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HIA and RP Data have released a list of the top 10 most expensive regional markets for vacant land.
<table style="width: 470px;" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody>
<tr>
<td width="54" valign="top">
Rank
</td>
<td width="356" valign="top">
Region
</td>
<td width="205" valign="top">
Median lot price
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="54" valign="top">
1
</td>
<td width="356" valign="top">
Richmond-Tweed (NSW)
</td>
<td width="205" valign="top">
$238,250
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="54" valign="top">
2
</td>
<td width="356" valign="top">
Sunshine Coast (QLD)
</td>
<td width="205" valign="top">
$237,500
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="54" valign="top">
3
</td>
<td width="356" valign="top">
Gold Coast (QLD)
</td>
<td width="205" valign="top">
$225,000
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="54" valign="top">
4
</td>
<td width="356" valign="top">
Illawarra (NSW)
</td>
<td width="205" valign="top">
$220,000
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="54" valign="top">
5
</td>
<td width="356" valign="top">
Barwon (VIC)
</td>
<td width="205" valign="top">
$189,000
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="54" valign="top">
6
</td>
<td width="356" valign="top">
Fitzroy (QLD)
</td>
<td width="205" valign="top">
$180,000
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="54" valign="top">
7
</td>
<td width="356" valign="top">
South Eastern (WA)
</td>
<td width="205" valign="top">
$179,000
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="54" valign="top">
8
</td>
<td width="356" valign="top">
Hunter (NSW)
</td>
<td width="205" valign="top">
$178,000
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="54" valign="top">
9
</td>
<td width="356" valign="top">
Mackay (QLD)
</td>
<td width="205" valign="top">
$172,000
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="54" valign="top">
10
</td>
<td width="356" valign="top">
Mid-North Coast (NSW)
</td>
<td width="205" valign="top">
$170,000
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
 
Source: HIA and RP Data
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Top 10 most expensive regional markets for vacant land: HIA- RP Data

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The number of properties on the market in Melbourne in December 2011, according to SQM Research. This is up 43% from 33,865 in December 2010.
 
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The number of properties on the market in Sydney in December 2011, according to SQM Research. This is up 23% from 27,956 in December 2010.
 
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The number of properties on the market in Brisbane in December 2011, according to SQM Research. This is up 3% from 28, 389 in December 2010.
 
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The number of properties on the market in Perth in December 2011, according to SQM Research. This is up 1% from19,292 in December 2010.
 
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The number of properties on the market in Adelaide in December 2011, according to SQM Research. This is up 26% from 14,242 in December 2010.
 
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<img style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial;" src="/images/stories/4689.gif"> 
The number of properties on the market in Hobart in December 2011, according to SQM Research. This is up 52% from 3,090 in December 2010.
 
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The number of properties on the market in Canberra in December 2011, according to SQM Research. This is up 21% from 1,578 in December 2010.
 
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<img src="/images/stories/1542.gif">
The number of properties on the market in Darwin in December 2011, according to SQM Research. This is down 1% from 1,554 in December 2010.
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How much property is on the market in your capital city? A state-by-state analysis

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No one is more despised by Melbourne's property tycoons than Bill Oliver. In Victoria's $25 billion construction game, the stubbled Scotsman can shut down rogue building sites in a flash and, builders say, hold their projects to ransom.
Each working day in bleak city, Oliver guides his 30,000-strong army of Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union workers towards the industrial promised land -- a world of bolstered wages, expanded rights and far-reaching political influence. While his mainstream union rivals seem content to take the low road, Oliver and crew are always on hand to extract cash and conditions from tight-fisted employers who'd really prefer a new Lexus.
Just look at the enterprise agreement Oliver negotiated in 2007 for those working on the controversial, and still unfinished, $24 billion Wonthaggi desalination plant. It, more than any other wage deal in the last 20 years, signalled the return of militant union power to Victoria.
"Industrially, there's no one that can match Bill," one senior Victorian Labor MP says. "He's the master of his domain and all the big decisions go through him."
Already dominant on the thousands of construction sites scattered across Melbourne's sprawl, the desal deal showed how the union's aggressive tactics could still prevail on projects of state importance, even while the broader labour movement suffered massive membership declines.
The mere mention of Bill Oliver's name sends right wing critics into fits of apoplexy. They contrast the "20%" lower cost of building a project like the EastLink toll road (using labour provided by Cesar Melhem's more moderate Australian Workers Union) with the CFMEU's strong-arm tactics on sites like the Westgate Bridge, Royal Children's Hospital and Epping Market.
But as Oliver explains, he regularly cops criticism "for getting good deals for our members ... but that's our job. I am not paid by the business lobby or [Ted] Baillieu. I am paid by members of this union, and it's my job to represent their interests and get the best deal I can."
And he denies he is personally powerful: "No! The only power I have is because of the strength of the members, the dedication of the delegates and the union as a whole. Any power I have is not about me ... but about the collective strength. These may seem old fashioned concepts, but they are still true, nevertheless. That's the whole idea of a union: strength in numbers."
Regular sparring partner Brian Welch of the Master Builders Association begs to differ. He says under Oliver's reign building costs in Victoria are once again 30% higher than other states, with multi-million dollar fines levelled by the ABCC failing to make an impact.
Welch -- who reluctantly signed off on wage increases worth 20% over four years last June -- says simply: "Ignore Oliver at your peril".
"Does that mean that he's powerful? Well, any building site can be affected significantly and as a consequence that makes them an influence that you would not wish to ignore," Welch says. "Bill's the head of that union. If he says that he's upset with a particular builder or specialist contractor then they're very upset because he holds their business in his hands."
ALP affiliation has also delivered the CFMEU leverage, with Oliver throwing his weight around and often threatening to vote with the party's rebel Right to exert preselection pressure on the dominant Socialist Left and forces pledged to Stephen Conroy and Bill Shorten.
(In 2009, in the wake of deal cut between those two outfits, Oliver was allegedly a player in a side agreement that delivered to his members, rather than his rivals, thousands of coveted jobs on the desal plant in exchange for his preselection heft. The MPs and unions involved strenuously denied any such agreement was ever reached).
The bearded enforcer says spats with less aggressive unions like Melhem's AWU are unavoidable, especially when they try to undercut his wages and conditions. "Unlike some other unions in the industry, it's no secret that we get better deals," he says. "Despite rumours that it's our charm and good looks that win people over, the truth is that we fight hard for our members."
He's certainly not shy about countering continual media criticism, issuing this fiery retort late last year to a run of Herald Sun hatchets that tried to implicate the union in AFL ticket scams and other nefarious behaviour.
It's been a familiar theme ever since the days in the early 1970s when Oliver started working as a shipwright and shop steward on Glasgow's Charlie Connell shipyards at age 20. Halfway through completing his papers to travel to Australia, a group of radical workers, led by Jimmy Reid, occupied the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders, thwarting the Tory government's plans to shut them down. After the struggle, Oliver's papers came through and he ended up in Melbourne, working again as a shipwright and carpenter before joining the Building Workers Industrial Union as a full-time organiser in 1986.
He was elevated to the CFMEU's leadership in 1993 as assistant secretary to Martin Kingham following the BWIU's merger with the Builders Labourers Federation. He played a key role in the 1998 waterfront dispute and leading thousands of unionists to testify before the Cole Royal Commission and succeeded Kingham when his comrade transferred to the CFMEU's national office in 2009.
His greatest triumphs have been felt inside Fair Work. Last year's landmark four-year enterprise deal delivered 20% wage increases, double overtime pay and a hefty $750 a week living away from home allowance.
The self-described "principled, practical, tenacious and tough" operator says there is no silver bullet and definitely nothing illegal in his robust approach to vigorous employer relations. Stories of bikies and bad behaviour are legion but Oliver says he's basically just a figurehead for years of collective struggle.
"We are continuing to build on a tradition of militancy in this union that has been part of the Victorian industrial scene for the last 40 years. Our members have struggled long and hard to make a dangerous and dirty industry safe and rewarding for them...Our industrial strength has not happened overnight."
And if you're a commercial player in the building industry it won't be disappearing for a while either.
This article originally appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.thepowerindex.com.au/">The Power Index</a>.
 
 
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Victorian builders accuse Bill Oliver of holding them to ransom

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Self-made millionaire John Symond wants to boost broker numbers, pick up more assets and build a financial advice service at Aussie Group, the home loan group he flogged to Commonwealth Bank during the global financial crisis.
Symond has told the Australian Financial Review that Aussie Group "has to diversity our revenue stream. Nearly all of new loans are being written by the four major banks or their subsidiaries."
"We have to write more mortgages but also have to generate a lot more non-mortgage revenue by leveraging the Aussie consumer brand."
The comments come as Aussie Group reports a 39% increase in net profit to $52 million, with a loan book of more than $40 billion.
Despite predicting the housing market faces another weak year, Symond's expansion plans include boosting broker numbers to more than 1,000 by the end of 2012, and recruiting dozens of wealth managers, the paper reports.
The Aussie Home Loans founder now serves as executive chairman of the mortgage broker and financial services group Aussie Group, after selling a 33% stake of the business to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in 2008.
East &amp; Partners principal analyst Paul Dowling says Aussie isn't alone in casting a wide net for growth.
"Intermediaries like Aussie have got to start adding value," Dowling says.
"Their pitch, 'We'll save you money by shopping around', that's where it's started and stopped."
He adds that with flat mortgage demand, and small pricing variants between the dominant majors, it's likely to be another difficult year for mortgage brokers.
The mortgage broker market – dominated by Aussie Group, Mortgage Choice and AFG – is tipped by IBISWorld to grow by 0.5% in the year to June.
Dowling adds that Commonwealth Bank of Australia would be gunning for Aussie to become another wealth management channel.
"Symond has always been precious about the relationship with CommBank, but that's they're going to want their pound of flesh."
Just as Aussie Home Loans stole market share by focusing on the lower end of the market, the report says the financial advice business will also focus on the majority of Australians who do not seek financial advice.
Symond has also made headlines this week by tipping that the Government will bring back the first home buyers boost to stimulate the property market ahead of next year's election.
"Probably my cynical self says six to 12 months ahead of the next election, it would not surprise me that the government might stimulate housing by helping first home buyers and they may possibly introduce a bonus or a boost to the first home owner's grant," Symond said.
Symond added that for first home buyers, "all the ducks [are] lining up – lower price values, lower interest rates, makes it easier to save and easier to get into home ownership."
This article originally appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.smartcompany.com.au/index.php">SmartCompany</a>.
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John Symond's Aussie Group eyes more brokers after posting 40% profit jump

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There was more than a frisson of excitement when British chef – and global television celebrity – Rick Stein announced in 2009 that he would be opening a seafood restaurant in Mollymook.
Local real estate agents and savvy investors in the laid-back coastal settlement were well aware of the celebrity chef’s track record in the UK where he’d transformed a Cornish fishing village into a magnet for wealthy Brits looking for that idyllic holiday home.
His colonisation of Padstow is so complete that locals have renamed the village “Padstein”, but the success of the Seafood Restaurant and his other ventures also boosted real estate prices. Every well-heeled Londoner wanted a cottage in Padstow.
Although he arrived on the NSW south coast with similar fanfare, promising to revive Mollymook’s gastronomic fortunes, opinion is divided about whether the urbane English chef has done anything to pep up the appetite for residential property on the coast.
Carmel Timmins from Bella Coast Property says that Stein’s arrival may have improved bookings at Bannisters, the boutique hotel with which the restaurant is associated, but has done nothing to bolster real estate prices in Mollymook.
“It would be great for Rick Stein to have worked his little magic down here and see the price of property go through the roof but it hasn’t happened,” she says.
“Everybody had impression that Rick Stein was going to change the world. They thought ‘Oh, Rick Stein is here so I’m going to get big money for my property’. But a good feed isn’t necessarily going to entice someone to spend a $1 million on a holiday house.”
Other agents strongly disagree, arguing that the “Stein effect” has turned Mollymook into an international gourmet destination. They say the fact that Stein and his Australian wife, Sarah, have bought a number of properties in Mollymook has definitely attracted other wealthy buyers, often from overseas.
Ben Pryde from Raine &amp; Horne Ulladulla says it is now a common sight to see people arriving from Sydney by private helicopter – something that would inconceivable a few years ago.
“A lot of wealthier people have been coming here since Rick Stein became involved,” he says. “Their helicopters fly into Milton and there’s a courtesy car waiting to pick them up. They’re either here just for the day or staying overnight at Bannisters and then flying back next day. That happens regularly.”
Pryde says that the launch of Bannisters with Stein’s much-publicised involvement has certainly given Mollymook an international profile, but that the impact on local real estate prices has, for a number of obvious reasons, been far less spectacular than Padstow in the 1980s and 1990s.
“I think it will take a longer than it did in the UK. I know prices skyrocketed over there [in Padstow]. It will take place but in Mollymook we’re still battling the state of the economy at the moment and people are a little more cautious,” he says.
“But the market is still bubbling along down here. There’s so much doom and gloom in Sydney, but we’re not experiencing that to the same degree. We’re getting quite a lot of sales away.”
Kevin Cooper from Ray White Surfside Properties is another Stein supporter, saying that the presence of the celebrity chef has helped bolster the sale of property in the $1 million-plus range by attracting a new wave of international clients.
The agency recently sold a house on Beach Road, Mollymook for just over $1 million. The buyers, from Singapore, were actually staying at Rick Stein’s house while they looked at property in the area – the couple is now looking for second investment property to buy.
“I believe that Rick Stein owning that restaurant has assisted me in selling that particular property,” he says. “Mollymook is a funny place. You’ve only got to get a couple of people of well known stature purchasing on the beach and that sets a bench mark.”
But Cooper concedes that people buying a more modest property in Mollymook or nearby Milton are probably unaffected by the presence of such a foodie celebrity in their midst.
“Let’s face it, the majority of people can’t afford to eat there,” he said. “But I do believe that Rick Stein being here has an impact on the higher end and it certainly hasn’t hurt the area. I certainly think that there’ll be some positives in the future when market trends start to change.”
No amount of stardust can camouflage the fact that real estate prices along the south coast have taken a pasting over the past two years. The median price for a house in Mollymook is now $410,000. Demand for property continues to be weak – severely impacting the re-sale value of glamourous, waterfront properties.
Overall, agents blame the impact of increased land tax and the continuing uncertainty about the state government’s coastal management plan for Shoalhaven for depressing property prices on the south coast, rather than worries about the global economy.
Ben Pryde says that land tax has particularly impacted on retirees and people who have inherited family-owned property in and around Mollymook. This has been compounded by uncertainly about the impact of the coastal management plan.
“For a lot of people entering retirement age the land tax suddenly became too much to bear, so they had to sell,” he says. “As far as the coastal management plan, there was a big fear campaign in the media which didn’t help.”
The coastal management plan seeks to protect coastal communities from storm and flood damage associated with global warming and an associated increase in ocean levels – predicted to be as much as 40 centimetres by 2050.
Many people are naturally concerned that the new regulations will prevent them from redeveloping attractive waterfront sites, but a spokesman for Shoalhaven City Council says these fears are largely unfounded.
“In the main these new design regulations can easily be incorporated into a DA,” he says. “As it stands only a handful of properties will not be eligible for redevelopment.”
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Mollymook keeps its fingers crossed for a taste of the 'Rick Stein effect' on property prices

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<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/economy/when-harry-met-steve-a-bears-breakfast/2011091551566" target="_blank"><img src="/images/stories/40percent.jpg"></a>
The amount by which economist Steve Keen thinks Australian property prices will fall from their peak in the next 10 to 15 years. In October Keen said he expected prices to drop 20% by the end of 2013. We're sure discussions about house prices were on the agenda <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/economy/when-harry-met-steve-a-bears-breakfast/2011091551566" target="_blank">when the hometown doomsayer met noted American demographic analyst Harry Dent for breakfast in Sydney</a> in September. Both have similar views on the direction of Australia’s property market. Dent predicts the world will experience a second, deeper downturn, starting in the first half of next year in Europe, and spreading to the United States, China and eventually Australia. It was a true bears' breakfast, with not a bull in sight. 
 
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<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/residential/house-prices-will-be-55-higher-in-a-decade-christopher-joye/2011082551288"><img src="/images/stories/55percent.jpg"></a>
 
On the other hand, Keen's longtime sparring partner, economist Christopher Joye, has just about the opposite prediction. <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/residential/house-prices-will-be-55-higher-in-a-decade-christopher-joye/2011082551288" target="_blank">Joye says that house prices will be 55% higher in a decade</a>, a figure he came to based on a survey of 21 leading economists. While the current leverage in the household system cannot realistically increase much further, it is sustainable, he says.
 
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<img src="/images/stories/8point5m.jpg">  The amount that South Korean-backed <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/residential/nicole-kidman-now-has-cockatoo-coal-as-her-near-neighbours-after-mining-giant-pays-record-price-for-sutton-forest/2011111552361" target="_blank">Cockatoo Coal mining company paid for a Sutton Forest property</a> near Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban's peaceful NSW retreat in October. The company bought the 425-hectare holding through shelf company Aurelius Rural, to ensure the secrecy of its strategic purchase. Locals say Urban and Kidman's peace and quiet may be at an end. "It will directly affect their (Bunya Hill) property, as coal-filled trucks would be passing all day long and maybe through the night on their way to Wollongong for export," local Greg Barnsley has suggested. At least Bunya Hill itself was given a reprieve, as Cockatoo Coal <a target="_blank" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/new-south-wales/nicole-kidman-s-highlands-retreat-given-reprieve-%E2%80%93-for-now-%E2%80%93-as-coal-company-shifts-exploratory-holes/2011062850631">decided to relocate its drill holes</a> meant <a target="_blank" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/news/new-south-wales/coal-mine-anxiety-for-nicole-kidman-s-sutton-forest-property/2011062150555">for the perimeter of Urban and Kidman's property</a> to 200 metres away. 
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<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/residential/domenic-alveros-smallest-house-in-surry-hills-rises-to-win-international-prize/2011110352199" target="_blank"><img src="/images/stories/42sqm.jpg"></a>
The <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/residential/domenic-alveros-smallest-house-in-surry-hills-rises-to-win-international-prize/2011110352199" target="_blank">lot size of Surry Hills' smallest house</a>. Architect Domenic Alvaro conceived of the house after buying three car spaces on a corner in Surry Hills and building a five-storey house above it. It comes with a floor space of 220 square metres. The house, known as Small House, was awarded the World House of the Year at the prestigious 2011 World Architectural Festival award ceremony in Barcelona in early November. 
 
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<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/australian-capital-territory/of-15000-suburbs-21-rise-to-the-top-as-worth-a-look-for-investors/2011072750933" target="_blank"><img src="/images/stories/21.jpg"></a>
 
The number of suburbs that appear on both Australian Property Investor and Your Investment Property magazines' <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/australian-capital-territory/of-15000-suburbs-21-rise-to-the-top-as-worth-a-look-for-investors/2011072750933" target="_blank">lists of top 100 suburbs for property investors</a>. Alphabetically they start with<a style="font-size: 14px; text-align: left;" href="/news" title="Ainslie" target="_blank">Ainslie </a>in the ACT and end with Warrnambool in Victoria. The lists represents the shared outlook of some two dozen or more of the property industry talking heads. The YIP top 100 was made up of 25 suburbs in Sydney, 12 from Melbourne, seven from Perth, eight from Adelaide, five from Canberra, three from Hobart, two from Darwin and 26 from regional areas. In the API list, 17 out of the 100 hotspots are within a few kilometres of the Melbourne CBD.
 
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<a target="_blank" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/western-australia/absentee-investor-alert-nigerian-scammers-sell-%24410000-house-they-didnt-own/2011081751195"><img src="/images/stories/410k.jpg"></a>
The sale price of a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/western-australia/absentee-investor-alert-nigerian-scammers-sell-%24410000-house-they-didnt-own/2011081751195">Western Australian house sold by Nigerian scammers</a> in April. The scam? The vendors were not actually the owners of the house. The snappily sold house (the marketing said “FIRST TO SEE WILL GRAB IT!”) was done so without the knowledge of the landlord owner, who has since complained to the fraud police. The unknowing buyer has also complained to police as being caught in the scam. But you can't say the scammers were out-and-out liars – the marketing did say "LOOKS CAN BE DECEIVING!" 
 
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<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/news/bank-s-blacklist-bans-finance-for-373-buildings/2011091251504" target="_blank"><img src="/images/stories/373.jpg"></a>
The number of buildings on an <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/news/bank-s-blacklist-bans-finance-for-373-buildings/2011091251504" target="_blank">unnamed bank's "blacklist" that surfaced in September</a>. The blacklist names buildings for which the unnamed bank bars or severely restricts intending purchasers from obtaining finance. The list also includes projects in the federal government's National Rental Affordability Scheme. NAB, ANZ and Westpac all denied having a "blacklist", and the Commonwealth Bank said although it had a "watch list" it also did not have a "blacklist".
 
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<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/residential/investor-club-couple-prepared-to-meet-gold-coast-property-price-reality/2011091451546" target="_blank"><img src="/images/stories/391k.jpg"></a>
 
The sale price achieved for a Queensland property at the centre of a legal dispute between a <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/residential/queensland-property-investors-sue-over-what-they-say-is-inflated-price/2011082651304" target="_blank">WA couple and investment advisory service The Investors Club</a>. Hugh Wilson and Marilee Coombs are suing The Investors Club and two employees after they were convinced to purchase a unit that they claim they later discovered was grossly overpriced.  The property <a target="_blank" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/residential/investor-club-couple-prepared-to-meet-gold-coast-property-price-reality/2011091451546" style="font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">reputedly cost $630,000</a> when the couple bought it in 2007, but official records show a public sale price of $905,000. Two attempts at mediation between the parties failed, and the case is listed for trial.
 
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<a target="_blank" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/auctions/deceptive-toorak-auction-aftermath-and-the-silver-mercedes-that-almost-got-away/2011102152024"><img src="/images/stories/2point7m.jpg"></a>
The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/auctions/deceptive-toorak-auction-aftermath-and-the-silver-mercedes-that-almost-got-away/2011102152024">price Dr Chris Moss and his wife, Andrea John, paid for a Toorak property</a>. RT Edgar agent Greg Herman told them he had received a bid of $2.6 million from an underbidder named "Tom", who wore a pink shirt and drove a silver Mercedes. Unluckily for Herman, John flagged down a silver Merc and asked its driver, who happened to be named Tom Kartel, what he had bid for the property. Kartel said he had made no such bid. Justice Tim Ginnane found that the agent had been deceptive and had fabricated an underbid in order to achieve a higher sales price. But for that silver Mercedes, Moss and John probably would have paid the $2.7 million and gotten on with things, but as things turned out, the court found in their favour and they were <a target="_blank" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/residential/plastic-surgeon-wins-court-case-against-deceptive-toorak-estate-agent/2011102052011" style="font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">awarded the $200,000 difference.</a>
 
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<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/residential/property-developer-warren-anderson-goes-quietly-this-time-departing-fernhill-after-three-decades/2011112452520" target="_blank"><img src="/images/stories/2point8m.jpg"></a>
The price once swashbuckling Western Australian property developer – whose fortune was estimated at $190 million by BRW in 1989 – paid for his beloved Fernhill, the western Sydney rural estate <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/residential/property-developer-warren-anderson-goes-quietly-this-time-departing-fernhill-after-three-decades/2011112452520" target="_blank">he was forced to vacate in November</a>. Anderson had been seeking to overturn bankruptcy proceedings against him but lost his bid the day after he left Fernhill – rendering him <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/residential/warren-anderson-homeless-and-bankrupt/2011112552549" target="_blank">bankrupt and homeless in the selfsame week</a>. <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/residential/fax-of-the-case-gives-warren-anderson-reprieve/2011090651440" target="_blank">An errant fax</a> had given Anderson a reprieve in his bankruptcy case, but in the end the Perth federal magistrate’s court rejected<a style="font-size: 14px; text-align: left;" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/western-australia/warren-anderson-seeks-to-overturn-bankruptcy-and-stay-put/2011081251141" target="_blank"> his request to have the bankruptcy annulled</a> after creditors owed more than $39 million blocked the attempt.
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The top 10 property numbers of the year

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<table width="360" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="1"><tbody>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="69">
Postcode
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="140">
Suburb
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="151">
Average discount on vendor’s asking price for house sales
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="69">
3114
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="140">
<a target="_blank" href="/news">PARK ORCHARDS</a>
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="151">
17.7%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="69">
3142
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="140">
<a target="_blank" href="/news">TOORAK</a>
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="151">
13.4%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="69">
3168
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="140">
<a target="_blank" href="/news">CLAYTON</a>
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="151">
12.1%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="69">
3148
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="140">
<a target="_blank" href="/news">CHADSTONE</a>
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="151">
12%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="69">
3019
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="140">
<a target="_blank" href="/news">BRAYBROOK</a>
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="151">
11.8%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="69">
3090
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="140">
<a target="_blank" href="/news">PLENTY</a>
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="151">
11.6%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="69">
3130
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="140">
<a target="_blank" href="/news">BLACKBURN</a>
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="151">
11.1%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="69">
3179
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="140">
<a target="_blank" href="/news">SCORESBY</a>
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="151">
11.1%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="69">
3189
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="140">
<a target="_blank" href="/news">MOORABBIN</a>
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="151">
11%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="69">
3188
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="140">
<a target="_blank" href="/news">HAMPTON</a>
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="151">
11%
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
Source: RP Data
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Top 10 Melbourne suburbs with the highest average discount for house prices: RP Data

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Long-term strategic planning has always been one of my passions. To me, thinking ahead, being observant, asking questions and working out where the world is going, whether it be economically or socially, are basic, vital skills.
Take Dubai for instance. I first went there in the early 1990s and driving around at night, the first observation I made and the first question I asked myself was: “Why are only 20% of the lights on in all the residential buildings?” Talking to people who lived there, I soon discovered most residential properties were empty because they had been bought as second homes by wealthy people who lived in other parts of the Arab world in case of problems in their own countries, as a hedge against revolution, or as a place to keep a mistress. I left without wanting to invest in Dubai.
I have always believed that no one should ever invest in anything unless the fundamentals are right. If the people who pay the rent or borrow the money to purchase a property cannot afford to keep up repayments, then a property investment fails. After a global financial crisis, the concept of keeping vacant real estate as an inventory item, as the sheiks of Dubai did or as the Chinese and Russians tried to do, is doomed to end in tears.
In the mid-2000s, a decade after my first visit there, Dubai was obviously becoming really powerful as an international growth centre; a destination with a low tax rate that was attractive to wealthy Westerners, Russians, Indians and Middle Easterners alike. If you came from a country that was politically unstable, Dubai was potentially a future safe place to call home, and there were plenty of wealthy people from Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Georgia – the list goes on and on – keen to purchase real estate there. Dubai was seen as a safe haven within the Middle East and appeared to be safe from terrorists. It had a world-class airline and had become a major global strategic and business hub. But as I watched Dubai grow and grow, I realised within a few years it was all a giant bubble that one day, sooner or later, was going to burst. And the reason it was always going to burst was because when you analysed what was going on, the situation in the early 2000s was no different from the early 1990s; the majority of residential properties were unoccupied. Whole projects were being purchased by absentee foreign owners, then locked up and left vacant. The outlandish boom in real estate prices could not possibly last as there was nowhere near enough demand either locally, or eventually internationally, to keep it going.
The model widely used in Dubai to create value was a pyramid scheme. The owners of a piece of land, who invariably had government connections, would design the largest, flashiest apartment building they could and sell a percentage of the units off the plan at a perceived below-market price to associates, who were effectively sub-underwriters. Everyone was told the second release of sales once the building was finished would be at a higher price, to create the panicky sense of “I must buy now”. The first round of purchasers would then sell out some of their stock at a higher price than they had paid, but below the next release price, and so it went on. Foreigners would end up owning some of the apartments but the rich local families held most of the stock as inventory at inflated prices. But real estate should never be held vacant as inventory, because vacant property depreciates and costs money to hold, particularly when you borrow against it to buy shares that ultimately collapse, as many of the wealthy in Dubai found out in the GFC. Ultimately the Dubai boom, like so many others, was predicated on nothing more than hot air; people just talking the market up and up and up. All the apartments and houses were getting dearer and dearer, but there were no tenants to give investors an economic return. The result was that in the last purchasing wave, just before the GFC hit, Dubai was turned into a virtual investment ghost town, the only people who could still afford to buy there being a shrinking pool of Russian and Middle Eastern billionaires.
Realising 10 years ago that Dubai would eventually collapse, I continually warned my more eager colleagues not to invest there. But a lot of people who should know better – not least because they are responsible for investing other people’s money – simply do not understand basic market fundamentals. They just read analysts’ reports or, even worse, newspapers, and believe the hype. They simply believe what they are told. When it came to investing in Dubai’s thousands of new apartments, they never checked who was living in or renting them. It is a bit of economics, but mainly it is a lot of common sense. Succeeding in business ultimately comes down to asking oneself one simple question: “Why is this so?” — because everything works on fundamentals of supply, demand and access to debt. You can distort the fundamentals for 10 or 20 years but ultimately, everything works on fundamentals.
Continued page 2
<hr class="system-pagebreak">
 
I have seen many real estate bubbles in my 30-year real estate career. Excluding the current disasters in Ireland and Spain, the worrying overbuilding in China and the USA’s sub-prime debt-driven disaster, the two classic collapses are Japan in the 1990s and Dubai post the GFC.
Japan’s collapse is staggering. I can recall in my many trips to Japan in the late 1980s, while being continually reminded of the Japanese superiority in all aspects of life, including real estate, that the value of real estate in Tokyo alone was worth more than all the real estate in the USA. This is most certainly not the case today, even in the post-GFC quagmire US real estate finds itself in. The Japanese market had bubbled to such extent that purchasers would eagerly take 100-year mortgages, to be paid off over three generations, to buy a basic property. Sustainable? The Japanese thought they were just smarter than the rest of the world because they were worth more; a classic case of hubris, or pride coming before a fall.
One of the golden rules of life is: “There is no correlation between wealth and being smart. If you are wealthy and you think that is because you are just smarter than everyone else, look out.” For the Japanese, it seemed as though values would never stop rising, as they had done ever since that country’s reconstruction by the US after the end of World War II. Debt was cheap, and values always went up. The Japanese had a similar philosophy to a few of my well-known associates at Macquarie who, pre-GFC, and with debt so cheap, made famous the phrase: “Let’s gear the bejesus out of it”.
The Japanese bubble burst in the late 1980s with tremendous consequences. Real estate values fell 60%, and 20 years later are still down 60%. There is no longer a belief in Japan that everything goes up in value; rather a fear values will fall even further. The Japanese collapse coincided with an ageing population, a demographic trend that initially boosted consumer confidence as spending peaked. Few foresaw the economic stagnation that an aged population would eventually bring.
The Japanese fear of permitting immigration has created many economic problems, although it has at least helped the many elderly citizens of that country who need jobs and continue to have to work well into their old age to pay off mortgages on houses worth less than the debt on them.
I can recall in the 1970s that the Asian language Australians were all being advised to learn was not Chinese or Korean but Japanese. Japan, we were all told, would be the dominant force in our region during our working lives.
Learning Chinese was not on anyone’s radar at that time. In fact, learning to speak Chinese was about as popular an option for most Australians as becoming a banker.
My first desire to use a walking stick occurred in Japan. One evening I was drinking with a few Japanese friends, quaffing sake in rather large quantities. When I woke the next morning, I had great difficulty in moving my legs as freely as the day before. As the alcohol left my body, the loss of mobility did not. I struggled along unaided for a few days until I returned home and purchased my first walking stick. At first I did not use it every day, but always took it with me on my frequent travels.
I found travelling with a disability in Japan a mixture of goodwill and bad design. The people were wonderful, always wanting to help, and the transport system worked very well, but the infrastructure and building design failed miserably. Supposedly disabled-access hotel rooms with a step or two were not uncommon. In my early visits to Japan with Macquarie associates, travelling without a translator, we would often sit in meetings that were scheduled to be in English. My fellow travelling companion at the time, Gus Kuiters, noted after a series of meetings how rude the Japanese were as they would talk for 10 minutes or so amongst themselves in Japanese as if we were not in the room before finally returning to the conversation in English. We talked about this to a Canadian associate who spoke French. He told us that when he and some other French-speaking Canadians travelled to Japan, the same thing happened. So, as the Japanese spoke amongst themselves in Japanese, they would speak French amongst themselves. He said this would enrage the Japanese, who would demand to know what was being said.
These trips were long and tedious, knocking on the doors of companies investing in or thinking of investing in Australia. On a subsequent trip with Gus, we encountered the same rudeness. So I said to Gus: “Let’s speak another language”, to which the obvious response was: “We don’t know another language.” To which I replied (with retrospective apologies to Aboriginal brothers and sisters): “Yes we do, we know Aboriginal”. So we decided that the next time we were confronted with this treatment, we would speak ‘Aboriginal’. The conversation went something like this.
I would say: “Cabramatta Wagga Wagga Coolangatta Kakadu”, to which Gus would reply: “Jabiru Gunnedah Gundagai”. We had compiled a list of about 100 Australian towns and places with Aboriginal names. These names, strung together, sound very fluent. We had a lot of fun with this. The Japanese would stop talking and start listening, and as usual begin writing down every word that was said — or tried to in this case. Then they would ask what language we were speaking and we would say Aboriginal. I had visions of some poor Japanese analyst being given the job of researching ‘Aboriginal language’ after this meeting. We really did come from the land Down Under.
The Japanese and Koreans made more bad international real estate business decisions than I have seen anywhere else in my career. The size of their losses in Australia in the early 1990s was unbelievable, developing complex projects in obscure locations and with overcapitalisation on an absurd scale. All justified by so-called ‘long term vision’: a vision to spread their capital around the world and build icons that would not provide a meaningful return on capital for 20 years. At first I thought these were just stupid business decisions. I was perplexed as to why, after financing building projects that in retrospect were worth 10% of their original cost, the ‘80 still walking Japanese banks would appoint the same consultants who presided over this mess in the first place to work them out of the problem. The pieces of this puzzle were only to fall into place when assets began changing hands.
We had financed an Australian company that had purchased one of many distressed Japanese-built assets in Queensland. The head of this company told me that when they took possession of the property, they had found boxes and boxes of documents relating to its construction, among which were many interesting invoices. He drew my attention to the pavers we were standing on; good-quality Queensland pavers worth about $10 a metre at the time. He told me they found an invoice for six times this amount on a letterhead of an agent based in another state, supposedly to import these tiles from Europe. I asked more questions and found more and more examples of this sort of thing. They were not stupid, just corrupt.
I discussed this with a senior executive of one of the Japanese real estate financing banks who had realised there was no future in working in the real estate area for a Japanese bank for the next 20 years and had decided to venture out on his own. He told me very frankly that levels of corruption in project financing were so widespread that we would all have to wait at least two decades, until the senior management of that era retired, before there could be any reform.
Two decades on, real estate in Japan is still bleak and would be even bleaker if real values were reflected in company balance sheets. But in this case, as in any country where more people die each year than are born or immigrate, there are many other pressing issues. Simply, as cities shrink, values fall.
Bill Moss is a former executive director of Macquarie Bank. He has written a book about his life with muscular dystrophy called<a href="https://www.stillwalking.com.au/" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://www.stillwalking.com.au/" target="_blank">Still Walking</a>, of which this is an excerpt. All proceeds from sales of the book go to the <a href="https://www.fshdglobal.org/" target="_blank">FSHD Global Research Foundation</a> and <a href="https://www.fightingchance.org.au/" target="_blank">Fighting Chance</a>. 
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How to spot a housing bubble: Bill Moss

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<table width="426" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="1"><tbody>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="69">
Postcode
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="151">
Suburb
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="206">
Average discount on vendor’s asking price for house sales
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="69">
4068
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="151">
CHELMER
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="206">
23.5%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="69">
4106
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="151">
ROCKLEA
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="206">
23%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="69">
4184
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="151">
RUSSELL ISLAND
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="206">
22.6%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="69">
4184
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="151">
COOCHIEMUDLO ISLAND
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="206">
22.5%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="69">
4183
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="151">
POINT LOOKOUT
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="206">
22.2%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="69">
4006
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="151">
NEWSTEAD
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="206">
19.7%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="69">
4184
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="151">
MACLEAY ISLAND
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="206">
19.7%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="69">
4105
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="151">
TENNYSON
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="206">
19.5%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="69">
4169
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="151">
KANGAROO POINT
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="206">
18.9%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="69">
4000
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="151">
SPRING HILL
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap width="206">
18.7%
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
 
Source: RP Data
 
 
 
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Top 10 Brisbane suburbs with the highest average discount for house prices: RP Data

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{yoogallery src=[images/stories/december22stamford]}
Prestige buyers have snapped up apartments in The Rocks’ latest luxury development, with only four of 122 apartments – plus the two penthouses – remaining in The Stamford Residences, which is now complete.
The development, by Stamford Property Services, includes high-end extras like a 24-hour concierge, 18-metre indoor pool and gymnasium.
The larger of the two three-storey penthouses  has four bedrooms (the master bedroom alone is 90 square metres), two terraces and 468 square metres of internal space, including a kitchenette, butler’s pantry and bar in the master suite. It is accessed by its own private lift and has its own internal lift in addition to the sweeping nine-metre-high staircase.  It comes with a $16.1 million price tag.
The smaller penthouse has 412 square metres of internal space and also includes two terraces. It has $13.4 million price expectations.
“The two penthouses offer an abundance of space rarely found in the CBD,” said Ron Keir of architects Kann Finch. “With an exclusive entry on level 28, they provide a sense of privacy and separation from the surrounding environment, while full-size windows allow occupants to reconnect with the surroundings.”
“The quality of the finishes is, of course, exemplary, and the ambience is assured through its classic understated style. Every appointment has been carefully considered to help make the penthouses bespoke homes,” Keir says.
Colliers is marketing the penthouses, along with the four remaining apartments.
The Stamford Residences and its attached townhouse complex, <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/new-south-wales/five-grand-terraces-built-within-heritage-reynell-development/2011061050463">The Reynell Terraces</a>, represent<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/developments/inner-sydney-running-out-of-space-for-off-the-plan-developments/2011110352209"> the last developments to be built in Sydney’s northern precinct</a> (stretching south from the Harbour foreshore to Market Street and east to Macquarie Street) until 2015.
“People appreciate that this is the last high-rise building in Sydney’s most sought-after precinct,” says Colin Griffin, director of residential project marketing for Colliers International. “It is a finite resource that will appreciate in value at the highest rate.”
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Only a handful of apartments remain in The Rocks' prestige Stamford Residences

For most new apartment buildings, the Owners Corporation starts life with little more than a bank account and the first quarterly strata levies.

At <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/buildings/9-gay-street-castle-hill-9-gay-street-castle-hill-nsw-2154">9 Gay Street</a> in <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/castle-hill-nsw-2154">Castle Hill</a>, it starts with around $7 million in reserve.

It's an unusual legacy of what was once one of Sydney's highest-profile apartment remediation projects. When the development, originally known as Skyview and built by disgraced developer Top Place, came under scrutiny by then NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler, an $11 million remediation bond was negotiated to ensure any building defects could be fully rectified.

The building underwent an 18-month remediation program, during which around $4 million of that bond was spent bringing the building up to the standard it should have been in from the outset.

After extensive inspections, all active rectification orders have been lifted. What's more, around $7.2 million remains secured for the Owners Corporation for the next 15 years.

In a twist few would have predicted, what began as a significant concern for purchasers has left the building with something almost unheard of in the apartment market: a multi-million-dollar financial reserve from day one.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=147685 project_image_fid=359136]

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/project-marketer/equitifund-group">Equitifund</a> Executive Chairman Greg Huxley said the structure offers buyers a level of certainty that is difficult to replicate.

"The $11 million bond established for the Skyview Castle Hill development represents exceptional value, providing genuine financial security for purchasers," Huxley said.

"Unlike a standard insurance policy, this bond consists of real funds held in trust for the Owners Corporation, offering a tangible layer of protection and added peace of mind."

The apartments themselves have been designed with a focus on practical, contemporary living. Interiors feature Smeg appliances, stone benchtops, tiled living areas, carpeted bedrooms, 2.7-metre ceilings, floor-to-ceiling glazing, and ducted heating and cooling throughout.

Residents also have access to a range of shared amenities, including two rooftop barbecue areas, a swimming pool, children's playgrounds, secure building access, storage cages, and visitor parking.

The location continues to be one of the project's strongest drawcards. Castle Hill Metro Station sits virtually on the doorstep, providing direct connections across Sydney's expanding Metro network, while Castle Towers offers extensive retail, dining, entertainment, and service amenities within walking distance.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=147685 project_image_fid=359127]

The building, now named after its location at 9 Gay Street, comprises a diverse mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments starting from just under $600,000.

Equitifund National Sales Director Ben Hamblett said demand in the Hills District continues to be driven by buyers seeking convenience and connectivity.

"Interest from both owner-occupiers and investors in Castle Hill remains exceptionally strong, with buyers consistently prioritising developments in close proximity to the Metro station and Castle Towers Shopping Centre," Hamblett said.

"There is a clear trend in the market, with purchasers seeking convenient access to transport and lifestyle amenities that support a seamless, low-maintenance way of living."

On top of the long-term protection afforded by the remaining $7.2 million bond, Equitifund is offering a limited-time stamp duty rebate on selected apartments.

Eligible purchasers can also secure finance options, including a 3.99 per cent two-year variable rate, loan-to-value ratios of up to 90 per cent, and interest-only lending options through EquitiCredit.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=147685]

Joel Robinson

Why this Castle Hill apartment building starts with a $7 million advantage

For much of the past few years, conversations about Australia's property market have centred on the rapid growth seen in Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast, and Perth. <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/melbourne-vic-3004">Melbourne</a> has followed a different trajectory.

That relative underperformance is now encouraging some buyers to reassess the city, particularly those willing to look beyond short-term market movements and focus on quality property in established locations, along with the long-term growth prospects of a city expected to overtake Sydney as Australia’s most populous.

John Bekiaris, Research &amp; Market Insights at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/project-marketer/equitifund-group">Projects by Equitifund</a>, said Melbourne's current position is attracting increasingly sophisticated purchasers.

"Melbourne continues to present one of Australia's strongest long-term investment stories," Bekiaris says.

"While other capital cities have experienced stronger recent growth, that relative underperformance is exactly what's attracting sophisticated counter-cyclical investors."

[smartcode_project:default project_id=1979 project_image_fid=363268]

Equitifund isn't just commenting on Melbourne's property market, it's investing in it.

The Sydney-headquartered capital partner has taken over the remaining apartments at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/buildings/victoriana-melbourne-20-queens-road-melbourne-vic-3004">Victoriana</a>, the recently completed glass-encased development opposite Albert Park Lake in Melbourne's tightly held St Kilda Road precinct.

Designed by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/rothelowman">Rothelowman</a> and built by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/builders/hickory">Hickory</a>, Victoriana places residents between one of Melbourne's most recognised parklands and the CBD, offering oversized two and three-bedroom apartments aimed at owner-occupiers seeking a genuine alternative to a traditional family home.

The development comprises 232 completed residences alongside a suite of resident amenities, including a 25-metre indoor swimming pool, gymnasium, landscaped entertaining areas, resident lounges, EV charging, secure basement parking and a concierge-style arrival experience.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=1979 project_image_fid=363229]

The apartments have been designed with owner-occupiers firmly in mind.&nbsp;Open-plan living and dining areas flow onto generous balconies framing views across Albert Park Lake, Fawkner Park, the Royal Botanic Gardens and the Melbourne skyline.

Kitchens feature Gaggenau appliances, stone benchtops and generous preparation space. Bedrooms include built-in robes, while bathrooms feature full-height textured tiling. Hardwood flooring and ducted air conditioning complete residences designed for long-term living.

Rothelowman's architecture takes its cues from the landscape opposite the site. Sweeping horizontal glazing references the movement of Albert Park Lake, while generous balconies and expansive glazing strengthen the connection between the apartments and the surrounding parklands. The result is a building designed to deliver the scale and amenity expected of luxury apartment living, while offering the larger floorplans increasingly sought by owner-occupiers.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=1979 project_image_fid=363284]

The location is one of Victoriana's defining characteristics. Positioned on Queens Road, residents are directly opposite Albert Park Lake and within easy reach of Fawkner Park, the Royal Botanic Gardens, South Melbourne, St Kilda Road and the CBD. With few comparable development opportunities remaining in the precinct, buyers are increasingly placing value on outlooks that are unlikely to be interrupted by future construction.

Greg Huxley, Founder of Equitifund, believes those qualities become even more valuable over time.

"Premium real estate has always rewarded buyers who take a long-term view," Huxley said.

"Victoriana represents the kind of asset that's increasingly difficult to recreate today, particularly in an established location like Queens Road."

He said rising construction costs are also changing the way buyers assess completed developments.

"When you combine an irreplaceable location with thoughtful architecture and premium finishes, you create something that becomes increasingly difficult to reproduce as construction costs continue to rise."

[smartcode_project:default project_id=1979 project_image_fid=363228]

According to National Sales Director Ben Hamblett, enquiry has been driven largely by Melbourne downsizers and buyers upgrading from smaller apartments.

"Interest in Victoriana continues to build, with strong buyer focus on the larger owner-occupier residences within the development," Hamblett says.

"Enquiry is increasingly driven by local buyers who recognise the rarity of what's on offer: park-facing apartments in an established neighbourhood where new development opportunities are becoming increasingly scarce. At Victoriana, the view is not just a feature; it's an appreciating asset in its own right."

He said interstate enquiry has also strengthened as buyers reassess Melbourne's position within the national property cycle.

"Melbourne currently stands as the most compelling entry point of any major Australian capital, and discerning buyers are beginning to recognise what those who move early always understand: the best opportunities are taken before the price rise confirms them."

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=1979]

Why now is the time to buy in Melbourne's premium apartment market

Developers and apartment buyers have a narrowing window of opportunity before Brisbane's Olympic infrastructure pipeline begins competing directly with residential construction, pushing up costs, tightening labour supply and making new projects increasingly difficult to deliver.

While Brisbane's apartment market continues to benefit from strong population growth and limited housing supply, industry research suggests the years leading up to 2027 could prove to be the most important period for developers looking to secure builders and buyers hoping to purchase before the next wave of price increases.

A new Colliers report, Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games: Creating Solutions, highlights the scale of the challenge. While thousands of new homes are planned across South East Queensland, the Brisbane Olympic Athletes Village alone will deliver more than 10,500 beds during the Games before being converted into around 1,750 to 2,000 apartments. Equivalent to almost two years of typical inner-city apartment supply, the project will also absorb a significant share of the construction workforce and building materials.

The broader construction pipeline paints an even clearer picture.

Construction Skills Queensland's Horizon 2032 report forecasts Queensland's annual construction pipeline will average $69 billion over the coming years before peaking at $75 billion in 2027-28. Demand for construction workers is expected to increase by 17 per cent to almost 150,000 people, with the industry facing an annual shortfall of around 19,000 workers that could blow out to as many as 35,000 during the peak construction period.

The Olympic venues, athletes village and supporting infrastructure will account for billions of dollars worth of work across South East Queensland through to 2032, creating intense competition for labour at a time when Australia's residential construction sector is already under pressure.

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Colliers Queensland Residential Director Andrew Scriven said the convergence of these projects is creating a clear window of opportunity for both developers and buyers.

"From 2027 onwards, the market will shift dramatically," Scriven said.

"Labour will increasingly be locked into government-led infrastructure and Olympic projects, which means private residential developments will face higher costs and tighter margins. The developers who move now are the ones most likely to get projects off the ground."

Scriven said the same dynamic would also affect buyers, with fewer apartment projects expected to launch once construction capacity tightens.

"If you're looking to change your lifestyle over the next five years, now is your window of opportunity to buy."

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Developers are already positioning themselves ahead of that window.

Following the success of Monarch at Toowong, Consolidated Properties is preparing to launch two new Brisbane apartment projects in the second half of 2026. They include <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/gloriette-30-bedivere-street-yeerongpilly-qld-4105">Gloriette</a> at Yeerongpilly Green, a 25-storey tower within one of Brisbane's key Olympic precincts, and <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/castile-47-skyring-terrace-newstead-qld-4006">Castile</a>, a recently approved 25-storey riverfront development at 47 Skyring Terrace in Newstead.

Hutchinson Builders will deliver both projects, with early works already underway at Yeerongpilly and Newstead expected to commence later this year.

The timing comes as Brisbane's fundamentals continue to strengthen, with strong interstate migration, population growth and vacancy rates remaining below 1.5 per cent.

Colliers Queensland researcher Pragya Sharma said Greater Brisbane is forecast to require around 40,000 new apartments between 2021 and 2031.

"There's a real mismatch emerging between when housing is needed and when it will be feasible to build," Sharma said.

"As a result, the period leading up to 2027 presents a key window of opportunity for developers to secure approvals, funding and construction capacity, while buyers will have greater choice before supply constraints intensify."

Colliers research outlines a critical pre-2027 window to start residential projects before labour squeeze: now is the time to buy

Developers, buyers on watch in South East Queensland ahead of construction crunch: Colliers

It's taken less than nine months for developer Sherpa Property Group to sell out all 51 apartments in its <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/flourish-oasis-palm-beach-7-9-sixth-avenue-palm-beach-qld-4221">Flourish Oasis</a> development in <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/palm-beach-qld-4221">Palm Beach</a>, over a year before its anticipated completion.

&nbsp;

Located at 7-9 Sixth Avenue, the $67 million development has resonated strongly with both local owner-occupiers and downsizers seeking high-quality apartments within walking distance of the beach, dining precincts and everyday amenities.

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Christie Leet, Founder of <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/sherpa-property-group">Sherpa Group</a>, said the sell-out reflected both the strength of the Palm Beach market and the success of Sherpa's community-first approach to development.

"The sell-out of Oasis is a fantastic outcome and reinforces the strong demand we're seeing for thoughtfully designed apartments in lifestyle locations," Leet said.

"From the outset, our vision was to create a development that genuinely enhanced the Palm Beach community while providing residents with exceptional homes and wellness-focused amenities.

"We've been incredibly encouraged by the level of local support throughout the campaign, 72.5 per cent of buyers are locals, with a significant proportion of purchasers choosing Oasis as their future home rather than an investment."

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Construction is now progressing following development approval, with trusted builder LPS Group delivering the project and completion anticipated in Q3 2027.

Oasis forms part of Sherpa Group's successful Flourish collection, which has become recognised for its focus on wellness, community and elevated coastal living.

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Residents will have private access to a rooftop amenity space featuring a pool, gym, sauna, steam room, hot and cold plunge pools, spa and barbecue facilities.

"The success of Oasis demonstrates that buyers continue to prioritise quality, location and lifestyle," Leet said.

"We are proud to have delivered a project that has resonated so strongly with the market and look forward to bringing Oasis to life for our future residents."

Sherpa recently launched <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/flourish-soleira-palm-beach-1150-1160-gold-coast-highway-palm-beach-qld-4221">Flourish Soleira</a>, its third instalment of the Flourish brand in Palm Beach following Flourish Oasis and <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/amargo-6-12-sixth-avenue-palm-beach-qld-4221">Flourish Amargo</a>.

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Sherpa sells out Flourish Oasis in booming Palm Beach

Urban Property Group's <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/la-vera-macquarie-park-94-talavera-road-macquarie-park-nsw-2113">La Vera</a> is leading the next phase of Macquarie Park's residential evolution, with the new apartment development set to become the first of several new apartment projects in the precinct to complete.

The 169-apartment building has now topped out ahead of its scheduled completion in the third quarter of 2026, as new residential investment continues to reshape one of Sydney's largest employment hubs into a true mixed-use precinct.

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Cox Architecture has designed La Vera to capture the best of its unique positioning on Talavera Road, orienting the building towards Lane Cove National Park.&nbsp;The building features a sculpted northern façade with flowing curves inspired by the surrounding landscape, while its city-facing elevation adopts a more structured architectural expression to maximise skyline views.

"The vision for the project was to conceive a building that adopted an organic and curvilinear form to the northern portion that faces the Lane Cove National Park," <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/cox-architecture">Cox Architecture</a> Director Felipe Miranda said.

"The residents that reside in the northern portion of the building benefit by having beautifully crafted curved balconies that speak to the natural context and heighten the relationship of their internal living spaces to the external balconies."

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La Vera offers a diverse mix of one, two, three, and four-bedroom configurations, with prices currently starting from $740,000. Buyers so far have been a mix of Sydney-based investors,&nbsp;metro commuters, owner-occupiers and downsizers from surrounding North Shore suburbs.

Both investors and owner-occupiers have been drawn to La Vera's proximity to Macquarie University, Macquarie University Hospital, Macquarie Centre and the Sydney Metro, infrastructure that supports both strong rental demand and a convenient lifestyle for residents.

The apartments feature full-height glazing, timber flooring throughout living areas, stone kitchen benchtops, SMEG appliances, floor-to-ceiling bathroom tiling and ducted air conditioning.

Residents will have access to a rooftop recreation level featuring a swimming pool, sauna, barbecue facilities and landscaped relaxation areas, complemented by additional communal space at ground level. Many apartments enjoy uninterrupted views across Lane Cove National Park, reinforcing the project's connection to its natural setting.

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<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/urban-property-group">Urban Property Group</a>, a family-owned developer and builder with nearly four decades of experience, holds a 4.5-star iCIRT rating and was Australia's first developer to introduce 10-Year Latent Defects Insurance (LDI). La Vera is the first apartment development in <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/macquarie-park-nsw-2113">Macquarie Park</a> approved to offer the additional insurance protection, alongside a five-year warranty on SMEG appliances.

Urban Property Group CEO Patrick Elias said the additional protection reflects changing buyer expectations in the off the plan market.

"Consumers are a lot more weary and a lot more concerned in buying off the plan than they ever have been. Having LDI is a tool to portray the confidence that we have in our product, and a confidence we want buyers to share," Elias said.

Following completion of the building later this year, buyers will move into their apartments well before Christmas.

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Cassidy Knowlton

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