REAL ESTATE – AUSTRALIA – RESIDENTIAL

Sydney, Melbourne housing boom over

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Original article by Su-Lin Tan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 19-Mar-18

Preliminary data from CoreLogic shows that Sydney’s residential property market boasted an auction clearance rate of 67.8 per cent in the week ended 18 March, compared with 76.8 per cent at the same time in 2017. Melbourne’s clearance rate fell from 77 per cent previously to 68.9 per cent. Damien Cooley of Cooley Auctions says it is too soon to suggest that Sydney and Melbourne have become buyers’ markets.

CORPORATES
CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, COOLEY AUCTION SERVICES PTY LTD, BELLE PROPERTY PTY LTD, FIRST NATIONAL REAL ESTATE GROUP, RT EDGAR PTY LTD, ELDERS REAL ESTATE, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

Zoning key to more affordable housing: RBA

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 7 : 9-Mar-18

Research by the Reserve Bank of Australia has concluded that development restrictions have been a major contributor to the sharp rise in house prices over the last two decades. The central bank says that state and local government zoning rules have increased the price of the average house in Sydney by 42 per cent, and 29 per cent in Brisbane. The Reserve Bank suggests that measures such as relaxing building height limits could help to increase housing affordability.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, GRATTAN INSTITUTE

APRA relaxes as home boom ends

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 17 & 22 : 2-Mar-18

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority chairman Wayne Byres has told a Senate committee that the slowing residential property market may reduce the need to cap annual growth in lending to investors. The latest data shows that there has been a sharp fall in lending to investors, while credit growth across the economy has also slowed. However, a number of lenders have recently moved to reduce the interest rates on their interest-only investment loans. Morgan Stanley forecasts a further slowdown in both credit growth and the housing market.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, MORTGAGE CHOICE LIMITED – ASX MOC, ING BANK (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, MACQUARIE BANK LIMITED – ASX MBL, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ, VIRGIN MONEY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, ADELAIDE BANK, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, DIGITAL FINANCE ANALYTICS, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION

Flat incomes, cost of living take harsh toll

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 5-Feb-18

ME Bank’s latest survey of mortgage holders has found that 46 per cent are spending at least 30 per cent of their disposable income on meeting loan repayments. Although the percentage was slightly down on its previous survey in June 2017, ME Bank noted increased mortgage stress among lower-income households due to greater living costs and little or no increase in wages. ME Bank also found that the percentage of renters who are paying 30 per cent or more of their disposable income on rent payments has increased from 69 per cent to 72 per cent.

CORPORATES
ME BANK, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, INDUSTRY SUPER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Perfect storm hits apartments market

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 2-Feb-18

Approvals for new homes, apartments and semi-detached dwellings have recorded their biggest monthly fall since July 2012. Approvals for apartments fell in all mainland states in December 2017, while approvals for new attached dwellings declined by 39 per cent. Developers have cited a number of reasons for the decline, including increased investor taxes and tightened consumer credit. However, ANZ economist Daniel Gradwell said the bank is not overly concerned by the figures.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, EVOLVE DEVELOPMENT PTY LTD, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, COSTA FOX, URBAN TASKFORCE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MASTER BUILDERS’ ASSOCIATION

Banks watch as capital city unit crisis unfolds

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Original article by Robert Gottliebsen
The Australian – Page: 21 : 31-Jan-18

The yield on US 10-year government bonds peaked at 2.73 per cent in late January, and the policies of President Donald Trump could see yields rise further. This would have major implications for Australia’s banks, which source 30-40 per cent of their funding from offshore. Australian banks are in turn heavily exposed to the residential and retail property markets, and a sharp rise in global interest rates would put downward pressure on asset values in these sectors. This would be of particular concern for the inner city apartment markets in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, where there are already fears of an oversupply.

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

Backlash as foreign buyers flee

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Original article by Matthew Cranston, Larry Schlesinger
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 29 : 11-Jan-18

South Australia was the only state that did not record a downturn in sales of residential properties to foreign buyers in the December quarter, according to a new ANZ/Property Council survey. Property developers say factors such as restrictions on access to credit and higher taxes on foreign buyers have contributed to the downturn in demand, and prompted some developers to withdraw from the residential market. Meriton founder Harry Triguboff says his company is having to resell many apartments that had been pre-sold to Chinese buyers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, PROPERTY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MERITON APARTMENTS PTY LTD, REALESTATE.COM.AU, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, CROWN GROUP PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LEND LEASE GROUP LIMITED – ASX LLC, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Labor to stick with negative gearing policy

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Original article by Andrew Tillett, Misa Han
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 9-Jan-18

The Australian Labor Party has argued that a Treasury analysis produced almost two years ago demonstrates that its policy on negative gearing will boost housing affordability. The analysis, which was obtained under Freedom of Information laws, concluded that Labor’s proposed changes to the negative gearing and capital gains tax regimes would have relatively little negative effect on house prices. Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen has indicated that the proposed reforms will be part of Labor’s policy platform at the next federal election.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, PROPERTY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Australia rises in housing list

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Original article by Elizabeth Redman
The Australian – Page: 23 : 7-Dec-17

Iceland heads Knight Frank’s latest Global House Price Index, with annualised growth of 20.4 per in the September quarter. Australia is ranked seventh in the list, compared with 11th in the June quarter, with house price growth of 10.2 per cent year-on-year and 1.9 per cent in the three months to September. The data shows that house prices have risen by 5.1 per cent globally over the last year.

CORPORATES
KNIGHT FRANK

House prices to fall further: economists

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Original article by Su-Lin Tan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 5-Dec-17

UBS says the Reserve Bank of Australia is unlikely to reduce official interest rates in the near-term, despite data showing that house prices in Sydney fell by 1.3 per cent in the three months to November. UBS notes that in the past the RBA has frequently reduced the cash rate in response to a sharp fall in house prices. The firm adds that a further downturn in house prices is likely. Meanwhile, LF Economics expects the royal commission into the banking sector to have a significant impact on house prices.

CORPORATES
UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, LF ECONOMICS, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY