L67 Property Operators and Real Estate Services

Melbourne may ‘outpace’ Sydney prices

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Original article by Robert Harley
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 32 : 14-Jul-15

A report from property valuation firm Propell suggests that house prices in Sydney and Melbourne will rise by 10 per cent and eight per cent respectively during the next 12 months. However, the firm notes that there is the potential for stronger house prices in Melbourne than in Sydney, as house price growth in the latter city may be moderating. Meanwhile, Propell forecasts five per cent growth in Sydney apartment prices and just one per cent growth in Melbourne.

CORPORATES
PROPELL NATIONAL VALUERS PTY LTD, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, RP DATA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD

Auction clearances show softening trend

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Original article by Robert Harley
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 13-Jul-15

Preliminary data from APM PriceFinder shows that Sydney’s residential property market boasted an auction clearance rate of 80 per cent on the weekend of 11-12 July 2015. An usually high number of homes for the time of year went under the hammer, which might have influenced the lower clearance rate, according to Andrew Wilson of Domain. Melbourne’s preliminary clearance rate rose from 74.7 per cent to 79.2 per cent.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PROPERTY MONITORS PTY LTD, DOMAIN.COM.AU, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, COBDEN AND HAYSON, BIGGIN AND SCOTT PTY LTD, PETER BLACKSHAW REAL ESTATE, WESTON CREEK PTY LTD

Unlisted funds still on a roll

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Original article by Duncan Hughes
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 47 : 9-Jul-15

Australia’s unlisted property trust sector achieved an overall return of around 10 per cent in the year ended May 2015. This includes a return of around 26 per cent for MAB Funds Management’s Diversified Property Trust, while returns for wholesale trusts have averaged 18 per cent. Folkestone’s Adrian Harrington says investors should consider a fund’s long-term returns rather than focusing on short-term returns.

CORPORATES
MAB FUNDS MANAGEMENT LIMITED, MAB DIVERSIFIED PROPERTY TRUST, FOLKESTONE LIMITED – ASX FLK, SENTINEL PROPERTY GROUP PTY LTD, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD

Cities report warns of growing economic chasm

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 44 : 9-Jul-15

A new report shows that factors such as access to transport infrastructure and centres of employment are influencing residential property prices in Australian cities. House prices in outer suburbs where access to such amenities is more limited are growing at a slower pace than those in inner suburbs. The Federal Government report warns that a social divide may develop between people who live in inner areas and those on the fringes of major cities.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Signs of slowing but Sydney strong

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Original article by Michael Bleby, Su-Lin Tan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 6-Jul-15

Sydney’s residential property market boasted an auction clearance rate of 84.5 per cent on the weekend of 4-5 July 2015, according to Corelogic RP Data. Some 566 home went under the hammer, compared with 815 on the previous weekend, when the clearance rate was 82 per cent. The clearance rate in Melbourne fell from 78.5 per cent to 76.7 per cent, with the number of properties on offer falling from 924 to 527.

CORPORATES
CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, RP DATA LIMITED, BELLE PROPERTY PTY LTD, RAY WHITE REAL ESTATE

Brinkworth may beef up holding

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 40 : 6-Jul-15

The rural property portfolio of S Kidman & Company has attracted interest from many potential buyers since it was put on the market in April 2015. South Australia-based grazier Tom Brinkworth is believed to be interested in buying some of the Kidman properties, but concedes that acquiring the entire portfolio – which comprises nearly 11 million hectares in total – may too ambitious.

CORPORATES
S KIDMAN AND COMPANY PTY LTD, ERNST AND YOUNG, SFM AUSTRALASIA PTY LTD

A-REITs have a good year but a tough month

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Original article by Robert Harley
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 38 : 2-Jul-15

Australian real estate investment trusts generally performed well during 2014-15, although support for the sector turned bearish in the final month of the fiscal year. DEXUS Property Group, Mirvac Group and GPT Group in particular were heavily sold down in June 2015. BT Investment Management’s Julia Forrest expects mergers and acquisition activity to be a key driver for the sector in 2015-16.

CORPORATES
DEXUS PROPERTY GROUP – ASX DXS, MIRVAC GROUP – ASX MGR, GPT GROUP – ASX GPT, BT INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX BTT, INVESTA PROPERTY GROUP, DOW JONES EQUITY ALL REIT TOTAL RETURN INDEX, MANULIFE FINANCIAL CORPORATION, BLOOMBERG LP, OMAN INVESTMENT FUND, FORTRESS CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT, NIKKO ASSET MANAGEMENT GROUP, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, COLES GROUP LIMITED, GIC REAL ESTATE PTE LTD

Housing data shows peak is over

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Original article by Robert Harley
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 38 : 1-Jul-15

Data from Domain Group shows that Sydney’s residential auction clearance rate eased from 83.3 per cent in May 2015 to 82.9 per cent in June. There was also a downturn in the median auction price. Meanwhile, the auction clearance rate in Melbourne rose from 78 per cent to 79.2 per cent in June, although the median dwelling price was 4.9 per cent lower than in May.

CORPORATES
DOMAIN.COM.AU, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD

TripAdvisor for property agents raises $6 million

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Original article by Paul Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 22 : 30-Jun-15

South Africa-based Hollard Investments will provide some $A6m of funding to real estate website OpenAgent.com.au and gain a seat on the start-up’s board. The website allows consumers to rate the performance of real estate agents and compare statistics on property sales. OpenAgent.com.au has previously raised $A2m from a number of angel investors.

CORPORATES
OPENAGENT.COM.AU, HOLLARD INVESTMENTS BV, TRIPADVISOR LLC, TRULIA INCORPORATED, McKINSEY AND COMPANY, HOLLARD FINANCIAL SERVICES PTY LTD, GREENSTONE LIMITED

Stokes jumps Chinese buyers to get Kangaroo Island farm

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Original article by Simon Evans
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 29-Jun-15

Kerry Stokes and his business partner Peter Murray have paid $A4.7m for the 2,823-hectare Woodlana Station on Kangaroo Island in South Australia. Stokes now owns more than 10,000 hectares of farmland on Kangaroo Island and the Fleurieu Peninsula. Woodlana boasts 68 dams, 6,000 sheep and 500 cattle, and had been placed in receivership in mid-2014.

CORPORATES
COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, HEARD PHILLIPS