REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT – AUSTRALIA

Residential lending hits record levels

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Original article by Duncan Hughes
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 1-Aug-17

Reserve Bank of Australia figures show that there was a 7.4 per cent increase in mortgage loans to property investors in the year to June 2017. This compares with an increase of 6.2 per cent in loans to owner-occupiers. Overall, a record $A1.69 trillion worth of mortgages were active at the end of June. Martin North of Digital Finance Analytics said the figures suggest that regulatory attempts to cool the residential property market do not seem to have had any impact yet.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, DIGITAL FINANCE ANALYTICS, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, ME BANK, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ, MACQUARIE BANK LIMITED – ASX MBL, CANSTAR PTY LTD, MORTGAGE CHOICE LIMITED – ASX MOC, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

Foreign apartment buyers to halve

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 24-Jul-17

The number of new apartments funded by foreign investors in Australia is tipped to fall significantly over the period from 2016 to 2019, according to Master Builders Australia. It attributes the expected decline to federal and New South Wales government curbs on foreign property investors. The MBA also expects foreign investment in new standalone properties to decline, but by not as much as apartment investment. The MBA expects NSW to feel the biggest impact in terms of a decline in new foreign investor-funded apartments, but Tim Lawless of CoreLogic suggests that Victoria instead will be most affected.

CORPORATES
MASTER BUILDERS OF AUSTRALIA, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Morrison cools on tinkering with CGT

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Original article by Laura Tingle, James Eyers, Su-Lin Tan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 11-Apr-17

Treasurer Scott Morrison says the Federal Government supports regulatory moves aimed at curbing interest-only mortgage loans. Morrison says such measures should help ease housing prices and reduce high levels of household debt. His comments suggest that he is not looking at changes to capital gains tax. Morrison says it is important to ensure that returns from rental property do not become too unattractive, as this would deter "mum and dad investors".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

Aussie mango farm sales surge

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Original article by Larry Schlesinger
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 33 : 10-Apr-17

Herron Todd White has reported a significant rise in the sale of Australian mango farms over the past year. Most of Australia’s mangoes are grown in Queensland and the Northern Territory, with the value of yearly output being around $A140 million. About 50,000 tonnes of mangoes are grown in Australia each year, with about 10 per cent being exported to countries such as Singapore, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates.

CORPORATES
HERRON TODD WHITE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, PERFECTION FRESH AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Shock win ‘will boost local real estate sales’

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Original article by Scott Murdoch
The Australian – Page: 4 : 10-Nov-16

Donald Trump’s US presidential victory is likely to result in an interest rate rise in the US, increasing the likelihood of a cut in Australia’s 1.5 per cent official cash rate. LJ Hooker’s head of research Matthew Tiller says foreign investors will be less willing to invest in US property, and Chinese buyers in particular are likely to switch to Australia.

CORPORATES
LJ HOOKER (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, REPUBLICAN PARTY (UNITED STATES), REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Scene set for Kidman bidding war

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Original article by Kylar Loussikian, Sue Neales
The Australian – Page: 4 : 28-Oct-16

Directors of S. Kidman & Company have endorsed a $A386.5m offer for the pastoral business from Gina Hancock’s Hancock Prospecting and China-based Shanghai CRED. However, the BBHO consortium has signalled that its $A386m offer could potentially be increased. The Hancock-Shanghai CRED deal must be approved by the Foreign Investment Review Board, and Rinehart has indicated that Hancock will acquire full ownership of Kidman if the joint bid is rejected. BBHO has emphasised the all-Australian nature of its bid.

CORPORATES
S KIDMAN AND COMPANY PTY LTD, HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD, SHANGHAI CRED REAL ESTATE STOCK COMPANY LIMITED, BBHO, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, ONE NATION PARTY, NICK XENOPHON TEAM, GLOBAL FARMLAND FUND, SHANGHAI PENGXIN GROUP COMPANY LIMITED

Different rules for Rinehart, say farmers

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Original article by Sue Neales
The Australian – Page: 5 : 25-Oct-16

BBHO syndicate member Sterling Buntine fears that its $A386 million bid for S. Kidman & Company will not be treated fairly by the board. Buntine stressed that a rival bid from Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting and Shanghai CRED is inferior on two counts, namely being lower at $A365 million and requiring approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board.

CORPORATES
S KIDMAN AND COMPANY PTY LTD, HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD, SHANGHAI CRED REAL ESTATE STOCK COMPANY LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, BBHO

Fewer home loans a good thing: APRA

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 21-Oct-16

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority chairman Wayne Byres has told a Senate estimates committee that lending standards in the housing finance sector have improved over the last year. He added that APRA’s move to impose stricter lending standards on the industry has also resulted in slower growth in lending to property investors and to marginal borrowers. Treasury secretary John Fraser previously expressed concern about the cost of housing in Australia when he fronted the committee.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Rinehart swoops on Kidman

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Original article by David Crowe, Sarah-Jane Tasker
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 10-Oct-16

Australian businesswoman Gina Rinehart has submitted a $A365m bid to acquire S Kidman & Company in partnership with China-based Shanghai CRED. Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting would have a 67 per cent stake in the rural property empire, a move that has the support of Senator Nick Xenophon and One Nation’s Pauline Hanson. Shanghai CRED was a member of the Chinese consortium whose bid to acquire Kidman was blocked on national interest grounds earlier in 2016.

CORPORATES
S KIDMAN AND COMPANY PTY LTD, HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD, SHANGHAI CRED REAL ESTATE STOCK COMPANY LIMITED, NICK XENOPHON TEAM, ONE NATION PARTY, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, DAKANG AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, PORT ADELAIDE FOOTBALL CLUB

Chinese firm exits Kidman bid group

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Original article by Kylar Loussikian
The Australian – Page: 21 : 26-Aug-16

Dakang Australia’s hopes of gaining Federal Government approval for the acquisition of S. Kidman & Company may be boosted by Shanghai CRED Real Estate’s decision to withdraw from the consortium. Shanghai Pengxin will now be able to seek an additional Australian partner for the consortium, which might be sufficient to allay the national interest concerns which prompted the sale of Kidman to be blocked.

CORPORATES
S KIDMAN AND COMPANY PTY LTD, DAKANG AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, SHANGHAI CRED REAL ESTATE STOCK COMPANY LIMITED, SHANGHAI PENGXIN GROUP COMPANY LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, ERNST AND YOUNG, CAPITAL HILL ADVISORY, GENIUS LINKS ASSET MANAGEMENT, AUSGRID PTY LTD, STATE GRID CORPORATION OF CHINA, CHEUNG KONG INFRASTRUCTURE HOLDINGS LIMITED, CONSOLIDATED PASTORAL COMPANY PTY LTD, SHANGHAI ZHONGFU GROUP COMPANY LIMITED, VAN DIEMEN’S LAND COMPANY