Housing glut by 2018, BIS report warns

Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 20-Jul-15

A BIS Shrapnel report forecasts an oversupply of at least 12,000 dwellings in Australia by 2018. The firm expects just 164,000 new homes to be built in 2018, compared with an estimated 210,000 in 2014-15. However, demand for housing in New South Wales will continue to exceed supply in coming years, while there will be an oversupply of apartments in Victoria and houses in Western Australia.

CORPORATES
BIS SHRAPNEL PTY LTD, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

Housing starts top 200,000 for first time

Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 48 : 16-Jul-15

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has reported that there were a record 203,760 dwelling commencements in the year to March 2015. This compares with 198,849 in the year to December 2014. Housing starts in Victoria and Queensland rose by around 20 per cent during the March quarter, although growth in New South Wales was just 1.9 per cent. The value of construction activity across all sectors of the industry totalled $A23.7 billion during the quarter.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED

Melbourne may ‘outpace’ Sydney prices

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

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

Cities report warns of growing economic chasm

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

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

Housing data shows peak is over

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

Done deal: Metro sets float date

Original article by Larry Schlesinger
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 33 : 15-Jun-15

Metro Property Development is offering its shares to retail and institutional investors at $A2.25 apiece in an IPO that will raise about $A170m. The residential property developer will have a larger market capitalisation than listed rivals such as Sunland Group and Finbar when it debuts on the Australian sharemarket on 13 July 2015. Metro’s founders will retain a 46 per cent stake in the group.

CORPORATES
METRO PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT PTY LTD, MOELIS AND COMPANY, MORGANS FINANCIAL LIMITED, SUNLAND GROUP (VIC) NO 2 PTY LTD, FINBAR GROUP LIMITED – ASX FRI, VILLA WORLD LIMITED – ASX VLW, CEDAR WOODS PROPERTIES LIMITED – ASX CWP

Sydney ignores RBA as auction sales hit 87pc

Original article by Larry Schlesinger
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 15-Jun-15

Preliminary figures from CoreLogic RP Data show that Sydney’s residential property market achieved an auction clearance rate of 87 per cent on the weekend of 13-14 June 2015. This compares with a clearance rate of 89 per cent on the previous weekend, and almost 70 per cent for the corresponding period in 2014. Melbourne’s preliminary clearance rate was 78 per cent, compared with 69 per cent for the same period in 2014.

CORPORATES
CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, RP DATA LIMITED, DOMAIN.COM.AU, AUSTRALIAN PROPERTY MONITORS PTY LTD, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, BELLE PROPERTY PTY LTD, MARSHALL WHITE AND COMPANY PTY LTD, SHANGHAI GREENLAND GROUP COMPANY LIMITED, McGRATH REAL ESTATE PTY LTD, FRASERS PROPERTY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BAYENO

‘Crazy’ house prices won’t halt rate cut

Original article by Jacob Greber, Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 11-Jun-15

There has been a 39 per cent increase in residential property prices in Sydney over the last three years. HSBC’s Paul Bloxham estimates that the cost of buying a house in Sydney has risen to around 5.5 times annual income over the last 10 years. In contrast, the cost of home ownership across Australia has remained steady at about 4.1 times income. Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens has not ruled out further interest rates, despite the fact that doing so could put further upward pressure on house prices, particularly in Sydney.

CORPORATES
HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY