L67 Property Operators and Real Estate Services

Value of housing takes a $70bn hit

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Original article by Turi Condon, Mackenzie Scott
The Australian – Page: 2 : 12-Dec-18

Official data shows that the mean value of an Australian home fell by about $9,700 in the September quarter, to $675,000. The total value of the 10.1 million dwellings in Australia declined by $70.1bn in the quarter, to $6.8trn. The Australian Bureau of Statistics data also shows that dwelling prices in Melbourne fell by 2.6 per cent in the quarter and by 1.5 per cent year-on-year, while Sydney recorded falls of 1.9 per cent and 4.4 per cent respectively.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ERNST AND YOUNG

Affordability issue persists in spite of falls

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Original article by Su-Lin Tan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 33 : 7-Dec-18

The proportion of income needed to meet mortgage repayments fell by 0.8 per cent Australia-wide in the September quarter, according to the latest Adelaide Bank/REIA Housing Affordability Report. However, despite falling house prices, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne, housing affordability is down when compared to 2017. UBS has suggested that a looming credit crunch and more stringent lending conditions could restrict future buyers to loans that are no more than six times their household income; this means housing affordability may not improve even if house prices continue to fall.

CORPORATES
UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, MIRVAC GROUP – ASX MGR, STOCKLAND – ASX SGP, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, THE REAL ESTATE INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ADELAIDE BANK

House prices to dive 10pc more: Ellerston

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Original article by Yolanda Redrup
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 5-Dec-18

Brett Gillespie of Ellerston Capital is bearish about the outlook for Australia’s residential property market, forecasting that house prices will eventually fall by an additional 10 per cent. He adds that this could occur much more rapidly if Labor wins the 2019 federal election and implements its proposed changes to the negative gearing regime. Gillespie says a 4-5 per cent fall in house prices would be necessary to 4 to 5 per cent to offset the impact of the negative gearing reforms.

CORPORATES
ELLERSTON CAPITAL PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD

Housing drop near worst on record

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Original article by Turi Condon
The Australian – Page: 3 : 30-Nov-18

Data from CoreLogic shows that residential property prices in Sydney have fallen by 1.3 per cent so far in November, the biggest monthly decline in 14 years. The firm now expects Sydney house prices to fall by 15 per cent from their peak. Tim Lawless of CoreLogic says the outlook for the housing market is unlikely to improve in the near-term, although he does not anticipate an increase in distressed sales. Meanwhile, Housing Industry Association data shows that sales of new homes fell by 10 per cent year-on-year in the three months to October.

CORPORATES
CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Perth tipped to top house price growth

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Original article by Ingrid Fuary-Wagner
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 29-Nov-18

Domain economist Trent Wiltshire is upbeat about the residential property market in Perth, forecasting a five per cent increase in house prices during 2019. He cites factors such as a growing economy, a rising population, the development of new mines in the state and stronger commodity prices. Domain also forecasts that house prices in Melbourne will decline by one per cent in 2019 and Sydney prices will remain flat; prices in both cities are then tipped to rise by four per cent in 2020.

CORPORATES
DOMAIN HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX DHA, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, SQM RESEARCH PTY LTD, QBE INSURANCE GROUP LIMITED – ASX QBE, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

House prices could fall 20pc: ANZ

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Original article by Turi Condon
The Australian – Page: 27 : 23-Nov-18

The ANZ Bank is bearish about the outlook for the residential property market in Melbourne and Sydney, forecasting that house prices will fall by 15-20 per cent from their peak. ANZ expects increased lending restrictions to weigh on the property market, while other potential headwinds include the federal election due in 2019 and the final report of the financial services royal commission. ANZ also expects official interest rates to remain on hold until 2020.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MACQUARIE SECURITIES PTY LTD

End of an era as Lowy flags Scentre board departure

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Original article by Ben Wilmot
The Australian – Page: 23 : 16-Nov-18

Steven Lowy has advised the board of Scentre Group that he will not seek re-election as a director at its AGM in April. Scentre is the owner and operator of Westfield shopping centres in Australia and New Zealand, with Lowy’s father Sir Frank having co-founded Westfield in 1960. Sir Frank struck a deal in December 2017 to sell Westfield Corporation, the owner of its international malls, to Unibail-Rodamco for $US24.7 billion ($32 billion). Steven Lowy was the last member of the Lowy family to remain on the Scentre board.

CORPORATES
SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, WESTFIELD CORPORATION, UNIBAIL-RODAMCO, UNIBAIL-RODAMCO-WESTFIELD – ASX URW

RBA in housing market warning

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 16-Nov-18

Apartment developers are increasingly having to seek funds from non-bank lenders as the major banks cut back on lending to the sector. The Reserve Bank’s deputy governor Guy Debelle says it is a trend that the central bank is keeping an eye on, warning that if it is overdone it could lead to a downturn in the housing market. Urbis recently reported that only 46 units were sold in new Sydney projects during the September quarter, compared to 381 sales of units in the previous corresponding period.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, URBIS PTY LTD

Negative gearing changes would create distortions

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Original article by Ingrid Fuary-Wagner
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 34 : 13-Nov-18

RiskWise CEO Doron Peleg contends that Labor’s proposed negative gearing reforms would create a two-tiered property market. Economist Stephen Koukoulas believes that concerns about Labor’s proposals are unwarranted, as any fall in house prices that might result will make it easier for first-home buyers to enter the market. Tyrone Hodge of JLL thinks the proposed changes could have a negative impact on housing supply.

CORPORATES
RISKWISE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, JONES LANG LASALLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Housing builder Tamawood warns first-half sales will fall 15pc

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Original article by Su-Lin Tan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 9-Nov-18

Tamawood chairman Robert Lynch told shareholders at the housing builder’s AGM on 8 November that it expected that home sales for the first half would be done by 15 per cent. He noted the housing market was facing a number of challenges at the moment, including the tightening of lending criteria by banks as the result of the banking royal commission. Lynch said the biggest fall in current sales was being seen in Sydney and Melbourne, while he told shareholders that Tamawood was well placed to increase its market share in what was a "tightening market"

CORPORATES
TAMAWOOD LIMITED – ASX TWD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA