Property price growth set to halve

Original article by Matthew Cranston, Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 30 : 13-Jul-17

A new survey of property industry professionals shows that most expect a slowdown in residential property price growth in the next 12 months. The ANZ/Property Council of Australia index of house price growth expectations has fallen from 20.2 points to 4.3 points. The anticipated slowdown is particularly acute in Sydney, with house price growth expectations falling from 29.6 points to 1.7 points. The survey also shows that property professionals are bearish about the outlook for capital growth in the retail property sector.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, PROPERTY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MOODY’S ANALYTICS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, BIS SHRAPNEL PTY LTD, RAY WHITE GROUP, AVENTUS PROPERTY GROUP PTY LTD, QUINTESSENTIAL EQUITY PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

House prices face turning point: HSBC

Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 7-Jul-17

HSBC expects house prices in Sydney to rise by between 14 and 16 per cent in 2017, while apartment prices will rise by between 10 and 12 per cent. Growth in house and apartment prices is expected to moderate in 2018. HSBC’s forecasts for Melbourne are similar to Sydney for house prices, but it is predicting that apartment prices in Melbourne could fall by as much as three per cent in 2017 and by up to four per cent in 2018. Nationally, HSBC expects house prices to rise by between eight and 10 per cent in 2017, before rising by between three and six per cent in 2018.

CORPORATES
HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

‘Oversold’ retail trusts set to rebound

Original article by Larry Schlesinger
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 3-Jul-17

Vicinity Centres, Scentre Group and Westfield Corporation all returned negative returns of at least 10 per cent in the year to 30 June 2017. This made them the worst performing stocks in the S&P/ASX 200-A REIT index, but fund managers believe that this now makes them good value, and expect them to perform much better in 2017-18. Fund managers contend that the three stocks – Australia’s biggest shopping centre owners – were oversold because of the perception that their tenants will be damaged by the arrival of Amazon in Australia.

CORPORATES
VICINITY CENTRES – ASX VCX, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, WESTFIELD CORPORATION – ASX WFD, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, SG HISCOCK AND COMPANY LIMITED, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, WHOLE FOODS MARKET INCORPORATED, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

ETFs could threaten A-REIT share prices

Original article by Su-Lin Tan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 26-Jun-17

Australian-listed real estate investment trusts have become increasing popular with exchange-traded funds in recent years, according to Angelo Scasserra of Credit Suisse. Scentre, Stockland, Goodman and Mirvac are among the A-REITs to have attracted funds from ETFs, which Scasserra says are a very passive category of investors. He also says ETFs are very "reactionary", leading to potential share price volatility within the A-REIT sector.

CORPORATES
CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, STOCKLAND – ASX SGP, GOODMAN GROUP – ASX GMG, MIRVAC GROUP – ASX MGR, VICINITY CENTRES – ASX VCX, DEXUS PROPERTY GROUP – ASX DXS, GPT GROUP – ASX GPT, VANGUARD AUSTRALIAN PROPERTY SECURITIES INDEX ETF – ASX VEU, BLACKSTONE REAL ESTATE ADVISORS LLC, ISHARES INCORPORATED, BETASHARES CAPITAL LIMITED, STATE STREET BANK AND TRUST COMPANY, INVESCO, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, LYXOR ASSET MANAGEMENT, RUSSELL INVESTMENT GROUP, CUSHMAN AND WAKEFIELD INCORPORATED

Melbourne cladding still in place after fire

Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 16-Jun-17

The tragic Grenfell Tower fire in London and the possible links to its external cladding has led to concerns about buildings with similarly dangerous cladding in Australia. Cladding on one such building, the Lacrosse building in Melbourne, was directed to be removed after it was affected by a potentially lethal fire in November 2014, but the cladding remains. Victorian Planning Minister Richard Wynne says many apartment buildings in Australia could have the same cladding problems as the Lacrosse building.

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. DEPT OF JUSTICE AND REGULATION, LU SIMON BUILDERS PTY LTD, VICTORIA. BUILDING APPEALS BOARD, VICTORIA. BUILDING COMMISSION, MELBOURNE METROPOLITAN FIRE BRIGADE, CSIRO, GREAT BRITAIN. NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE, GREAT BRITAIN. OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF HOUSING AND PUBLIC WORKS, ELENBERG FRASER PTY LTD, CHARTER HALL GROUP – ASX CHC, CITY OF PORT PHILLIP, CITY OF MELBOURNE, METROPOLITAN FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES BOARD

Commercial yields to tighten further: AMP

Original article by Larry Schlesinger
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 34 : 16-Jun-17

Opinion is divided as to whether Australia’s commercial real estate sector is heading for a major downturn. Shane Quinn of Quintessential Equity says he can foresee "carnage" if banks decide to cut back on lending, but Adam Geha, the CEO of fund manager EG, says he cannot foresee a correction in the immediate future. Geha’s comments are echoed by AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver, who says a commercial property market crash looks to be unlikely.

CORPORATES
QUINTESSENTIAL EQUITY PTY LTD, EG CAPITAL PTY LTD, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Australia rises in house price index

Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 33 : 9-Jun-17

Iceland heads Knight Frank’s latest Global House Price Index, with annualised growth of 17.8 per in the March 2017 quarter. Of the 55 countries covered by the survey, 48 recorded house price increases, with 11 posting an annualised rise of more than 10 per cent. Australia ranks 20th in the list, with strong performances in the Melbourne and Sydney housing markets helping it to achieve annual growth of 7.7 per cent in the March quarter.

CORPORATES
KNIGHT FRANK, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

New home sales coming off peak

Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 34 : 5-Jun-17

New home sales all rose in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia in April 2017, according to Housing Industry Association figures. Western Australian sales declined by 12.7 per cent, while Queensland sales fell for the fifth month in a row. Australia-wide, sales were up when compared to March, but were 3.3 per cent down on April 2016. HIA senior economist Geordan Murray notes its current forecasts for 2017-18 suggest new home starts will be down by about 10 per cent.

CORPORATES
HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED

REITs at risk in housing slowdown

Original article by Elizabeth Redman
The Australian – Page: 25 : 1-Jun-17

Data from CoreLogic shows that residential property values across five Australian capital cities fell by 1.1 per cent in May 2017. Analysts and fund managers warn that listed real estate investment trusts could be vulnerable to a slowdown in the housing market. Stuart Cartledge of Phoenix Portfolios notes that developers that have pre-sold apartments will not be hit by any downturn, although future sales volumes may be affected.

CORPORATES
CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, PHOENIX PORTFOLIOS PTY LTD, STOCKLAND – ASX SGP, MIRVAC GROUP – ASX MGR, LEND LEASE GROUP LIMITED – ASX LLC, CEDAR WOODS PROPERTIES LIMITED – ASX CWP, AVJENNINGS LIMITED – ASX AVJ, VILLA WORLD LIMITED – ASX VLW, RESOLUTION CAPITAL LIMITED, CLSA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FOLKESTONE MAXIM ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED

Housing prices to drop 7pc, bank says

Original article by Elizabeth Redman, Daniel Palmer
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 4-May-17

Data from REA Group shows that housing demand in New South Wales declined by 7.8 per cent month-on-month in April 2017, while demand among house buyers in Victoria fell 1.6 per cent. Meanwhile, Citigroup has forecast that residential property prices could fall by up to seven per cent in 2018, with apartment prices in Melbourne and Sydney regarded as the most vulnerable to a correction. However, the investment bank adds that any downturn in the property market is unlikely to impact on the broader economy.

CORPORATES
REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, REALESTATE.COM.AU, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, GENWORTH MORTGAGE INSURANCE AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX GMA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, STOCKLAND – ASX SGP