REAL ESTATE – AUSTRALIA – RESIDENTIAL

New apartment sales crash, projects on hold

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Original article by Larry Schlesinger
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 27-May-19

Urbis has reported that just four cent of apartments in Sydney projects were sold during the March quarter. Sales were not much better in Melbourne and Brisbane, while new apartment launches in Melbourne were down by around 80 per cent. Urbis director Clinton Ostwald notes that major infrastructure projects such as Melbourne’s Westgate Tunnel and Brisbane’s Cross River Rail will help increase demand for apartments once they are completed.

CORPORATES
URBIS PTY LTD

Agents feel post-election pick-up

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Original article by Michael Bleby, Tim Boyd
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 24-May-19

AMP Capital’s chief economist Shane Oliver is predicting that Sydney and Melbourne house prices will not fall as far as previously expected, and that prices will bottom out by the end of 2019, rather than during 2020. Oliver cites the federal election result, which put an end to uncertainty regarding negative gearing and capital gains tax, as one reason for his change of forecast. Other factors that suggest a pickup in housing sentiment include expectations that the Reserve Bank will cut interest rates soon and the Coalition government’s plan to assist first-home buyers.

CORPORATES
AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Bouris calling with a warning about Labor

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 8 : 17-May-19

Wizard Home Loans founder Mark Bouris has attracted scrutiny from the Australian Electoral Commission for targeting voters via a robo-calling campaign. Bouris, who is not a candidate in the federal election, used automated phone calling technology to contact 200,000 households in marginal electorates. He warned that Labor’s proposed negative gearing and capital gains tax reforms would see house prices fall. Bouris has stressed that he was not acting on behalf of any political party.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, WIZARD HOME LOANS, YELLOW BRICK ROAD HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX YBR, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Warning as housing stock piles up

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Original article by Ben Wilmot
The Australian – Page: 25 : 17-May-19

Data from CoreLogic shows that based on current rates of sales, housing supply across Australia’s capital cities is currently 5.3 months, up from 3.9 months a year ago. Meanwhile, Macquarie Equities says Reserve Bank data suggests that 2.5-3.5 per cent of house buyers with bank-issued mortgage loans are in negative equity following the downturn in the housing market. RiskWise Property Research CEO Doron Peleg says Labor’s proposed changes to the negative gearing and capital gains tax regimes would make residential property investment less attractive.

CORPORATES
CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MACQUARIE EQUITIES LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, RISKWISE PROPERTY RESEARCH, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, GRATTAN INSTITUTE, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, STARR PARTNERS PTY LTD, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED

Don’t worry if house prices fall, says Bowen

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Original article by Turi Condon, Ben Packham, Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 16-May-19

Property Council of Australia president Stephen Conry says the housing market is "fragile", and it is not the right time for Labor’s proposed changes to the negative gearing regime. Real Estate Institute of Australia president Adrian Kelly warns that the prices of existing properties will fall if Labor implements its reforms, while the Housing Industry Association’s chief economist Tim Reardon says housing rents will rise. Meanwhile, shadow treasurer Chris Bowen has downplayed concerns that homeowners may find themselves in negative equity, arguing that they will only incur a loss if they sell.

CORPORATES
PROPERTY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, THE REAL ESTATE INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, SQM RESEARCH PTY LTD

Plea to RBA, APRA: Let banks lend

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Original article by Ben Wilmot
The Australian – Page: 17 & 26 : 16-May-19

Mirvac, Stockland and Dexus are among the property developers that have called for banks’ lending rules to be relaxed in the wake of a downturn in the residential construction sector. Representatives of major property group have held talks with the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and the Reserve Bank, with some developers being forced to shelve apartment projects. UBS recently forecast that growth in housing credit will fall to just two per cent year-on-year by 2020.

CORPORATES
MIRVAC GROUP – ASX MGR, STOCKLAND – ASX SGP, DEXUS – ASX DXS, CHARTER HALL GROUP – ASX CHC, PROPERTY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, apra use AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Asians still biggest investors: Knight Frank

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Original article by Lisa Allen
The Australian – Page: 25 : 9-May-19

The federal government’s restrictions on foreign investment in residential property have not been a deterrent for Asian buyers. Liam Bailey of Knight Frank says people from China and Southeast Asia are still the biggest investors in the local residential market. The global head of research notes that a number of other countries have imposed similar restrictions on foreign investors. Bailey forecasts growth in demand for geographically diverse property investments as global wealth increases.

CORPORATES
KNIGHT FRANK, CROWN RESORTS LIMITED – ASX CWN

Rate cut could aid housing recovery

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 29-Apr-19

Preliminary data from Domain Holdings shows that the national residential auction clearance rate was 52.9 per cent on the weekend of 27-28 April, with a total of 1,019 properties going under the hammer. Sydney and Melbourne recorded preliminary clearance rates of 52.2 per cent and 56.6 per cent respectively. Shane Oliver of AMP Capital says the bottom of the housing market’s cyclical fall could occur sooner if the Reserve Bank reduces official interest rates in May. Oliver has forecast two rate cuts in 2019.

CORPORATES
DOMAIN HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX DHA, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Record 1.3 million landlords cash in on negative gearing as shake-up looms

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Original article by Ben Butler, Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 19 & 26 : 17-Apr-19

Data from the Australian Taxation Office shows that the number of property investors who use negative gearing rose from 631,000 to about 1.3 million between 2000 and 2017. In contrast, the number of investors who broke even or made a profit rose from 532,000 to around 856,000. The figures also show that the proportion of investors who are aged 60+ rose from around 15 per cent to about 23.5 per cent. Robert Deutsch of the Tax Institute does not expect Labor’s proposed negative gearing reforms to have much effect on housing prices.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, THE TAX INSTITUTE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, BIS OXFORD ECONOMICS PTY LTD, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Negative equity feared as house prices plunge

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Original article by Michael Roddan, Luke Griffiths
The Australian – Page: 2 : 11-Apr-19

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s deputy governor Guy Debelle says the number of homeowners with negative equity has increased, although he notes that it remains largely confined to Western Australia and mining regions. He adds that it is unusual for house prices to fall sharply at a time when the economy is continuing to grow and the unemployment rate is low. Debelle says the outlook for the labour market is likely to determine whether there is a further increase in negative equity and mortgage arrears.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, S&P GLOBAL RATINGS, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC