L67 Property Operators and Real Estate Services

Foreign buyers and super push $1b beef boom

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 32 : 16-May-16

The growing demand for Australian cattle stations is being driven by superannuation funds and foreign investors. A number of local companies are also buying cattle farms in partnership with overseas pension funds, while the sector continues to attract interest from Chinese investors. It is estimated that almost $A500m worth of cattle stations have changed hands in recent weeks, and sales in the sector are on track to top $A1bn in 2016.

CORPORATES
MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, PARAWAY PASTORAL COMPANY LIMITED, WESTERN GRAZING COMPANY, QIC LIMITED, NORTH AUSTRALIAN PASTORAL COMPANY, STICHTING PENSIOENFONDS ABP, PENSION PROTECTION FUND, QUEENSLAND. LONG TERM ASSET ADVISORY BOARD, HEWITT CATTLE AUSTRALIA, CANADA. PUBLIC SECTOR PENSION INVESTMENT BOARD, GUNN AGRI PARTNERS, ZHEJIANG RIFA HOLDING GROUP, RIFA SALUTARY PTY LTD, SHANGHAI CRED REAL ESTATE STOCK COMPANY LIMITED, CBRE PTY LTD, DAKANG AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, S KIDMAN AND COMPANY PTY LTD, THYNNE AND MACARTNEY

Westfield Corp will still call Australia home

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 13-May-16

US-focused Westfield Corporation has ruled out shifting its primary listing from the Australian sharemarket to the US, although the group will consider a dual-listed structure. Chairman Frank Lowy says the board decided that there would be minimal benefit from relocating Westfield’s primary listing at present, and said he does not intend to retire from the board. Meanwhile, Westfield has advised that specialty retail sales at its shopping centres rose by 4.4 per cent in the year to March 2016.

CORPORATES
WESTFIELD CORPORATION – ASX WFD, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG

Global real estate group grabs historic Myer stake

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ben Wilmot
The Australian – Page: 26 : 12-May-16

Myer Family Investments has secured a deal to sell its 33 per cent stake in Myer Holdings’ flagship department store in the Melbourne CBD. TIAA subsidiary TH Real Estate has previously acquired stakes in a number of retail properties in Australia as part of its plans to expand its presence in the country. The deal values the 39,923sq m Myer store at around $A450m. Its other owners are Vicinity Centres and Singapore-based GIC Real Estate.

CORPORATES
MYER FAMILY INVESTMENTS, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, TIAA HENDERSON GLOBAL REAL ESTATE, TH REAL ESTATE, VICINITY CENTRES – ASX VCX, GIC REAL ESTATE PTE LTD, JONES LANG LASALLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ISPT PTY LTD, THE BLACKSTONE GROUP LP, LASALLE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INCORPORATED, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED

Morgan’s property fight ends in stalemate

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Simon Johanson
The Age – Page: 32 : 11-May-16

The Supreme Court of Victoria has ruled that there are no grounds for either Roy Morgan Research or Impact Investment Group to terminate the former’s lease at 401 Collins Street, Melbourne. Justice Clyde found that neither party had breached the terms of the 10-year lease and are therefore not entitled to damages. The dispute centred on the replacement of the building’s elevators. Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan had withheld rent payments due to the dispute, which culminated in IIG locking the market research firm out of its premises.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, IMPACT INVESTMENT GROUP PTY LTD, SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA

Rates cut, fiscal plan keep real estate ticking

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 5-May-16

Angus Raine, the executive chairman of Raine & Horne, says the Reserve Bank’s move to reduce the cash rate to 1.75 per cent should attract first-time buyers back to the property market. Most experts do not expect the rate cut and the Australian Government’s May 2016 Budget to have much impact on activity in the residential market, but some suggest that the new rules on superannuation fund balance transfers will prompt increased demand for lower-priced commercial properties.

CORPORATES
RAINE AND HORNE PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, CBRE PTY LTD, CENTURY 21 REAL ESTATE, RAY WHITE REAL ESTATE, SECRET AGENT PROPERTY SERVICES

RBA says rate cut won’t boost house prices

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Su-Lin Tan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 4-May-16

The Housing Industry Association has urged Australia’s major mortgage lenders to match the Reserve Bank’s 25 basis point reduction in the cash rate. Property industry experts say the new cash rate of 1.75 per cent will encourage first-home buyers to enter the property market, while LJ Hooker CEO Grant Harrod adds that it will bolster the housing markets of capital cities that are underperforming. The central bank does not expect the rate cut to significantly increase house prices.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, LJ HOOKER (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, RP DATA LIMITED, RATECITY PTY LTD, FINDER.COM.AU, MORTGAGE CHOICE LIMITED – ASX MOC, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, THE REAL ESTATE INSTITUTE OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED

House prices edge up in April

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Su-Lin Tan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 3-May-16

The CoreLogic RP Data Home Value index was 1.7 per cent higher in April 2016 than in March. House prices rose by 2.4 per cent in Sydney during April, while prices in Brisbane and Adelaide increased by 2.2 per cent and 2.0 per cent respectively. House prices in Melbourne rose by a more modest 1.1 per cent, but house prices declined in both Hobart and Darwin. Meanwhile, the gross rental yield for residential properties in the capital cities fell to a new low of 3.4 per cent in April.

CORPORATES
CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, RP DATA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Don’t panic about property, HSBC says

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 13-Apr-16

HSBC economist Paul Bloxham says that while Australia’s booming residential construction market faces a number of potential risks, these can be managed. He argues that when the construction boom wanes it will be replaced by growth in the services industry as a driver of the economy. House prices increased by nine per cent in 2015, but Bloxham forecasts growth of 3-4 per cent in 2016.

CORPORATES
HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, BLOOMBERG LP, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Housing risks rise as foreign approvals soar

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Samantha Hutchinson
The Australian – Page: 23 : 12-Apr-16

Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board processed 36,841 applications for offshore investments in the residential property sector during the last year. The FIRB approved a record $A61bn worth of foreign investments in the sector. A banking analyst has downplayed concerns that settlement risk will be heightened by any move by Chinese authorities to crack down on cash outflows, arguing that such measures have not been very effective to date.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, LEND LEASE GROUP LIMITED – ASX LLC

Low rental yields a risk: Moody’s

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Su-Lin Tan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 12-Apr-16

Credit ratings agency Moody’s has warned Australians about the pitfalls of investing in residential property in the current investment environment. A decline in rental yields to record lows in Sydney and Melbourne has resulted in a higher risk of default. Savills’ head of research, Tony Crabb, says the Moody’s warning should be seen in the wider context of risk mitigation strategies that are available to investors.

CORPORATES
MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, SAVILLS (AUST) HOLDINGS PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY