L67 Property Operators and Real Estate Services

Veteran McGrath quits REA Group board

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Original article by Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: 13 & 18 : 18-Jan-18

REA Group has advised that real estate agent John McGrath has stepped down as a director of the online property listings group. McGrath is said to have resigned from REA’s board for personal reasons, and Gareth James of Morningstar says it would not be a surprise if McGrath chose to focus on his real estate business. McGrath Limited’s profits and share price fell sharply in 2017, prompting speculation that it could delist from the stock exchange. John McGrath was on the REA board for almost 19 years, and he owns $A10.9m worth of shares in the group.

CORPORATES
REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, McGRATH LIMITED – ASX MEA, REALESTATE.COM.AU, MORNINGSTAR PTY LTD, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Backlash as foreign buyers flee

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Original article by Matthew Cranston, Larry Schlesinger
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 29 : 11-Jan-18

South Australia was the only state that did not record a downturn in sales of residential properties to foreign buyers in the December quarter, according to a new ANZ/Property Council survey. Property developers say factors such as restrictions on access to credit and higher taxes on foreign buyers have contributed to the downturn in demand, and prompted some developers to withdraw from the residential market. Meriton founder Harry Triguboff says his company is having to resell many apartments that had been pre-sold to Chinese buyers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, PROPERTY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MERITON APARTMENTS PTY LTD, REALESTATE.COM.AU, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, CROWN GROUP PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LEND LEASE GROUP LIMITED – ASX LLC, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Lowys accept $33bn takeover

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Original article by Ben Wilmot, Turi Condon
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 13-Dec-17

Paris-based Unibail-Rodamco will own a portfolio of 104 shopping centres worldwide after striking a deal to acquire Westfield Corporation for $US24.7bn ($A32.76bn). The deal comprises Westfield’s 35 shopping centres in the US and the UK, but it does not include Westfield-brand shopping centres in Australia, which are owned by the separately-listed Scentre Group. Unibail-Rodamco intends to rebadge its existing portfolio of shopping centres with the Westfield brand.

CORPORATES
WESTFIELD CORPORATION – ASX WFD, UNIBAIL-RODAMCO, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, BT INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX BTT

Australia rises in housing list

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Original article by Elizabeth Redman
The Australian – Page: 23 : 7-Dec-17

Iceland heads Knight Frank’s latest Global House Price Index, with annualised growth of 20.4 per in the September quarter. Australia is ranked seventh in the list, compared with 11th in the June quarter, with house price growth of 10.2 per cent year-on-year and 1.9 per cent in the three months to September. The data shows that house prices have risen by 5.1 per cent globally over the last year.

CORPORATES
KNIGHT FRANK

House prices to fall further: economists

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Original article by Su-Lin Tan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 5-Dec-17

UBS says the Reserve Bank of Australia is unlikely to reduce official interest rates in the near-term, despite data showing that house prices in Sydney fell by 1.3 per cent in the three months to November. UBS notes that in the past the RBA has frequently reduced the cash rate in response to a sharp fall in house prices. The firm adds that a further downturn in house prices is likely. Meanwhile, LF Economics expects the royal commission into the banking sector to have a significant impact on house prices.

CORPORATES
UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, LF ECONOMICS, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

Developers told GST changes out of left field despite talks

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Original article by Duncan Hughes
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 4-Dec-17

Changes to the goods and services tax treatment of property transactions are due to take effect on 1 July 2018, although they must first be passed by parliament. They are aimed at preventing a practice known as "phoenixing", whereby developers close their business before they have settled their GST obligations, and start up another entity under a different name. The changes are tipped to boost GST collection by $A660 million over four years, but developers are concerned that they will face more red tape and greater compliance costs.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, FEHILY ADVISORY

Bitcoins OK for purchase of mansion

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 29-Nov-17

The vendor of a home at Mt Macedon in Victoria is happy to accept payment for the property in bitcoin, with the six-bedroom home available at $A2.5 million in "fiat currency terms". Dominic Romeo from Unique Estate, which is selling the property, believes it could start a trend that other vendors around Australia are likely to follow. However, property owner Paul Hosking is not quite so certain, saying that being prepared to accept bitcoin for your home is not something he would recommend without first carefully researching the topic.

CORPORATES
UNIQUE ESTATE, LONDON WALL

Tale of two cities for luxury home prices

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Original article by Elizabeth Redman
The Australian – Page: 2 : 9-Nov-17

Sydney is ranked eighth on the quarterly Knight Frank Prime Global Cities Index, down from sixth position in the June quarter. The top end of Sydney’s residential property market recorded growth of 11 per cent in the year to September, compared with 11.5 per cent growth in the year to June. Melbourne has risen from 10th to ninth, with prestige residential properties rising by 10.4 per cent, up from 9.1 per cent annual growth in the June quarter. Guangzhou and Shanghai have recorded the largest growth in prime residential property values.

CORPORATES
KNIGHT FRANK

NZ overseas buyers ban ‘to push funds our way’

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Original article by Turi Condon, Rosanne Barrett
The Australian – Page: 2 : 26-Oct-17

Ray White Group chairman Brian White says more overseas buyers could seek to purchase residential properties in Australia due to the incoming New Zealand Government’s decision to restrict foreign ownership to new housing developments. However, White adds that the Chinese Government’s crackdown on outbound investment is likely to have a greater impact on Chinese demand for Australian housing.

CORPORATES
RAY WHITE GROUP, LABOUR PARTY (NEW ZEALAND), AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, REAL ESTATE INSTITUTE OF NEW ZEALAND, CORELOGIC INCORPORATED

‘Monster’ stamp duty tax should be slain

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 25-Oct-17

The property industry supports a recommendation of the Productivity Commission to replace stamp duty with a land tax regime. Urban Development Institute of Australia CEO Steve Mann notes that first-home buyers in Sydney now pay up to $A30,000 in stamp duty, while he adds that replacing this tax would encourage more people to downsize their home. However, it is estimated that a land tax would cost households around $A2,360 a year on average.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, URBAN DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA, PROPERTY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, MIRVAC GROUP – ASX MGR, LAING AND SIMMONS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, THE REAL ESTATE INSTITUTE OF NEW SOUTH WALES