period, according to data released by the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales. REINSW President John Cunningham said the December 2016 REINSW Vacancy Rate Survey was at 2.0 per cent, up 0.2 per cent for Sydney. “Middle Sydney and Outer Sydney saw rises of 0.6 per cent and 0.2 per cent…
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Australia’s home building activities to soar this year: Master Builders
Australia’s 2017 home building activities will go down as one of the best performing years in history with the peak likely to come before the end of the financial term, said Master Builders of Australia’s National Manager for Housing Matthew Pollock. “This would leave the possibility for a softer landing later down the track, with housing finance commitments and building…
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Shift to higher density living fuels market growth but renews concerns of glut
Lending approvals are up; New dwellings are up; High-density commitments are up. While there is no doubt that multi-unit construction remains the strongest performing sector of the industry over the past five years, there is continued speculation that the demand will not be sustainable. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures published on Tuesday reports that mortgage lending among investors in November had risen…
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Single home ownership among women has fallen, says ME Bank
More singles, especially women, are being squeezed out from home ownership, an analysis by super fund-owned ME Bank has revealed. The number of individual home loan applicants put forth with the bank had fallen by 9 points to 35 percent out of all loans over the past two years with home loan applications produced by women falling by 14 points…
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St George says Australians should be resolved to saving
New research commissioned by St George Bank in December had found that Aussies were a worried lot when it came to money matters and had put in plans to save more this year for an overseas trip and to buy a home. The research found that 70 per cent of the respondents interviewed by the bank had concerns for the…
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NAB raises its fixed home loans interest rates, follows in on rivals
One of Australia’s largest lenders, the National Bank of Australia (NAB) has raised the interest rates on several of its fixed-rate home loans, following its rivals. In a statement on Monday, the bank said its second, third and fourth-year package fixed rate for home loans would increase effective today, to 3.98 percent, 4.09percent, and 4.59 percent per annum respectively. While…
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Purplebricks opens offices in Sydney and Central Coast, plans expansion to Perth and Adelaide soon
Purplebricks has just opened up new offices in Sydney and the Central Coast, with plans underway to expand into Perth and Adelaide as well. The company’s latest set up in New South Wales (NSW) comes just four months after it opened offices in Brisbane, Melbourne, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast. Established in the UK in 2014, Purplebricks has…
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RBA may not lower the cash rate any further : RateCity.com.au
A growing number of economic indicators have suggested that the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) historically low cash rate of 1.5 percent would not go down any lower. Peter Arnold, data insights director at RateCity.com.au said banks were beginning to hike their home loan rates with close to two-thirds of lenders increasing rates on fixed loans and a smaller number lifting…
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Reader Poll: How are you feeling about the market heading into 2017?
Are you optimistic about your market and success in 2016? Let us know. View Survey
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Sydney and Melbourne records lower sales this year: REA
Highlights of REA Group Property Demand Index Report for December 2016: National demand for property dropped by 6.6 percent on realestate.com.au in December, down from peak levels recorded in October and November. Victoria had the largest decline over the month, as demands dip for both houses and apartments. New South Wales (NSW) followed closely, possibly suggesting that the housing boom…
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NSW property industry rings in the new year with a bang
The NSW property industry is expected to have a positive outlook this year with higher expectations for growth, investments and hiring taking place across the state, said the latest ANZ/Property Council survey. “NSW industry confidence leads the nation at 149 index points, up from 142 last quarter and is at near six-year highs. Over the twelve months to March 2017,…
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Help Owners Protect Their Investment with ‘Meth’ Education Program
The use of methamphetamine (meth) has tripled in Australia in the last five years. Many property managers have already seen firsthand the cost and hassle of cleaning a property with unsafe levels of contamination, caused not only by undetected meth labs but also the smoking of meth, or ice, inside residential properties. As reported earlier, the number of Australians using…
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REA Group to buy stake India’s PropTiger and Housing.com
REA Group have agreed to buy a 14.7 per cent stake in Indian online real estate marketing group PropTiger for $67.9 million. PropTiger.com and Housing.com, two of India’s leading online real estate service providers, in a seperate announcement said the investment will enable it to become India’s largest online real estate services company in the near future. Under the agreement,…
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Research shows “The Block” and “House Rules” inspires more Aussies to renovate their homes
Research from Roy Morgan has revealed that the number of Australian homeowners refurbishing their properties has skyrocketed in the last three years, all thanks to the influence of popular home improvement programs such as the “Block” and “House Rules”. Close to 8.4 million or 62 per cent of Australia’s 13.6 million proud homeowners have renovated in the last 12 months…
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EP&A Act undergoes proposed amendment as a way to boost housing supply in NSW
The Property Council of Australia (PCA) has welcomed New South Wales (NSW) state government’s move to amend the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act) as a way of boosting housing supply and therefore affordability. PCA NSW executive director Jane Fitzgerald said the amendments were needed because a better planning system would help increase supply and make buying a…
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Investorist helps Melbourne-based developer sell $12m worth of apartments in 15 minutes
A Melbourne-based developer has racked up over $12 million in apartment sales in just 15 minutes after using an online platform known as Investorist. The new Blackburn Boutique Apartments at East End in Blackburn South situated near Monash and Deakin universities in Melbourne were snapped up within minutes without the developers having resort to traditional real estate marketing campaigns. Investorist…
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REIQ Queensland launches new real estate training website with online and classroom options
The Real Estate Institute (REIQ) of Queensland has launched a new real estate training website, timed to coincide when people are most likely considering a new career. The site, MyRealEstateJobs.com.au offers advice and a wealth of information about the broad range of careers that a real estate qualification can deliver and also outlines the courses available through REIQ. REIQ chief…
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iProperty Group announces Haresh Khoobchandani as General Manager in Malaysia and Singapore
REA Group today announced the appointment of Mr Haresh Khoobchandani to the role of iProperty Group General Manager, Malaysia and Singapore. He will commence the role on 12 January 2017. Mr Khoobchandani has more than 20 years of sales, marketing and leadership expertise, with extensive experience within the Asia Pacific region. Previously, Mr Khoobchandani was GM Microsoft Business Solutions for…
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Stamp duty breaks for older empty nesters will help solve second home buyer dilemma
A stamp duty break for empty nesters aged over 70 could ease housing affordability stresses in Sydney and Melbourne, according to Angus Raine, Executive Chairman, Raine & Horne. “The national housing debate focuses mostly on first home buyers, and with good reason given climbing real estate values combined with an ongoing shortage of new homes,” said Mr Raine. Sydney housing…
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