L67 Property Operators and Real Estate Services

Vicinity to sell up to $1b of mall assets

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Nick Lenaghan, Mercedes Ruehl
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 33 : 15-Dec-15

Australian-listed Vicinity Centres plans to divest between $A750m and $A1bn worth of shopping centres during the next 12 months. Proceeds of the asset sales will be used to reduce debt, finance acquisitions and be reinvested in the redevelopment of its other assets. Vicinity has identified one bulky goods property in Queensland that it intends to sell, and CEO Angus McNaughton has flagged an exit from this asset class.

CORPORATES
VICINITY CENTRES – ASX VCX, NOVION PROPERTY GROUP, CHADSTONE SHOPPING CENTRE, WARRIEWOOD SHOPPING CENTRE

House price growth will wane, says report

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Su-Lin Tan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 15-Dec-15

Domain Group’s "State of the Market" report forecasts that residential property prices in Australia’s capital cities will rise by 2-5 per cent in 2016. House prices are tipped to rise by four per cent in Sydney and five per cent in Melbourne, following growth of around 20 per cent and 12 per cent respectively in 2015. Senior economist Andrew Wilson expects renewed interest among property investors in 2016, citing factors such as negative gearing and the high yield relative to other investment options.

CORPORATES
DOMAIN.COM.AU, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, SQM RESEARCH PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, MORTGAGE CHOICE LIMITED – ASX MOC, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, THE REAL ESTATE INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED

McGrath falters on first ASX day

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Robert Harley, Larry Schlesinger
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 35 : 8-Dec-15

Shares in McGrath Limited closed at $A1.835 on 7 December 2015, giving the real estate group a market capitalisation of $A227.9m. The stock was issued at $A2.10 per share, with founder John McGrath reducing his stake from 58.4 per cent to 27 per cent in the IPO. McGrath Limited expects to post a net profit after tax of $A21.1m in 2015-16, compared with $A18.3m previously.

CORPORATES
McGRATH LIMITED – ASX MEA

ASIC puts heat on unlawful spruikers

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Duncan Hughes
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 33 : 7-Dec-15

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission will continue to target individuals and companies that promote the use of self-managed superannuation funds to invest in the property market. The Australian Taxation Office estimates that SMSFs account for about 33 per cent of the $A1.7bn that is held by super funds. Meanwhile, the value of limited-recourse loans taken out by SMSFs has blown out from around $A755m to $A15bn in the last five years.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, PARK TRENT PROPERTIES GROUP PTY LTD, SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES, OMNIWEALTH PTY LTD, SUPERANNUATION WAREHOUSE AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Sydney, Melbourne property prices hit the skids

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Su-Lin Tan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 2-Dec-15

New figures from CoreLogic RP Data show that dwelling values fell in five of Australia’s eight capital cities during November 2015. There was a 1.4 per cent decline in home values in Sydney during November and a one per cent downturn in the three months to November. Meanwhile, home values in Melbourne fell by 0.5 per cent for the quarter and 3.5 per cent in November. However, both cities are continuing to record double-digit annual growth in home values.

CORPORATES
CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, RP DATA LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

McGrath rating has rivals crying foul

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 35 : 26-Nov-15

Rival firms have questioned figures in the prospectus of McGrath Real Estate which suggest that the firm has a 3.2 per cent share of Australia’s residential sales market, ranking it the nation’s third-largest. Harcourts MD Mike Green argues that most of McGrath’s sales are in Sydney’s eastern suburbs and it would have a much lower ranking based on the number of properties sold rather than the dollar value. McGrath is slated to list on the sharemarket in December 2015.

CORPORATES
McGRATH REAL ESTATE PTY LTD, HARCOURTS REAL ESTATE PTY LTD, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, RP DATA LIMITED, RAY WHITE REAL ESTATE, LJ HOOKER (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, FIRST NATIONAL REAL ESTATE GROUP

EY warns of cyber threat to real estate

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Robert Harley
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 40 : 25-Nov-15

Professional services firm EY has released a report which highlights the risks associated with the growing use of digital technologies in buildings. Richard Watson of EY notes that so-called SMART buildings are especially vulnerable to computer hackers. He says a building’s tenants would be the first to be impacted by a cyber attack on the property’s digital infrastructure, but landlords would ultimately have to compensate tenants for loss of revenue and damage to their reputation.

CORPORATES
ERNST AND YOUNG

Commercial property’s best year since 2008

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Robert Harley
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 24-Nov-15

The latest PCA/IPD Australia Property Index data shows that Australia’s commercial property sector delivered a total return of 12 per cent in the year to 30 September 2015. This was the best total return since the September 2008 quarter. The Sydney and Melbourne office markets both achieved a return of 14.7 per cent for the year, while neighbourhood shopping centres boasted the highest return in the retail property sector, at 14.4 per cent.

CORPORATES
PROPERTY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, IPD, MSCI INCORPORATED

Agents enter FIRB ‘grey area’

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 34 : 20-Nov-15

Australian real estate agents must familiarise themselves with new foreign investment laws on residential property which come into effect in December 2015. Property lawyer John Turnbull says non-compliance could result in civil penalties of up to $A45,000 for individuals and $A225,000 for companies. Some confusion may arise from the new rules not being sufficiently clear.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, KAY AND BURTON, THE REAL ESTATE INSTITUTE OF NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD

Hotel giants’ tie-up opens luxury doors

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Larry Schlesinger
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 35 : 18-Nov-15

JLL’s Mark Wynne Smith anticipates further consolidation in the global accommodation industry in the wake of the proposed merger of Marriott International and Starwood Hotels & Resorts. The combined group will boast 5,500 hotels and 1.1 million rooms worldwide, including 16 hotels and 5,000 rooms in Australia. The two companies plan to add an additional 2,500 hotel rooms in Australia during the next five years.

CORPORATES
MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL HOTELS INCORPORATED, STARWOOD HOTELS AND RESORTS WORLDWIDE INCORPORATED, JONES LANG LASALLE INCORPORATED, ACCOR ASIA PACIFIC, MANTRA GROUP LIMITED – ASX MTR, THE RITZ-CARLTON HOTEL COMPANY LLC, SHERATON HOTELS, W HOTELS, WESTIN HOTELS AND RESORTS, FOUR POINTS BY SHERATON, SAVILLS (AUST) HOLDINGS PTY LTD, BRIGHT RUBY RESOURCES PTE LTD, SUNSHINE INSURANCE GROUP COMPANY LIMITED, INTER-CONTINENTAL HOTELS AND RESORTS, HILTON HOTELS CORPORATION