Real Estate News

  • REIA re-elects President for second term

    The Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) re-elected Adrian Kelly from Tasmania as President for a second term at its Annual General Meeting in Canberra in last week. Mr Kelly was born and raised in Hobart and has worked in the Tasmanian real estate industry since 1990. He is the founder and CEO of View Real Estate, an independent agency…

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  • Lenders sign up to First Home Loan Deposit Scheme

    Twenty-seven lenders have now been endorsed to participate in the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme in the lead up to the scheme starting on 1 January 2020. The scheme, which will provide support for up to 10,000 first home loan guarantees for eligible first home buyers each financial year, aims to help first home buyers purchase a home faster. HIA…

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  • Elders Real Estate awarded Team of the Year

    The Elders Real Estate Team was recognised yesterday as Team of the Year at the annual One Elders Awards. The Elders Real Estate division navigated its way through challenging seasonal, market and credit conditions to see annual gross margin growth contribution achieved for the fifth year in a row. The ‘Alexander Lang’ Team of the Year Award is presented to…

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  • Top 10 Sydney suburbs to watch in 2020

    1. KensingtonJust a stone’s throw away from the CBD and Centennial Park, and with the University of New South Wales on its doorstep, Kensington ticks all the boxes for buyers looking to live near the city and Sydney’s eastern beaches. The long-awaited light rail network, set to open this week, will see interest in the area grow exponentially. I believe…

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  • Sydney and Melbourne drive housing recovery

    Australia’s two largest capital cities are leading a housing recovery, according to the Real Estate Institute of Australia. REIA Real Estate Market Facts for the September quarter 2019 said the weighted average median price for houses for the eight capital cities increased to $743,776. REIA President Adrian Kelly said the increase was driven by the larger property markets of Sydney…

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  • Coronis donates 1000 gifts for disadvantaged children

    Coronis has once again jumped on board to support The Smith Family’s Toy and Book Appeal which aims to spread the joy of opening gifts on Christmas morning to children from disadvantaged families. Coronis’ Property Management Director Jodi Ford said throughout the month of November they put a call out to all their clients and the team across 24 offices…

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  • Don Ha takes over RE/MAX New Zealand

    RE/MAX New Zealand’s master franchise is being sold to one of its leading individual franchise owners. RE/MAX Revolution owner Don Ha is set to take up the CEO role in April next year, putting the master franchise 100 per cent in New Zealand ownership for the first time in 23 years. As a businessman, property investor, mentor and acclaimed speaker,…

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  • Belle Property launches holiday rentals platform, Belle Property Escapes

    Belle Property has announced the launch of Belle Property Escapes – the holiday rental brand of the premium real estate company. Belle Property Escapes features rentals in some of the country’s most desirable holiday destinations including Avalon/Palm Beach, Jervis Bay and the Central Coast in New South Wales, as well as Cairns in Queensland. CEO of Belle Property, Peter Hanscomb,…

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  • Beyond Blue and HIA continue mental health push

    Beyond Blue and the Housing Industry Association (HIA) have extended their partnership to continue supporting the mental health of people working in the residential building industry. HIA Managing Director, Graham Wolfe, said for five years the HIA Charitable Foundation has supported Beyond Blue in improving access to mental health resources for people in the building industry. “By extending this partnership…

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  • Laing+Simmons’ new partnership to deliver next level network support

    Laing+Simmons has struck a new partnership aimed at delivering an expanded range of essential services to members of the Laing+Simmons family. The partnership means those tasks which can distract business owners, principals, agents and property managers from their core focus of building a business and serving customers are taken care of. The new partnership with David Taylor’s Agency Services Group…

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  • Jamie Durrant launches Regional Homes Australia

    Essentials Magazine Australia editor, Jamie Durrant, has launched a digital property and lifestyle magazine, along with a property marketing service. Entitled Regional Homes Australia, the online publication will feature building, design, regional personalities, lifestyle experiences, and curated Australian residential real estate listings.  As the name suggests, Regional Homes Australia focuses on properties situated outside of Australia’s capital cities. Regional centres…

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  • Ray White Rural donates $100k to Drought Angels

    Ray White Rural chairman Paul White has just donated $100,000 to Drought Angels, which will help support farming families in need in the lead up to Christmas. Mr White and his partner Lynne Porscin have been long supporters of Drought Angels. Drought Angels is a small charity based in Chinchilla which is run by big hearts. “We like to tell…

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  • HTW monthly update – Property prices deliver strong end to 2019

    As 2019 draws to a close Herron Todd White have assessed where the nation’s property markets currently sit and how their predictions stacked up over the course of the year. We saw a slow start for property in 2019 thanks to an uncertain regulatory environment and the federal election which had big implications for property investors. Since that point, market…

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  • The major changes in our cities that will kick off the 2020s

    A drop in car ownership, smaller houses, walkability impacting property prices, residential blocks atop shopping centres, and ‘mini Melbournes’ in outer suburbs. These are the city trends that will begin to emerge next year and mark the commencement of a new decade in urban planning. The forecasts come from one of Australia’s most experienced, recognised and multi-award winning urban planners…

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  • Century 21 Armstrong-Smith wins Brightest and Best award for second year

    Century 21 Armstrong-Smith in Sydney’s eastern suburbs has been named their local area’s Brightest and Best real estate for the second year in a row. Against a formidable field of competitors, the Bondi Junction team was awarded the accolade in recognition of delivering exemplary results for clients. The award followed on from their rebrand and exclusive Pacific media partnership earlier…

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  • Victorian Government opens doors to 100 new homes for those in need

    Tenants once at risk of homelessness have begun moving into 100 new and affordable homes thanks to the Victorian Government. Victorian Minister for Housing Richard Wynne visited some of the new properties in Moonee Ponds and met residents this week. “Everyone deserves the safety and security of a roof over their head. This program is about making sure people at…

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  • Santa Claus is coming to Newtown thanks to Raine & Horne

    The Newtown community has a rare chance to meet Santa Claus this Saturday 7 December at Raine & Horne Newtown located on the famed King Street shopping strip. Raine & Horne Newtown Director Duncan Gordon said usually local families needed to find their way to the big shopping malls in Broadway, Marrickville and the CBD and queue up to talk…

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  • Leading Illawarra agent Jeremy Hodder joins McGrath’s team

    Leading Illawarra agent Jeremy Hodder will join McGrath’s sales team in the company’s expansion in the Illawarra. Mr Hodder has been a real estate agent and auctioneer for 18 years – and his expertise are a valuable addition to the team, where he will also be a great mentor to emerging agents within the group. Some of Mr Hodder’s impressive…

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  • Prime waterfront properties command 63 per cent premium

    Prime absolute waterfront properties in Australia are worth up to 63% more than their inland counterparts on average, according to Knight Frank’s latest Australian Prime Waterfront Index. The Index, which measures how much uplift value an absolute waterfront location can add to a property, found the premium was the greatest in Sydney, with up to 94.9%…

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  • Lack of family homes driving prices skyward

    An imbalance in supply of family homes to population growth is a major contributing factor to housing affordability challenges in Sydney and Melbourne. A 30 per cent reduction in dwelling commencements and dwelling approvals was predicted by RiskWise Property Research one year ago, with significant impact on both the broader economy and, particularly, GDP growth. RiskWise CEO Doron Peleg said lending restrictions,…

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  • Ray White Clare Valley welcomes new leader

    New principal Mark O’Meagher and his partner Bree Christie are set to take the reins at Ray White Clare Valley.  Mr O’Meagher, who has worked as a sales agent with the business for the past seven years, said he was thrilled to be taking this next step into business ownership after purchasing the business from existing owners Daniel and Geoff Schell. …

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  • REIQ announces Awards for Excellence finalists

    The Real Estate Institute of Queensland has announced the finalists in its 2020 Awards for Excellence which recognise best practice in the real estate profession in the Sunshine State. REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella said the competition is set to be fierce, with 106 finalists across varying individual, agency and external categories. “We are continually heartened by the quality of the…

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  • Affordability prompts highest number of first home buyers

    Housing affordability has improved across the country resulting in the highest percentage of first home buyers in the marketplace in eight years, according to research from the Real Estate Institute of Australia. REIA President Adrian Kelly said the September quarter 2019 edition of the REIA Housing Affordability Report found housing affordability improved in all states and territories, except Tasmania, while rental affordability improved across…

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  • The RBA leaves rates on hold at 0.75% at December meeting

    The Reserve Bank of Australia has left the official cash rate on hold at 0.75 per cent in the final meeting of the year. Headed into today’s announcement, there was only a five per cent chance of a cut to the cash rate. We’ve already seen three 25 basis point cuts this year, however, there is still the expectation that…

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  • Perth dwelling value records first rise since April 2018

    CoreLogic’s November Home Value Index has revealed that Perth’s dwelling value has increased 0.4 per cent in the last month – the first increase in over 18 months. REIWA President Damian Collins said that while the rental market has been the highlight of 2019 due to steady leasing activity levels and a plummeting vacancy rate, they are now starting to…

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  • Leading Ballarat real estate team joins Jellis Craig

    A leading Ballarat agency has joined the Jellis Criag team, expanding the brand’s presence outside Melbourne.  The well-known team, led by directors Tony Douglass and Tim Valpied, has been market leaders in the Ballarat region for over 15 years.  Now as part of the Jellis Craig network of offices located throughout Melbourne’s premier suburbs, the Ballarat team is well positioned…

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  • Rose Farina joins McGrath as it boosts its presence in Northbridge

    Prestige agent Rose Farina has joined McGrath, with the company acquiring her rent roll and business in Sydney’s Northbridge region of the Lower North Shore. CEO Geoff Lucas said attracting highly-respected agents is a strong indicator of continued influence of the McGrath brand. “Equally this expansion is consistent with our strategy to partner with high-calibre, well-regarded agents with a significant…

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  • A familiar face opens Ray White Rural Broken Hill

    One of Broken Hill’s most recognised agents, Clifford Wren, has rebranded his business and will open the new Ray White office in town.  With just over 20 years experience, Mr Wren said the opening of Ray White Rural Broken Hill was a natural progression as his business looks to continue its growth.  Having previously owned Ray White Broken Hill from…

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  • A third of Australians choose overseas travel over a home

    When asked to choose between being well travelled or owning a home, one in every three Australians values travel over home ownership. That was the key finding from ME’s recent travel survey which explored how important travel is to Australians. The trade-off between buying a home and exploring the world was far more apparent among 18-24 years olds, with 50…

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  • R&W Starlight fundraising clocks more than $500k

    There will be more laughs and Christmas wishes to go around this year as the Richardson & Wrench Spring Starlight campaign comes to a close, with donations to The Starlight Children’s Foundation reaching almost $589,000. Now in its 15th year, the R&W partnership with Starlight began in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs and expanded across the network in 2012. Throughout the spring campaign,…

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  • Williams Property rebrands for a strong future

    Singleton-based Williams Property has relaunched its brand with a new name, a strong and diversified team, and the implementation of new cutting-edge technology.  Cameron Williams, the Principal and Licensee-in-Charge of the newly re-named Williams Property, said that the recent innovations are a game-changer for the company.  “Our business has been serving the local community for almost 45 years and I’m…

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  • Elite Agent The News Source for Real Estate Professionals

    Money magazine names best financial providers for 2020

    Australians could save more than $180,000 by switching to financial product providers that have been named winners of Money magazine’s Best of the Best Awards for 2020. More than 100 winners were named across financial services including credit cards, term deposits, banking, loans, superannuation, insurance, investments and online broking; as well as personal and business services such as broadband, phone…

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  • DiJONES Drought Drive set to support regional communities

    More than 100 people from DiJONES will convoy from Sydney through 14 regional NSW towns in the lead up to Christmas in support of drought-affected businesses and communities. Regional NSW is enduring the worst drought in 116 years, with the knock-on impacts of the agricultural sector’s hardship also rippling through regional towns where water supplies are dwindling, paddocks remain scorched…

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  • Australia, New Zealand feature in global real estate ranks

    When Denver-based RE/MAX LLC recently announced its global Top 100 rankings for January to September this year, 25 residential sales teams from Australia and New Zealand made the cut. Included were:#4 Neilson Team, RE/MAX Bayside Properties, Cleveland, AU#7 Don Ha Project Sales, RE/MAX Revolution, Auckland, NZ#15 Rademeyer Team, RE/MAX First, Caloundra, AU#16 Melita Bell Team, RE/MAX Success, Toowoomba, AU#17 Deborah…

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  • Partnership to help home hunters get best mortgage rates

    Social property app Sohoapp.com has partnered with Westpac-backed uno Home Loans so homebuyers using the app can check if their home loan is competitive, and how much they could save by refinancing. Sohoapp.com founder and CEO Jonathan Lui said the company is launching uno’s loanScore and mortgage calculator products throughout its platform. “Our mission is to help Australians get into…

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