L67 Property Operators and Real Estate Services

Hockey did foreign buyers a favour

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 45 : 13-Aug-15

Real estate agents have this advice for foreign property owners ordered to sell up because they have breached foreign investment rules – do so sooner rather than later. The agents believe the Sydney market in particular has topped out. Of the six properties to be sold under orders from Treasurer Joe Hockey, one is in Sydney’s Fairfield, where prices have surged 33 per cent in 12 months. A crash is not predicted, but agents are starting to see fewer bidders at auctions.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, CENTURY 21, DOMAIN.COM.AU, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, McGRATH ESTATE AGENTS, BELLE PROPERTY PTY LTD, RAY WHITE GROUP, LAURIE KELLY REAL ESTATE

Bumper debut for GPT Metro Office

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Original article by Nick Lenaghan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 37 : 12-Aug-15

Australian-listed GPT Metro Office, which was floated in October 2014, has reported earnings per unit of $A0.1128 for 2014-15. The fund announced a distribution of $A0.1015 per unit. The fund’s six assets had their valuation increased by $A24 million to $A401.8 million.

CORPORATES
GPT METRO OFFICE FUND – ASX GMF

Hartzer flags probe of mortgage brokers

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Original article by Nick Lenaghan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 38 : 11-Aug-15

Westpac CEO Brian Hartzer has warned mortgage brokers that certain of their lending practices may attract the attention of regulators. He said on 10 August 2015 that it is essential to make sure that customers are able to service their loans. Aussie Home Loans founder John Symond is concerned about the risk of over-regulation. He claims that additional compliance is already extending the process of assessing the loan application by 30 minutes.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, AUSSIE HOME LOANS LIMITED

Mixed results in Sydney auctions but no signs of housing slowdown

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Original article by Su-Lin Tan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 10-Aug-15

Sydney’s residential property market is not as hot as it was several weeks ago. Domain’s senior economist, Andrew Wilson, says auction clearance rates have been falling over the past three weeks while listings are twice as high as they were a year ago. CoreLogic RP Data reported a clearance rate of 77.8 per cent for 8-9 August 2015, compared with 78.8 per cent for 1-2 August.

CORPORATES
McGRATH REAL ESTATE PTY LTD, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, RP DATA LIMITED, DOMAIN.COM.AU

CBA to cut lending for new homes

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10&8 : 10-Aug-15

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia plans to introduce restrictions on lending to first-home buyers and investors for property purchases in greenfield housing developments. The bank told brokers that the approval of finance for buyers of land lots would be delayed until all preliminary work on the project has been completed. Developers worry that the plan, if implemented, would have a negative impact on the housing sector.

CORPORATES
URBAN DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA (VICTORIA), COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, FRASERS AUSTRALAND PTY LTD, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED

Landlord nation: 18,000 own six or more rental properties

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Original article by Su-Lin Tan, Fleur Anderson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 7-Aug-15

New figures show that some 16 per cent of Australian taxpayers owned a residential investment property in 2012-13. More than 110,000 taxpayers owned more than three rental properties, while about 18,000 had a portfolio of at least six. Shane Garrett of the Housing Industry Association says factors such as rising house prices and population growth means a lot more people probably now own at least one investment property.

CORPORATES
HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED

Office tenants up but with eye on new supply

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Original article by Robert Harley
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 45 : 6-Aug-15

Sydney’s CBD office vacancy rate fell to 6.3 per cent in July 2015. Strong demand for office space is not limited to the CBD but is also evident in a number of metropolitan areas, including North Ryde, Chatswood and North Sydney. Stephen McNabb, the head of research at CBRE, expects this trend to continue for the next two to three years.

CORPORATES
CBRE PTY LTD, PROPERTY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, JONES LANG LASALLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, LPC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, ASHURST AUSTRALIA, ERNST AND YOUNG, DEXUS PROPERTY GROUP – ASX DXS

Demand soars in big cities as mining eases

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Original article by Su-Lin Tan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 44 : 6-Aug-15

Recent data on Australia’s commercial vacancy rates suggest that non-mining sectors are expanding. The Property Council of Australia’s "Office Market Report" for July 2015 shows that Sydney’s vacancy rate fell to 6.3 per cent in July, from 7.4 per cent in January. Sectors that are particularly active in the office market include educational institutions, insurance companies, banks, fintech hubs and government departments.

CORPORATES
PROPERTY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TYRO PAYMENTS, COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, MMJ REAL ESTATE PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN TECHNICAL AND MANAGEMENT COLLEGE PTY LTD, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ, KNIGHT FRANK AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG

New house sales may have peaked

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 4-Aug-15

Sales of new detached homes across Australia topped 73,507 in 2014-15, compared with 72,706 in the previous financial year. Harley Dale of the Housing Industry Association says that while demand for detached homes will remain strong in 2015-16, sales are likely to be lower due to a dearth of land being released for development.

CORPORATES
HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Buyers scoop up all 191 units in western Sydney project

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Original article by Su-Lin Tan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 3-Aug-15

Sydney’s residential property market boast an clearance rate of 78.8 per cent for the week ended 2 August 2015, according to CoreLogic RP Data. The clearance rate in Melbourne was 76.8 per cent, while the national clearance rate was 75.7 per cent. Meanwhile, First Point Projects and St Hilliers First Point sold every apartment on offer in the Thornton Central residential project in the Sydney suburb of Penrith on 1 August.

CORPORATES
CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, RP DATA LIMITED, FIRST POINT PROJECTS PTY LTD, ST HILLIERS PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, McGRATH REAL ESTATE PTY LTD