House tax change may backfire: HIA

Original article by Robert Harley
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 22-Sep-14

The Housing Industry Association (HIA) has argued against the dropping of negative gearing of investment real esate. In a research paper to be released on 22 September 2014, the HIA said that housing costs would be increased if negative gearing was reduced without changing other taxes. Critics of negative gearing claim that it increases the cost of housing. The report found that stamp duty was the largest tax distortion on housing

CORPORATES
HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, INDEPENDENT ECONOMICS

Correction in housing market ‘inevitable’

Original article by Damon Kitney
The Australian – Page: 21 : 3-Sep-14

Residential real estate prices have risen an average 15% in a year in the Australian state and territory capital markets, while auction clearance rates in late August 2014 are around 70%. Australian Prudential Regulation Authority data also indicate that the main four banks are taking on riskier mortgage loan borrowers. However business leader David Gonski says while an eventual price decline is a certainty in the housing market, the banks are able to manage their lending strategies

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, SCHULTE RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL

Agents deny Asian rorts in blue-chip buys

Original article by Larry Schlesinger
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 2-Sep-14

The Australian Parliament’s housing inquiry has heard claims about overseas buyers in the residential real estate market trying to circumvent Foreign Investment Review Board regulations. However, this is being dismissed by McGrath Real Estate Agents founder and CEO John McGrath and First National Real Estate CEO Ray Ellis. They argue against any push to lift stamp duty rates for such investors. Melbourne-based buyers’ agent David Morrell had alleged that Asian bidders were inflating prices by as much as 30% and acting illegally as they were not permanent residents

CORPORATES
MORRELL AND KOREN PTY LTD, McGRATH REAL ESTATE PTY LTD, FIRST NATIONAL REAL ESTATE GROUP, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, THE REAL ESTATE INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, PROPERTY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Landlords hit by glut of apartments

Original article by Michael Bleby,Samantha Hutchinson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 21-Aug-14

The growth of the apartment market in Sydney and Melbourne has prompted a sharp downturn in rental income for landlords. RP Data notes that there has been a 6.4 per cent fall in weekly advertised rents for apartments in Melbourne’s Southbank precinct in the last year, and a 3.6 per cent fall in the Docklands. Property consultant Margaret Lomas says demand for apartments in Melbourne is significantly outpacing supply

CORPORATES
RP DATA LIMITED,CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD,DESTINY PROPERTIES PTY LTD,VICTORIA. DEPT OF TRANSPORT, PLANNING AND LOCAL INFRASTRUCTURE

Confidence lifts but jobs lag

Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 21 : 13-Aug-14

The latest data compiled by National Australia Bank on the nation’s businesses, excluding agriculture, show that both confidence and trading conditions improved in July 2014. The latter are now at levels last witnessed in 2010, while sentiment is at the best reading since the global financial crisis. New Australian Bureau of Statistics figures also indicate residential real estate prices growth of 10.1% for 2013-14. However the jobless rate for July was up as well, to 6.4%. This was the worst result in a dozen years

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, COMMONWEALTH SECURITIES LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Apartments drive new home sales

Original article by Rebecca Thistleton
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 30-Jul-14

Data from the Housing Industry Association shows that there was a two increase in sales of new dwellings in Australia during the June 2014 quarter. Sales of detached houses increased by 4.1 per cent in Victoria during the quarter, and by just 0.4 per cent in New South Wales. Meanwhile, sales of new dwellings rose by 1.2 per cent overall in the month of June. However, sales of new apartments were nearly 16 per cent higher, while sales of detached homes fell by one per cent

CORPORATES
HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, INVESTA PROPERTY GROUP, MORGAN STANLEY REAL ESTATE, KNIGHT FRANK AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, STOCKLAND – ASX SGP, FIVE SQUARED PROPERTY GROUP PTY LTD

Low rates spur buying spree

Original article by Samantha Hutchinson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 28-Jul-14

The respective residential real estate auction clearance rates for the Sydney and Melbourne markets on the 26-27 July 2014 weekend were 76% and 57%. The national average was 70% for the week, as buyers took advantage of record low interest rates for mortgage loans. The fixed rate has been cut to below 5% for the first time by three of the four major lenders. There is also a recovery underway in the upper end of the market, indicated by news that the "Tukurua" historic mansion in the Perth beachside suburb of Cottesloe has been placed on the market

CORPORATES
HOCKING STUART PTY LTD, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, RICHARDSON AND WRENCH PTY LTD, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, RP DATA LIMITED

Renting may be better than buying, says Reserve Bank

Original article by Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1-Aug : 15-Jul-14

The Reserve Bank of Australia has released a research paper which refutes suggestions that house prices are overvalued. The report estimates that since 1955, house prices have risen by 2.4 per cent annually after adjusting for inflation. It concludes that many people may be better off renting a home rather than buying into the property market if house price growth falls below this long-term average

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, THE ECONOMIST NEWSPAPER LIMITED, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT

The $2500 house deposit; high-risk mortgages return

Original article by Nick Lenaghan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 14-Jul-14

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has made banks cut the number of mortgages they write that have high loan-to-valuation ratios (LVRs). However smaller and nonbank providers now offer LVRs of as high as 99.375%, causing concern about a situation similar to the sub-prime mortgages crisis in the US in 2007. A new joint venture by home construction businesses BGC and Metricon even advises buyers to rely both on the first-home owners’ grant and a personal loan to raise a 5% deposit, with as little as $A2,500 of their own money. Meanwhile residential real estate prices have risen some 10% during 2013-14

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, BGC (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, METRICON HOMES, HIVE EMPIRE PTY LTD, DIGITAL FINANCE ANALYTICS, RP DATA LIMITED, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, RISMARK INTERNATIONAL PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, RAMS MORTGAGE CORPORATION LIMITED, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, THE LOAN COMPANY, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, BANK OF ENGLAND

Sydney’s median rent for units hits $500

Original article by Rebecca Thistleton
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 10-Jul-14

Australian Property Monitors has issued its latest data on residential real estate rents across state capital markets. In the three months to 30 June 2014, the rent for apartments in Sydney reached an all-time high of $A500. Standalone dwelling rents also went up in Melbourne and Sydney after a subdued period since mid-2012. However declines were recorded for Darwin and Canberra. Meanwhile gross rental yields are down across the board, with Perth showing the biggest falls at close to 9% for units and 5.8% for houses during 2013-14

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PROPERTY MONITORS PTY LTD, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, DOMAIN.COM.AU