L67 Property Operators and Real Estate Services

Foreign money needed for build-to-rent funds, says EY

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Nick Lenaghan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 39 : 1-May-18

Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison announced restrictions on the purchase of residential property by managed investment trusts in September 2017. Luke McIntosh of Ernst & Young claimed at a property forum on 30 April that the restrictions make it hard to attract the foreign capital needed to get the build-to-rent sector off the ground in Australia. Build-to-rent involves the development of housing from which investors make their profit by retaining it for renters rather than selling it.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, ERNST AND YOUNG, SALTA PROPERTIES PTY LTD

Sydney, Melbourne prices to fall 5pc

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Duncan Hughes
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 10-Apr-18

AMP Capital’s Shane Oliver forecasts that the median house price in both Melbourne and Sydney will decline by around five per cent in 2018. He expects a further downturn in house prices in 2019, although he adds that factors such as population growth and stricter lending standards will prevent a nationwide price crash. Meanwhile, analysis by valuer Herron Todd White suggests that Melbourne is the only mainland capital where apartment prices have not yet peaked.

CORPORATES
AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, HERRON TODD WHITE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, THE REAL ESTATE INSTITUTE OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Keep home-building level high, association says

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 9-Apr-18

The Housing Industry Association notes that 2016 was a record year for new house construction, with 230,000 being built, and that this rate of construction needs to be maintained for the next two decades. The HIA states this level of construction is needed to meet demand levels and to help maintain housing affordability. The HIA also wants immigration levels to be maintained, in order to offset the impact of Australia’s ageing population and falling birth rates.

CORPORATES
HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED

Sydney, Melbourne housing boom over

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Su-Lin Tan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 19-Mar-18

Preliminary data from CoreLogic shows that Sydney’s residential property market boasted an auction clearance rate of 67.8 per cent in the week ended 18 March, compared with 76.8 per cent at the same time in 2017. Melbourne’s clearance rate fell from 77 per cent previously to 68.9 per cent. Damien Cooley of Cooley Auctions says it is too soon to suggest that Sydney and Melbourne have become buyers’ markets.

CORPORATES
CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, COOLEY AUCTION SERVICES PTY LTD, BELLE PROPERTY PTY LTD, FIRST NATIONAL REAL ESTATE GROUP, RT EDGAR PTY LTD, ELDERS REAL ESTATE, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

Zoning key to more affordable housing: RBA

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 7 : 9-Mar-18

Research by the Reserve Bank of Australia has concluded that development restrictions have been a major contributor to the sharp rise in house prices over the last two decades. The central bank says that state and local government zoning rules have increased the price of the average house in Sydney by 42 per cent, and 29 per cent in Brisbane. The Reserve Bank suggests that measures such as relaxing building height limits could help to increase housing affordability.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, GRATTAN INSTITUTE

Unlisted funds beat market in 2017

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Nick Lenaghan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 32 : 27-Feb-18

Australian unlisted property funds delivered average total returns of 23.4 per cent in 2017, compared with a return of just 7.7 per cent for Australian equities. Maarten Broek of MCSI stated that the strong performance of unlisted property funds was aided by factors such as rental growth and investor demand, while he noted that yields had contracted in recent years. Australian direct property also performed well in 2017, with a total return of 11.9 per cent.

CORPORATES
MSCI INCORPORATED, ZENITH INVESTMENT PARTNERS PTY LTD, PROPERTY FUNDS ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN UNITY LIMITED

There is no plan B to Westfield takeover: Lowy

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Nick Lenaghan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 34 : 23-Feb-18

European shopping centre group Unibail-Rodamco announced plans to acquire shopping mall owner Westfield Corporation in early December. At the time, Unibail’s scrip-focused deal valued Westfield at $A10.01 per share, but this had fallen to around $A8.82 per share on 22 February. Asked about the future of the deal at the announcement of Westfield’s full-year results, co-CEO Peter Lowy advised that there was "no plan B" in place. Westfield’s 2017 profit of $US1.55 billion is 13.5 per cent higher than previously.

CORPORATES
WESTFIELD CORPORATION – ASX WFD, UNIBAIL-RODAMCO, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Landlord tougher than Lowy

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 33 : 20-Feb-18

Unibail-Rodamco owns EUR42.5 billion ($A66 billion) worth of shopping centres across Europe. CEO Christophe Cuvillier notes that it weeds out 10 per cent of its poorest-performing tenants every year. Cuvillier says he is unsure if any other shopping centre operates in such a manner. He is currently in Australia to speak with Westfield Corporation and Unibail-Rodamco investors in order to convince them of the merits of his company’s $A33bn bid for Westfield.

CORPORATES
UNIBAIL-RODAMCO, WESTFIELD CORPORATION – ASX WFD, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NM ROTHSCHILD AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, L’OREAL SA

Push for Unibail to recut takeover

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ben Potter
The Australian – Page: 20 : 19-Feb-18

French shopping centre group Unibail-Rodamco released details of a plan to acquire the Lowy family’s Westfield Corporation on 10 December. At the time the deal was valued at $A32 billion, but its value has since fallen by over 12 per cent, due to a combination of a fall in Unibail’s share price and a rise in the Euro and the Australian dollar against the US dollar. Michael Doble of APN says that if there was to be any changes to the terms of the transaction that the impetus for change would come from the Lowys.

CORPORATES
UNIBAIL-RODAMCO, WESTFIELD CORPORATION – ASX WFD, APN FUNDS MANAGEMENT LIMITED, FOLKESTONE MAXIM ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED, PHOENIX PORTFOLIOS PTY LTD, RESOLUTION CAPITAL LIMITED, ANTARES EQUITIES

Airbnb is not a threat: Wyndham CEO

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Larry Schlesinger
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 12-Feb-18

Stephen Holmes, the CEO of hospitality company Wyndham Worldwide, believes that the impact of accommodation-sharing platform Airbnb on the hotel sector has been overexaggerated. When it comes to the question as to whether Airbnb has been the biggest factor behind the recent consolidation within the global hotel sector, Holmes suggests that a more important factor has been the growth of online travel agents like booking.com and Expedia.

CORPORATES
WYNDHAM WORLDWIDE CORPORATION, AIRBNB INCORPORATED, BOOKING.COM BV, EXPEDIA INCORPORATED, MARRIOTT CORPORATION, STARWOOD HOTELS AND RESORTS WORLDWIDE INCORPORATED, ACCOR SA, MANTRA GROUP LIMITED – ASX MTR, HOTELS.COM, CENDANT CORPORATION, RAMADA INNS PTY LTD, SUPER 8 MOTELS INCORPORATED