‘Overinflated’ property no investor lure

Original article by Su-Lin Tan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 26-Aug-15

Investors are unlikely to shift their money from equities to property. Alan Hull, of the Australian Investors Association, says property prices are too high to justify such a move. AMP Capital chief economist, Shane Oliver, notes that yields in residential property, of about three per cent, are not attractive enough to trigger the transfer of funds to real estate.

CORPORATES
AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, WATPAC LIMITED – ASX WTP, FINDER.COM.AU, AUSTIN AUSTRALIA, PROPERTY INVESTORS ALLIANCE, AGS FINANCIAL GROUP, AUSTRALIAN INVESTORS ASSOCIATION LIMITED

Engage centres could fetch up to $200m

Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 33 : 26-Aug-15

Engage Capital is selling a portfolio of three shopping centres in Queensland. The company expects to receive as much as $A200 million for the portfolio which includes the MKT Deception Bay in Brisbane, the Ashmore City Shopping Centre on the Gold Coast and the Wilsonton Shopping Centre in Toowoomba. Their anchor tenants include Woolworths, Coles, Drakes Supa IGA, and ALE.

CORPORATES
ENGAGE CAPITAL PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, COLES GROUP LIMITED, INDEPENDENT GROCERS OF AUSTRALIA, ALE PROPERTY GROUP – ASX LEP, SHAYHER PROPERTIES PTY LTD, JONES LANG LASALLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Chinese investors wary on house buying

Original article by Su-Lin Tan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 25-Aug-15

Chinese real estate investors are reacting to Treasurer Joe Hockey’s crackdown on illegal purchases. They are becoming more cautious as they seek information about investment rules for residential property, according to Asian property agent House 18’s Michael Zhu. Many agents are advising Chinese investors to contact a lawyer before proceeding.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, THE REAL ESTATE INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE, FINANCIAL INDUSTRY REGULATORY AUTHORITY INCORPORATED, CBRE GROUP INCORPORATED, BLACK DIAMONDZ PROPERTY CONCIERGE, HOUSE 18

Global appetite grows for Sydney offices

Original article by Larry Schlesinger
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 24-Aug-15

Sydney has become a global investment destination. Real estate services group DTZ estimates in its latest report that $US8.2 billion ($A11.2 billion) was invested in Sydney’s commercial real estate in the year to June 2015, or 16 per cent more than in 2013-14. This figure makes Sydney the second most traded real estate market in the Asia-Pacific region behind Tokyo.

CORPORATES
DTZ AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CHINA INVESTMENT CORPORATION, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, DALIAN WANDA GROUP COMPANY LIMITED, PERPETUAL TRUSTEE COMPANY LIMITED, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED

Presentation has ‘elements of a wake’

Original article by Matthew Cranston, Robert Harley
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 34 : 21-Aug-15

Depressed conditions in the Brisbane and Perth office leasing markets hindered performance of the Investa Office Fund (IOF). IOF leased 55,000 sq m of office space in 124 deals, but like-for-like net property income fell 1.3 per cent. Funds from operations rose 4.5 per cent and, because of strong revaluations, net tangible asset backing rose 8.1 per cent. Mirvac is poised to buy the entire Investa platform.

CORPORATES
INVESTA OFFICE FUND – ASX IOF, INVESTA PROPERTY GROUP, MIRVAC GROUP – ASX MGR, FOLKESTONE MAXIM ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED, MORGAN STANLEY REAL ESTATE

Charter Hall to raise $55m for Automotive

Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 43 : 20-Aug-15

Charter Hall is setting up a new unlisted retail property trust. The Charter Hall Direct Automotive Trust will hold $A102 million worth of properties which are to be acquired from the Automotive Holdings Group (AHG) and a syndicate managed by API. The acquired properties will be leased back to AHG. Charter Hall is seeking $A55 million from investors for the new fund.

CORPORATES
CHARTER HALL GROUP – ASX CHC, AUTOMOTIVE HOLDINGS GROUP LIMITED – ASX AHG, API FUND, MAZDA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CORE PROPERTY PTY LTD

Hooker glum on Melbourne, Sydney industrial yield

Original article by Larry Schlesinger
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 39 : 18-Aug-15

LJ Hooker expects a rise in prices for prime-grade industrial property in Sydney and Melbourne, due to strong interest from local and foreign investors. Yields are likely to fall below seven per cent. Over the 12 months to June 2015, industrial sales increased 56 per cent to $A5.3 billion. Sydney’s yields rose by 57 basis points to 7.2 per cent in the same period. In Melbourne, they declined 50 basis points to 7.2 per cent.

CORPORATES
LJ HOOKER (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, FRASERS CENTREPOINT LIMITED, AUSTRALAND PROPERTY GROUP, MAPLETREE INVESTMENTS PTE LTD, ASCENDAS PTE LTD, GOODMAN GROUP – ASX GMG

Offices go big on smaller tenants, says Colliers

Original article by Nick Lenaghan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 38 : 18-Aug-15

Businesses are increasingly looking for smaller offices. The proliferation of start-ups and technology firms has led to more demand for office space in tenancies of less than 500 sq m. Colliers International states in its report on Australia’s CBD office market that the proportion of these tenancies has grown to 83 per cent of all tenancies, from 71 per cent in 2009.

CORPORATES
COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED

Mining towns send investors broke

Original article by Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 18-Aug-15

The mining towns of Moranbah and Dysart in Queensland’s Bowen Basin have experienced sharp falls in property prices. Figures from CoreLogic RP Data show that the median value of a home in Morbanah has declined 66 per cent in the past three years, from $A404,006 to $A251,933. During the mining boom, investors pushed prices to ridiculous levels but now demand is almost non-existent.

CORPORATES
CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, RP DATA LIMITED, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, MORANBAH REAL ESTATE PTY LTD, ADANI ENTERPRISES LIMITED

Senator urges crackdown on pushy SMSF spruikers

Original article by Sally Rose
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 13-Aug-15

Senator John Williams, a member of the parliamentary committee on corporations and financial services, wants regulators to crack down on real estate agents who urge people to set up self-managed superannuation funds so they can borrow to buy investment properties. Williams will tell the Australian Securities & Investments Commission that the practice is dangerous and that real estate agents are not licenced to provide such advice.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. JOINT STATUTORY COMMITTEE ON CORPORATIONS AND FINANCIAL SERVICES, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, ELSTON PORTFOLIOS PTY LTD, FINDEX AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, 21ST CENTURY GROUP PTY LTD