Real Estate News
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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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Global commercial real estate investment takes a dive
COVID-19, and all the associated economic and geographic headaches it brought to the world, has led to a major slump in commercial real estate investment volumes, which fell across all three global regions during the first half of 2020. Commercial real estate investment fell 29 per cent globally, to $321 billion in the first six months of 2020 compared to…
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Stage 4 building restrictions a ‘financial and emotional burden’ on Victorians: HIA
COVID Stage 4 building restrictions a Burden on Victorian Families "Restrictions on building sites in Victoria that limit trades people to just three sites a week could leave thousands of average Victorians and their families…
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NZ updates tenancy rights, as REINZ warn of consequences
New Zealand parliament has passed a bill that will modernise the 1986 Residential Tenancies Act. The Government says most of the reforms won’t come into play for another six months, allowing tenants and landlords time to adapt. Changes include the removal of no-cause termination, limiting rent increases to one a year, and allowing DV victims the ability to end a…
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BHGRE appoints new growth manager
With the continued growth of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate offices and Aspire agents, the lifestyle real estate brand has announced the appointment of experienced real estate professional Melanie Spencer to its NSW/ACT growth team. Having worked in real estate her entire career, Ms Spencer has accumulated a diverse and deep knowledge of many facets of the industry, including…
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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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REIQ: Rental market facing “tightest conditions since GFC”
Seventy per cent of Queensland’s rental market currently faces tight conditions, according to the latest quarterly rental vacancy rate report. Eighteen per cent of Queensland regions are experiencing less than 1 per cent vacancy at present, with areas like Maryborough (0.4 per cent), Mount Isa (0.5 per cent), Rockhampton (0.7 per cent), and Gympie (0.9 per cent) close to impossible…
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Queenstown rents take a hit as tourism dries up
As average rent prices climb across New Zealand in spite of the pandemic, tourist town Queenstown has seen its rent prices plummet by 10 per cent since the same time last year. According to MBIE’s data, average rents for NZ rose by 4.8 per cent in the three months to June since the previous year. Surprisingly, rent prices in many…
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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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Rachel Ellis brings RE/MAX to Maryborough
Successful real estate agent Rachel Ellis is forging a new path with global real estate network, RE/MAX, launching her own agency in Maryborough, Queensland. Ms Ellis had four years on the RE/MAX team in Hervey Bay and the accomplished agent says she is excited to bring RE/MAX to Maryborough for her business ownership venture. “Maryborough offers something special,” she explained.…
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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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Eview set their sights on the south-side of Sydney
The Eview Group, has set their sights on the south-side of Sydney, launching an unapologetically sleek and fearless partnership.With almost four decades of combined real estate expertise, Danny Fox and Jed Wood are ready to inject leading industry innovation, as they commit to high-end, client-centric service through their savvy, bold brand, Fox & Wood. “It’s been nothing but pure delight,…
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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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What does Stage 4 lockdown mean for real estate?
Barry Plant Group CEO, Mike McCarthy has issued a market update, hoping to clarify some of the confusion surrounding what the real estate industry can and cannot do. “The next six weeks will be an eternity for some and for others, it will be over before we know it. But we can do this, if we all stick together and…
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Eview Group confirms further expansion into the Moreton Bay Region
Eview Group is cementing their position in the Moreton Bay Region with award-winning agent Sue Dewar set to reveal a transformational rebrand as she partners with the nationwide network. With an illustrious sales and management career spanning decades, Sue’s longstanding ability to network and nurture relationships has been key in catapulting her success as a real estate agent. Offering a…
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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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$10,000 grants available for Melbourne businesses forced to close
Under the tough new Stage 4 restrictions in place, many businesses in Melbourne and Mitchell Shire have been forced to shut down, or to operate under a severely reduced capacity. To soften the financial burden, the Victoria Premier has announced one-off grants available to eligible businesses. The Business Support Fund – Expansion program, will give: $10,000 to employing businesses in…
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The Hemsworth brothers plan a Byron yoga centre
It’s modest, considering the mammoth mansion that Chris Hemsworth built in Byron, but plans have been submitted for a small yoga studio to be built on a 35 hectare block the Hemsworth family bought last year, for a cool $4.25 million. The cabana will be just 58sqm, and is situated by an artificial dam the family has also built on…
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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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