REAL ESTATE – AUSTRALIA – RESIDENTIAL

Home and apartment building hits record $54.4b in 2014

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 26-Feb-15

New figures show that $A54.4bn worth of residential dwellings were built across Australia during 2014, compared with $A49.3bn in 2013. Dwelling commencements in the December 2014 quarter topped $A14.3bn, an increase of 12.3 per cent. Non-residential construction activity rose by 1.3 per cent to $A35bn in 2014, although there was 2.9 per cent contraction in the fourth quarter

CORPORATES
MASTER BUILDERS OF AUSTRALIA, WATPAC LIMITED – ASX WTP, CARDNO LIMITED – ASX CDD

Morrison prefers housing carrot to pension stick

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 18-Feb-15

The Australian Government has ruled out subjecting a retiree’s home to an assets test for eligibility for the aged pension. Social Services Minister Scott Morrison has instead proposed allowing retirees to downsize to a smaller home without having their pension affected by the proceeds from the sale. Morrison notes that retirees who opt to downsize their home are currently penalised financially

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, COUNCIL ON THE AGEING, NATIONAL SENIORS AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Interest rate cut has instant impact at property auctions

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Larry Schlesinger
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 16-Feb-15

Preliminary data shows that Sydney’s residential property market achieved an auction clearance rate of 77.9 per cent on the weekend of 14-15 February 2015, down from 80.5 per cent for the previous week. Melbourne’s preliminary auction clearance rate rose from 66.3 per cent to 67.4 per cent, while the national clearance rate rose from 67.3 per cent to 70 per cent. Mortgage Choice notes that the interest rate cut in February has resulted in a sharp rise in applications for home loans

CORPORATES
MORTGAGE CHOICE LIMITED – ASX MOC, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, RP DATA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN PROPERTY MONITORS PTY LTD, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, McGRATH ESTATE AGENTS, JELLIS CRAIG AND COMPANY

Foreign property buyers face stiff fees amid crackdown

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Joanna Heath
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 10-Feb-15

The Treasury is investigating a number of cases of suspected illegal residential property acquisitions in Australia. A parliamentary inquiry into the matter issued a report in November 2014 which contains 12 recommendations. The committee recommended the introduction of an administrative fee for foreign buyers of between $A500 and $A1,500 to fund the compliance work of the Foreign Investment Review Board and the Treasury

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Banks douse hot property fears

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Michael Bennet
The Australian – Page: 19 : 5-Feb-15

Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac Banking on 4 February 2015 joined Bank of Queensland, ME Bank and ING Direct in passing on in full the Reserve Bank of Australia’s interest rate cut of 25 basis points to mortgage borrowers. Meanwhile sector experts have rejected claims that the new all-time low rate of 2.25% will exacerbate a price "bubble" in the residential real estate market, noting that the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority is tightening the rules on home lending

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ, MEMBERS EQUITY BANK PTY LTD, ING DIRECT, AUSSIE HOME LOANS LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, CITIBANK PTY LTD, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, MACQUARIE BANK LIMITED – ASX MBL, DEUTSCHE BANK AG

Property powerhouses set the pace on price rises

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Turi Condon
The Australian – Page: 5 : 3-Feb-15

Figures from CoreLogic RP Data show that house prices in Sydney and Melbourne increased by 1.4 per cent and 2.7 per cent respectively in January 2015. The Perth, Adelaide and Darwin property markets recorded house price declines during the month. CommSec’s Craig James says the Reserve Bank will consider the state of the residential property market when deciding whether to reduce the cash rate on 3 February

CORPORATES
CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, RP DATA LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH SECURITIES LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, MERITON APARTMENTS PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Tax breaks on family home hit $46b

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Fleur Anderson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 2-Feb-15

The Department of Treasury forecasts that continuing to exclude family homes from the capital gains tax regime will cost the Australian Government some $A46bn in revenue in 2014-15. In contrast, superannuation tax breaks cost nearly $A30bn in lost revenue each year. Robert Jeremenko of the Tax Institute says all aspects of the tax regime should be included in the Government’s upcoming tax white paper

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, THE TAX INSTITUTE, AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE

Mosman sales break $1b level

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Luke Malpass
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 19-Dec-14

Corelogic RP Data has reported that sales of houses in the Sydney suburb of Mosman have topped $A1.1bn in calendar 2014, compared with almost $A8.1m in 2013. Tim Foote of Belle Property notes that Australian house buyers have dominated sales activity in the last year, whereas Chinese buyers accounted for many of the sales in Mosman during 2013. The Melbourne suburb of Brighton is ranked second in terms of the value of house sales, with $A797m worth of homes changing hands

CORPORATES
CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, RP DATA LIMITED, BELLE PROPERTY PTY LTD

Red-hot market means the only way is up for apartments … way up

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Matthew Cranston, Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 10 : 27-Nov-14

A number of residential property developers have proposed to build apartment towers of at least 260 metres in Australia’s major capital cities. AMP Capital and Billbergia plan to construct a 300-metre tower in Brisbane, while Fragrance Group intends to build a 302-metre apartment tower in Melbourne. In Sydney, Mirvac is teaming up with Coombes Property Group to develop a 260-metre apartment tower. The boom in apartment development is in response to factors such as Australia’s growing population and the trend toward inner-city living

CORPORATES
AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, BILLBERGIA PTY LTD, FRAGRANCE GROUP LIMITED, MIRVAC GROUP – ASX MGR, COOMBES PROPERTY GROUP, ASPIAL CORPORATION LIMITED, UEM SUNRISE BERHAD

$A fall attracts Chinese buyers

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Samantha Hutchinson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 11-Nov-14

Property investors in China are capitalising on the nine per cent fall in the value of the Australian dollar to buy into the domestic property market. Peter Li of CBRE notes that a lot of Chinese investors are opting to buy higher-priced apartments, as they have become more affordable due to the currency’s recent weakness. Jock Langley of real estate firm Abercrombys notes that may expatriate Australians are taking advantage of the lower dollar to buy into the property market

CORPORATES
CBRE PTY LTD, ABERCROMBYS REAL ESTATE PTY LTD, COMPASS GLOBAL MARKETS PTY LTD, OZFOREX GROUP LIMITED – ASX OFX