L67 Property Operators and Real Estate Services

Apartment slowdown to hit economy hard: Triguboff

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Original article by Turi Condon
The Australian – Page: 2 : 11-Sep-17

Apartment prices have fallen by around 10 per cent over the past six months, according to Harry Triguboff. Australia’s biggest builder of apartments says governments may need to take action if prices, along with new apartment starts, continue to fall. He says trends that are seeing young people share or stay with their parents for longer is hurting new apartment construction, as is tepid wages growth.

CORPORATES
MERITON APARTMENTS PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, BIS OXFORD ECONOMICS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Build-to-rent will struggle in Australia

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Original article by Larry Schlesinger
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 37 : 6-Sep-17

Melbourne-based Caydon Property Group has started work on its first "build-to-rent" apartment project in the US. However, Caydon founder Joe Russo questions whether the build-to-rent model will be successful in Australia, noting that rising property values means that such an apartment building is likely to be less profitable than selling all apartments off the plan. Mirvac is undertaking a capital raising to finance its first build-to-rent project, while Salta Properties also plans to enter the sector.

CORPORATES
CAYDON PROPERTY GROUP PTY LTD, MIRVAC GROUP – ASX MGR, SALTA PROPERTIES PTY LTD, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, SCAPE LIVING STUDENT ACCOMMODATION, MACQUARIE CAPITAL PTY LTD, GREYSTAR REAL ESTATE PARTNERS LLC, DOMUS HOLDINGS CORPORATION

Affordability likely to stall for 40 years

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 29-Aug-17

Housing affordability may not improve for another four decades, according to the Committee for Economic Development of Australia. Factors that may bring about an improvement include increases in capital gains tax and more supply of land for housing. The CEDA also expects the proportion of Australians living in capital cities to rise in coming decades, and notes that this may only serve to increase wealth inequality, while low-income workers will struggle to find accommodation in large cities. The CEDA notes that the housing market appears to be geared to producing homes at a lower rate than is needed, thereby contributing to higher prices and reduced affordability.

CORPORATES
COMMITTEE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF AUSTRALIA

Chinese buyers retreat

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Original article by Angus Grigg
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 14-Aug-17

New Chinese Government controls on capital are in part leading to a significant drop in Chinese investment in Australian real estate. Jane Lu, the Australian head of Chinese-focused real estate portal Juwai.com, says other factors include new Australian taxes on foreign buyers and curbs being imposed by Australian banks on loans to overseas buyers. However, she notes that Australia is still the second most favoured nation for Chinese property investors. Morgan Stanley estimates that Chinese buyers accounted for $A20 billion worth of investment in Australian residential property in the 2016 fiscal year.

CORPORATES
JUWAI LIMITED, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, BELLER GROUP, DALIAN WANDA GROUP COMPANY LIMITED

First-home buyers back in the market

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 10-Aug-17

Treasurer Scott Morrison and the Real Estate Institute of Australia have welcomed indications of an upturn in first-home buyer activity. Official figures show that 8,573 mortgage loans were taken out by first-time buyers in June, which is the highest level in almost three years. The total value of loan commitments to this segment of the mortgage market topped $A28.5bn in the year to June. Meanwhile, loan commitments to property investors rose by 10.5 per cent to $A152 billion in 2016-17, in seasonally-adjusted terms.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, THE REAL ESTATE INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, SQM RESEARCH PTY LTD, POLY GROUP CORPORATION, INTRAPAC PROJECTS PTY LTD

SCA profit jumps as shoppers spend up

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Original article by Elizabeth Redman
The Australian – Page: 23 : 9-Aug-17

The listed Shopping Centres Australasia Property Group has posted a 2016-17 profit of $A319.6m, which is 73 per cent higher than previously. The total value of its portfolio of shopping centres rose from $A1.89bn to $A2.36bn. The real estate investment trust has advised that it has rebalanced its mix of tenants to include non-discretionary retailers that are less likely to lose customers to online giant Amazon than outlets such as clothing stores.

CORPORATES
SHOPPING CENTRES AUSTRALASIA PROPERTY GROUP – ASX SCP, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, CHARTER HALL RETAIL REIT – ASX CQR

Be cautious about retail landlords, Citi warns clients

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Original article by Nick Lenaghan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 37 : 8-Aug-17

Shares in listed retail property trusts such as Vicinity Centres, Scentre Group and Westfield Corporation have struggled recently, due to concern that their tenants will be damaged by the arrival of Amazon in Australia. However, the general consensus of analysts is that retail real estate investment trusts will post earnings growth of five per cent for 2018. Citigroup is less optimistic than some of its peers, predicting growth of just 3.5 per cent.

CORPORATES
VICINITY CENTRES – ASX VCX, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, WESTFIELD CORPORATION – ASX WFD, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, CHARTER HALL RETAIL REIT – ASX CQR, SHOPPING CENTRES AUSTRALASIA PROPERTY GROUP – ASX SCP, CLSA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, GOODMAN GROUP – ASX GMG, STOCKLAND – ASX SGP, INVESTA OFFICE FUND – ASX IOF, MIRVAC GROUP – ASX MGR, BWP TRUST – ASX BWP

Retail property sentiment dips

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Original article by Elizabeth Redman
The Australian – Page: 23 : 28-Jul-17

National Australia Bank’s latest survey of the commercial property sector has revealed that sentiment is at its least optimistic in the retail property segment. Sentiment in that category is at its lowest since the end of 2014, in part due to the looming arrival of Amazon. Sentiment towards CBD hotels is also down, but sentiment in the office and industrial segments rose. Looking at individual states, sentiment has improved in Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia, but declined in New South Wales.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED

Lendlease tops up pool to close pay gap

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Original article by Turi Condon
The Australian – Page: 19 & 23 : 26-Jul-17

Lendlease CEO Steve McCann says companies need to constantly monitor salaries to combat the gender pay. Lendlease has increased its salary pool in recent years to ensure pay equity, and the company has been actively monitoring the salaries of male and female workers in comparable roles since 2014. Meanwhile, the Property Male Champions of Change has advised that the gender balance in leadership roles at its member organisations rose to 30 per cent in 2016-17, compared with 22.1 per cent in 2014-15.

CORPORATES
LEND LEASE GROUP LIMITED – ASX LLC, PROPERTY MALE CHAMPIONS OF CHANGE, DEXUS PROPERTY GROUP – ASX DXS, STOCKLAND – ASX SGP, MIRVAC GROUP – ASX MGR, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, SAVILLS (AUST) HOLDINGS PTY LTD, CUSHMAN AND WAKEFIELD PTY LTD, FRASERS PROPERTY GROUP, JONES LANG LASALLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CHARTER HALL GROUP – ASX CHC, GPT GROUP – ASX GPT, BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Charter Hall tipped to pay $A250 million for Hastings

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Original article by Nick Lenaghan, Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 32 : 25-Jul-17

Charter Hall Group and Westpac have reported that they are in discussions with a view to the former buying Westpac’s Hastings Funds Management business. Hastings, which was started by former Carlton football player Mike Fitzpatrick, has an infrastructure portfolio valued at $A14.3 billion, with investments in assets such as the port of Newcastle and Perth Airport. Experts suggest that Charter Hall will have to pay about $A250 million for Hastings.

CORPORATES
CHARTER HALL GROUP – ASX CHC, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, HASTINGS FUNDS MANAGEMENT LIMITED, CARLTON FOOTBALL CLUB LIMITED, QIC LIMITED, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, BROOKFIELD CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LIMITED