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Mark Bouris's Yellow Brick Road franchise has confirmed a mortgage funding tie-up with Macquarie Group, part of an ambitious and distinctly long-term plan to take on the major banks as the fifth banking pillar.
In a statement to the ASX, Yellow Brick Road chief executive Matt Lawler said it had signed an origination agreement with Macquarie Bank, the financial services subsidiary of Macquarie Group, to "develop branded banking and wealth management products and services, including the terms of a new mortgage funding and distribution arrangement".
Macquarie will provide wholesale mortgage funding to Yellow Brick Road, allowing the franchise to expand its mortgage offering with plans for further wealth management and banking products in 2013. In conjunction with the funding from Macquarie Bank, Yellow Brick Road has launched a range of discounted mortgage offers as part of a plan to offer a “much-needed alternative for Australian customers”.
The financial services group has launched what it calls “an aggressively priced range of mortgage products” with the details of these on its website today under the heading “Smash your home loan”.
<img src="/images/stories/2012/11/smash.jpg">
These include an introductory variable rate mortgage priced at 5.5% for the first 12 months (among the lowest offerings in the market) and available to all "successful mortgage applicants", not just a chosen few who qualify for a discounted offer.
The rate reverts to 5.79% after the first year with a comparison rate of 5.77%. The website also lists the ongoing rates of the major banks and some of the regional banks, starting with Westpac at 5.9%, with savings ranging from $7,000 (for current ANZ customers who refinance with Yellow Brick Road) rising to almost $23,000 (for Bank of Queensland customers) over a 25-year period for a principal and interest loan of $300,000.
The products will be distributed through Yellow Brick Road’s 140 branches located across Australia – with a heavy concentration of branches in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
Yellow Brick Road will partner with Channel Nine to promote the offering, the same television channel that ran The Apprentice, featuring YBR executive chairman Mark Bouris as the host.
All of this is part of a campaign aimed at providing some competition to the banking sector, which controls 92% of the mortgage market and is heavily dominated by the major banks.
<hr class="system-pagebreak">
However, talk of being a fifth pillar in the mortgage lending space may be a little premature.
According to the latest APRA banking figures for September, the four major banks dwarf the rest of the market.
The Commonwealth Bank remains the biggest mortgage lender by some margin with a$308 billion loan book, followed by Westpac ($294 billion home loan book), NAB ($187 billion) and ANZ ($171 billion).
Many would argue that there already is a fifth pillar in banking, that being ING Direct, a subsidiary of the Dutch banking giant ING, which has a loan book of $37 billion and has a reputation for sharply priced online mortgage and savings products.
While Yellow Brick Road has impressively more than doubled its mortgage lending over the past year according to its 2012 annual report, ita loan book currently stands at just $855 million.
This is small change when compared with the major banks and also dwarfed by the $18 billion of loans under management that Wizard Home loans achieved. The defunct mortgage lender made Bouris his fortune – he sold Wizard to GE Money for around $500 million in 2004.
Macquarie does present Yellow Brick Roads with a strong financial services partner, with over $340 billion in assets on its balance sheet as well as strong track record as a mortgage funder. Macquarie provided non-banks with wholesale funds prior to the GFC – raising over $40 billion through securitisation.
As Stephen Bartholomeusz wrote yesterday in Business Spectator, Macquarie has an “exceptionally competitive source of funding for a large-scale entry into retail banking”.
And of course, Bouris himself will be the ringmaster, using his media connections and personality to promote Yellow Brick Road offerings.
“Cheap funding, low distribution costs and Bouris’ ability to market the brand represent a potentially potent competitive combination in a home loan market that is low-growth and where the margins have been compressed by the funding cost pressures,” says Bartholomeusz
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lschlesinger-FZcF9M3vE6

Yellow Brick Road confirms Macquarie Bank funding deal to challenge major bank mortgage dominance

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Sydney estate agent John McGrath has joined Aussie Home Loans boss John Symond by describing the RBA Melbourne Cup Day rate decision as “disappointing”, arguing the housing recovery has been limited to the more affordable end of the market.
“I think the RBA is over-estimating the depth of the market,” says McGrath, CEO of McGrath Estate Agents.
“The real recovery has been limited to the first-home buyer markets.
“Above $1 million there is no real depth.”
McGrath says a further two rate reductions in the short term would allow the market to gain some momentum “which in turn will provide activity and confidence in not only the housing market, but all associated sectors.
“I hope that they reduce rates pre-Christmas and again in early 2013 to give borrowers the incentive they need to transact,” he says.
In his spring 2012 market update,  John McGrath says falling interest rates and prices have attracted first-home buyers into the market helped by the introduction of the new first-home owner grant.
“Rising rents have incentivised many tenants to shift into home ownership,” he says.
Looking ahead, McGrath says he believes that “real estate markets in most parts of Australia, certainly Sydney, are past the worst and heading for some blue skies in 2013”.
“That’s not to say I expect either a straight line growth recovery or an instant uplift in prices. Neither of these outcomes is likely.”
McGrath believes that a key catalyst for an upper-end housing market recovery will be the share market.
“Interest rates, rents and unemployment are not really influencing factors for the top end. Many luxury owners are still awaiting some clearer resolution on the macro economy and the euro zone before jumping back into the market,” he says.
Yesterday, Aussie Home Loans boss John Symond slammed the RBA's decision to hold the cash rate at 3.25% accusing the RBA of not being in sync with what is happening in the real economy and of making <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/news/property-market-unlikely-to-feel-too-much-pain-from-rba-rate-decision/2012110657644">“pretty odd decisions”.</a>
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RBA decision disappoints as property recovery limited to first-home buyer market: John McGrath

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Perth prime office rents have grown at more than three times the national average over the year to September, according to the latest CBRE national office market report.
Spurred on by better economic growth and resources-led demand for office space, Perth net face rents have risen 12.9% between September 2011 and September  2012 compared with 3.4% increases in Melbourne rents and 3.2% increases in Sydney rents over the same time frame.
The national average growth rate for major capital city office rents over this period was 3.9%.
In a previous update, CBRE said mining giant BHP Billiton accounted for around 43% of the total net office space (115,000 square metres) leased over the first six months of 2012 with the premium Perth office vacancy rate currently well under 2%.
Net face rents in other major CBD office markets – Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra – have been flat over the 12 months to September.
Net face rents refer to the quoted rental rate (exclusive of any negotiated or offered discounts) and exclude building outgoing costs.
Looking ahead over the current financial year to June 2013, Perth is again expected to be the top performer with projected net face rental growth of 8% with Sydney (3%) and Adelaide (2.7%) performing better than Melbourne (1.5%).
<img height="154" width="429" src="/images/stories/2012/11/office_rents.gif" alt="office_rents"> Source: CBRE
Nationally, CBRE is forecasting rental growth to soften over the course of the 2013 financial year while CBD office capital values are expected to hold firm due to the uncertain economic outlook.
CBRE’s Australian head of research, Stephen McNabb, says there are both cyclical and structural factors that are resulting in subdued tenant demand relative to historic averages.
Cyclical factors include the two-speed economy, which has headline GDP growing at a 3.7% but according to McNabb “largely reflects significant growth in engineering investment activity supporting the mining industry”
“The broader economy has been growing at well below trend rates and forward indicators such as job vacancies, below average consumer and business confidence, and sluggish credit growth suggest that the economy will continue at a similar pace in the next 12 months.”
Structural factors include an increasing shift towards activity based working (work teams that don't have allocated work stations) which is reducing employee floor space ratios.
CBRE regional director of office services, James Patterson, says Perth remains the standout in relation to prospects for future rental growth, given the strength of the local economy and continued resources sector investment.
“Sydney is more heavily aligned to finance and insurance tenants who have been experiencing pressure on revenues and are aggressively managing expense growth and employee head countsPatterson said.
“The Victorian economy has also been slowing and employment growth is easing after a period of strong growth, which had been spurring demand for office space in Melbourne,” he says.
CBRE also highlights a shift in the growth prospects for the other resource-driven capitals of Adelaide and Brisbane.
“The Brisbane market has also been subdued, given weaker economic growth of late as a result of resource sector uncertainty and space consolidation by the State Government, although the expectation is that growth will gather momentum going forward,” says Patterson.
“Falling commodity prices have also impacted on markets such as Adelaide, as highlighted by the shelving of BHP’s Olympic Dam expansion, which would have provided a significant boost to the South Australian market.”
 
 
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Perth CBD office rents growing at three times national average

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Borrowers looking to take a punt on future cash rate decisions by the RBA should listen to ANZ, according to CommSec chief economist Craig James.
ANZ was the only major bank to correctly tip the RBA to leave the cash rate unchanged yesterday at 3.25% with Westpac, Commonwealth Bank and NAB all forecasting a rate cut.
James tweeted:
<div class="stream-item-header" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; background-color: #f5f5f5;"><a class="account-group js-account-group js-action-profile js-user-profile-link js-nav" href="https://twitter.com/craigjamesOZ" data-user-id="242979193" style="color: #999999; text-decoration: none;"> Craig James ?<s style="text-decoration: none; color: #bbbbbb;">@</s>craigjamesOZ</a></div>
Best interest rate forecaster this year: ANZ. I've looked at the 10 meetings. Most economists got it right on 7 of 10 meetings.
<div class="stream-item-footer" style="font-size: 12px; padding-top: 1px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; background-color: #f5f5f5;">
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<a class="details with-icn js-details" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://twitter.com/craigjamesOZ/status/265923044139225088" style="color: #999999; text-decoration: none; font-size: 12px; display: inline-block; margin-right: 2px;">Expand</a> 
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</ul>
</div>
The chief economist at ANZ is Warren Hogan.
The other economists (polled by Bloomberg last week) that correctly tipped the cash rate to remain on hold yesterday were from Barclays Capital, Citi, Goldman Sachs, J.P Morgan, Merrill Lynch and TD Securities.
 
 
 
 
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ANZ best at forecasting rate calls: Tweet of the day

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The aspirations of Mark Bouris to take on the major banks once again appear to be gathering steam with Macquarie Group tipped to provide wholesale mortgage funding to his Yellow Brick Road wealth management franchise business.
Yellow Brick Road has placed its shares in a trading halt today ahead of an announcement on Friday (November 9) in relation to speculation about "potential distribution deal with a major Australian Financial Institution".
Bouris has hinted at his desire to not only take on the major banks – as he did during the late 1990s and early 2000s through Wizard Home Loans – but also to obtain a banking license for Yellow Brick Road.
He hired former NAB home loans executive Matt Lawler as<a href="/news"> Yellow Brick Road CEO </a>last year.
A report in The Age, quoting “sources close to the deal” said Macquarie-funded home loans sold via Yellow Brick Road would seek to undercut the major banks by a full percentage point.
Bouris made his money from his Wizard mortgage broking business, which he eventually sold to GE Money for about $500 million in 2004.
He founded Yellow Brick in 2007 to sell investment services in former Wizard Branches and now has more than 140 branches across the country.
Aussie Home Loans bought the Wizard brand and franchise network from GE Money in December 2008, changing the stores to the John Symond brand.
Macquarie provides home loans through its banking and financial services group with APRA September banking figures showing that Macquarie has a mortgage book of around $4.5 billion, ranking it as the 14th biggest bank lender and a long way behind the smallest of the big four banks, ANZ, which has a mortgage book of $170 billion.
It also offers a portfolio of mortgage products aimed at both investors and first-home buyers.
Prior to the GFC Macquarie provided wholesale mortgage funding through its PUMA securitisation program but stopped originating new mortgages in March 2008 when the GFC made it significantly harder to access wholesale funding at competitive rates. It has since returned to the securitisation market.
Macquarie also has a play in the mortgage distribution space, facilitating the creation of aggregator Vow Financial through the merger of a number mid-tier mortgage broking businesses and maintains a minority holding in this venture.
In its most recent half-year results Macquarie notes that its “mortgages business continued to grow through targeted distribution and quality products”.
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Macquarie Group set to fund Yellow Brick Road home loan assault on major banks 

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The decision by the RBA to leave the cash rate on hold at 3.25% on Melbourne Cup Day took many economists, punters and borrowers by surprise.
Three out of four of the major banks had tipped the cash rate to fall to 3% with only ANZ making the correct prediction.
Westpac chief economist Bill Evans called yesterday’s post-decision statement by RBA governor Glenn Stevens “perplexing” noting that “comments on the domestic economy seem to be straining to identify good news”.
“Some signs of ongoing growth in consumption were identified; some indications of a prospective improvement in investment in dwellings were also noted while the housing market was described as "has strengthened" and business credit had increased. All these signs are correct but the improvement is tepid and should be further boosted with lower rates,” says Evans.
Despite the official borrowing rate remaining unchanged, borrowers can still find very low fixed and variable offerings.
The following results are based on advertised mortgage rates listed by <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ratecity.com.au/">ratecity.com.au</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://mozo.com.au/">Mozo.com.au</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.infochoice.com.au/">infochoice.com.au</a> as of November 7:
Lowest variable rate offerings:
<table width="470" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="1"><tbody>
<tr>
<td width="134" valign="top">
Provider
</td>
<td width="124" valign="top">
Loan name
</td>
<td width="97" valign="top">
Rate
</td>
<td width="116" valign="top">
Comparison rate*
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="134" valign="top">
Loans.com.au
</td>
<td width="124" valign="top">
Dream Catcher blackboard special
</td>
<td width="97" valign="top">
5.42%
</td>
<td width="116" valign="top">
5.44%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="134" valign="top">
My Mortgage Freedom
</td>
<td width="124" valign="top">
Low rate (LVR up to 75%)
</td>
<td width="97" valign="top">
5.43%
</td>
<td width="116" valign="top">
5.74%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="134" valign="top">
UBank
</td>
<td width="124" valign="top">
UHomeLoan refinance only
</td>
<td width="97" valign="top">
5.47%
</td>
<td width="116" valign="top">
5.47%
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
Lowest one-year fixed-rate offerings
<table width="470" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="1"><tbody>
<tr>
<td width="137" valign="top">
Provider
</td>
<td width="123" valign="top">
Loan name
</td>
<td width="95" valign="top">
Rate
</td>
<td width="114" valign="top">
Comparison rate*
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="137" valign="top">
Community First Credit Union
</td>
<td width="123" valign="top">
12 month fixed home loan
</td>
<td width="95" valign="top">
4.99%
</td>
<td width="114" valign="top">
6.46%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="137" valign="top">
Greater Building Society
</td>
<td width="123" valign="top">
Ultimate Home Loan Package Standard Fixed one year 
</td>
<td width="95" valign="top">
4.99%
</td>
<td width="114" valign="top">
6.01%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="137" valign="top">
My Mortgage Freedom
</td>
<td width="123" valign="top">
Fixed rate (LVR &lt;75)
</td>
<td width="95" valign="top">
4.99%
</td>
<td width="114" valign="top">
5.81%
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
Lowest three-year fixed-rate offerings
<table width="470" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="1"><tbody>
<tr>
<td width="133" valign="top">
Provider
</td>
<td width="133" valign="top">
Loan name
</td>
<td width="97" valign="top">
Rate
</td>
<td width="108" valign="top">
Comparison rate*
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="133" valign="top">
Pacific Mortgage Corporation
</td>
<td width="133" valign="top">
PMG Fixed (three years)
</td>
<td width="97" valign="top">
5.19%
</td>
<td width="108" valign="top">
5.43%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="133" valign="top">
Resi
</td>
<td width="133" valign="top">
Flexi Fix Plus 75
</td>
<td width="97" valign="top">
5.29%
</td>
<td width="108" valign="top">
5.99%
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="133" valign="top">
CUA
</td>
<td width="133" valign="top">
Residential fixed three years
</td>
<td width="97" valign="top">
5.30%
</td>
<td width="108" valign="top">
5.9%
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
*A comparison rate includes both the interest rate and the fees and charges relating to a loan, combined into a single percentage figure.
For information on refinancing, watch our free webinar <a target="_blank" href="/news">Refinancing and the Interest Rates Riddle</a>
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A guide to the lowest rate home loan offerings fixed and variable as of October 30 as RBA leaves cash rate at 3.25% 

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Ray White chairman Brian White has singled out the group's New Zealand estate agents for particular praise as the real estate business racked up $2.6 billion in sales across Australasia in October, a record over the past 12 months.
<a target="_blank" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://twitter.com/brwhite/status/265542578693357568?uid=275380192&amp;iid=6c612cfc-9117-4a5a-9261-88cbb86657fe&amp;nid=12+47+20121105"><img src="/images/stories/2012/10/whitetweet.jpg"></a>
At the start of November, Brian White tweeted that early October results have "NZ a massive 66% above Oct 11".
"Even Christchurch better than pre-earthquake results! Who would have predicted?"
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NZ agents help Ray White to $2.6 billion October sales tally: Tweet of the day

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The Australian arm of global healthcare provider B Braun has leased the entire 2,709 sqm top floor of Vantage, a five storey office development in the Norwest Business Park in the outer north west Sydney suburb of Bella Vista.
The new lease takes the occupancy rate in Vantage to 50%.
B Braun Australia will pay $339 per square metre net per annum plus GST and is inclusive of 108 car parking spaces.
The deal was negotiated by Peter Beaumont of Norwest Commercial &amp; Industrial Real Estate, in conjunction with Colliers International and Balmoral Partners.
Other large-scale tenants in the building are Caroma Bathrooms and Kitchens, and concrete products company Holcim (Australia).
The five storey office building at 7-9 Irvine Place with a five-star NABERS energy rating, comprises 12,278 square metres of net lettable office space and has one of Sydney’s largest floor plates.
It was developed by commercial property developer Presida and completed in January 2011 and its stand out feature is a 110-metre long, 8-metre high mural in a ‘geometric abstraction’ style, which forms its base facing Old Windsor Road.
Presida has two other developments in the business park - Sky City (30,000 square metre over five storeys) and T1( 25,000 square metres over twin four storey office towers) .
 B Braun Australia will join a number of blue chip tenants in the office park including Woolworths, which has its head office at 1 Woolworths Way along with Actron Air, Resmed, AAMI, Westpac, Capital Finance and Bankwest.
Globally, B Braun employs around 44,000 employees in more than 50 countries with annual turnover of $5.6 billion.
 
B Braun Australia has signed a five year lease renewal options with deal including major signage to Old Windsor Road where an estimated 40,000 vehicles pass every working day.
The company is expected to occupy the premises from late November.
Construction of a new train line linking the office park to Chatswood as part of the North West rail link is due to begin in 2014 and be completed by around 2020.
First-stage approval for the project was granted in October by the NSW state government.
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Healthcare giant B Braun signs whole-floor lease in Bella Vista office park 

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Consumer sentiment towards the housing market may be the biggest casualty from yesterday’s unexpected decision by the RBA to leave the cash rate on hold on Melbourne Cup Day.
However, its impact on the property market and prices is likely to be small with interest rates offered by lenders already very low (with fixed rates continuing to fall) and with housing data from both ABS and RP Data showing the housing market treading water at the moment with no major adjustment in prices despite rate cuts in May, June and October.
Over the three months to October, RP Data has capital city property prices down 0.6% while preliminary ABS September quarter figures have capital city house prices up a negligible 0.3%.
Sentiment about the housing market has been improving with the Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer House Price Expectations Index posting a solid gain in October, rising 9.1pts from 25.2 in July to 34.4 in October.
“The rise is not surprising given the further interest rate easing in October and evidence of a stabilisation in house prices nationally,” said Westpac senior economist Matthew Hassan.
Yesterday, following the release of the ABS housing data and just before the RBA announcement, Hassan said despite a "promising improvement" in auction clearance rates and sentiment readings in October, the expectation remained that “prices will tend to 'consolidate' near term before further rate cuts drive a clearer recovery mid to late next year”.
With most economists tipping another rate cut – possibly two – in the next few months, the decision by the RBA to hold back in November is likely to do no more than ruffle the feathers of some in property and mortgage lending circles, moderately disappoint borrowers and please savers.
Indeed, while activity has picked up some sectors of the housing market and there was a mini-four month rally in property prices (as recorded by RP Data) part of this could be attributed to the busier spring selling as to the lower interest rate settings.
Among those to slam was did slam the decision was Aussie Home Loans chairman John Symond who called it “very disappointing”.
Symond has been on a crusade against the RBA in recent months calling it “asleep at the wheel” and not reacting fast enough to changes in the economy.
“It’s very disappointing and a lost opportunity to help manufacturers and retailers in the lead-up to Christmas,” Symond in an interview on Channel 7's Sunrise this morning, though he made no reference to either the mortgage market or property prices.
However, he did make the point about the rate hold creating uncertainty in the minds of consumers.
“The decision will create more uncertainty as expectations were high for a rate cut.
“Confidence is everything - there is not much confidence out there."
Symond says a rate cut is needed in December but would not go so far as to say the RBA would do so.
“They don’t seem to be in sync with what is happening in the real economy. They are making some pretty odd decisions and overall it’s pretty disappointing,” he said.
Property market analyst Margaret Lomas tells Property Observer that while investors and home buyers may have been appreciative of a further cut, “we are already in an environment where rates are at a low which we have not seen for some time”.
She says the property market has already shown signs of movements, "albeit small ones, on the back of the prior interest rate cuts".
“The stimulus has occurred and affordability has returned to the market.  Prepayments on mortgages are at an all- time high and many mortgage holders are feeling a security.  I think that few were too disappointed in not seeing another cut and I doubt that this failure to drop rates will have too big an impact on the recovering market.
“I also believe that Australians are more informed and many understand the significant benefits which occur in our economy if the Reserve bank continues with careful measures.  It’s important to keep rates at realistic levels, just as occurred during the GFC, to protect all Australians in these unstable world economic times,” says Lomas.
 
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Property market unlikely to feel too much pain from RBA rate decision

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A landmark historical commercial building in the Melbourne bayside suburb of Williamstown that was once the premises of turn-of-the-century grocer Robert Punshon has sold for $2.5 million.
The two-storey freehold building, designed by local architect CJ Polain and built by James Rowsthorn in 1890, was sold to Wayne Elly, owner of Greg Hocking Elly partners.
The building was marketed and sold by Fitzroys Associate James Gregson.
<img src="/images/stories/2012/10/ferguson1.jpg">
Elly will use the building as his business premises.
According to Victorian Heritage the building is a “novel adaptation” of the English Queen Anne architectural style and notable for its ornamental façade, which houses a bas-relief bust of its original owner, Robert Punshon.
Punshon operated from the shop under the name of Punshon’s Federal Stores.
Most recently the property had been occupied by Marks Brothers electrical store for over 20 years.
It was sold with vacant possession with the vendor being local businessman John Marks.
The Williamstown Chronicle reported in 1904 that both 82 -84 Ferguson Street and 78 Ferguson Street were sold by "Mrs. R. Punshon to W.N. McAlister and Co., a grocery, wine and spirit business".
John Pentase, a grocer and the ES&amp;A Bank shared the premises in the 1920s.
Victorian Heritage notes that the building is of historical significance as it “perhaps best illustrates the increasing importance of Ferguson Street as the main commercial centre of Williamstown during the latter half the nineteenth century”.
“It is also notable for its original and long association with the locally important Punshon family and for its long use as a grocery.”
The 750 square metre building comprises ground floor retail space, a grand first floor dwelling and a basement.
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Local estate agent Wayne Elly buys historic former Williamstown grocer for $2.5 million

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/broadbeach-qld-4218">Broadbeach</a> offers plenty of reasons to live vertically, but moving from a substantial family home into an apartment can expose the compromises of high-density living. Privacy, room for guests and usable living space tend to matter more when an apartment is intended as a permanent home rather than an occasional coastal base.

A typical residential floor at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/the-eveleigh-broadbeach-7-9-surf-parade-broadbeach-qld-4218">The Eveleigh</a>, on Surf Parade,&nbsp;contains just four apartments. The 94-residence development by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/hirsch-faigen">Hirsch &amp; Faigen</a> is predominantly made up of expansive three-bedroom homes, with a limited collection of half-floor penthouses above.

Across the apartment floors, <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/rothelowman">Rothelowman</a> has used the relatively limited number of residences to give each home greater access to natural light and outlook. Living spaces extend towards full-height glazing, while a series of bay windows frame selected views across the Pacific Ocean, city and hinterland rather than treating the building edge as a continuous wall of glass.

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“The apartment floors deliver a collection of homes that embrace controlled outlook via a series of bay windows deliberately framing moments of view,” Rothelowman Director Kim Lowman said.

From outside, those projecting forms contribute to the tower’s faceted profile. Strong horizontal and vertical elements establish its proportions, while the changing position of the sun alters the light, shadow and reflection across the façade throughout the day.

The same attention moves inside the apartments, where the material palette combines warm timber, natural stone, metallic detailing and softer curved forms. Kitchens sit within the main living zone, with stone island benches, integrated joinery and European appliances, before the living areas extend towards the glazing and the outlook.

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Three genuine bedrooms provide room to accommodate family and guests, while two secure car spaces and storage address some of the practical considerations that can become more noticeable when moving from a larger home. Feedback from the display suite has centred on the warmth and restraint of the interiors, with buyers commenting that the residences feel like homes rather than conventional coastal apartments.

A limited collection of half-floor penthouses occupies the upper levels, increasing the scale of the living spaces and adding private balconies and elevated finishes. From this position, the outlook extends between the ocean and hinterland.

Outside the private residences, The Eveleigh separates its shared spaces between the podium and rooftop. The podium is centred on wellness, with subtropical landscaping surrounding a swimming pool and pool terrace, yoga garden, private gymnasium, sauna and hot and cold plunge facilities. Landscaped retreats and pavilions provide additional places to sit away from the main recreation areas.

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Higher in the building, a rooftop pavilion and private dining suite sit alongside resident lounge, barbecue and outdoor dining areas, opening towards panoramic views across the ocean, city and hinterland.

“Buyers are no longer just looking for an apartment, but a lifestyle where they can relax, reset, and enjoy a balanced way of living,” Hirsch &amp; Faigen Director of Sales Matt George said.

Interest to date has come from established owner-occupiers and interstate lifestyle purchasers, including buyers planning a future move to the Gold Coast. Many are coming from larger homes and want to reduce ongoing maintenance without giving up space for family and guests, privacy, two car spaces or the ability to entertain at home.

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Much of that daily life can also take place beyond the building without requiring a drive. Kurrawa Beach and Pratten Park are an easy walk from Surf Parade, while Pacific Fair, Oracle Boulevard, The Oasis, restaurants, cafés, entertainment and public transport are also within walking distance.

The Eveleigh is Hirsch &amp; Faigen's fourth Gold Coast development since entering the market in 2021, following The Hemingway at Palm Beach, The Emerson at Kirra and Yves at Mermaid Beach. Each of the preceding projects sold out before completion.

“Broadbeach had been on our radar throughout our time operating on the Gold Coast,” the developer said. “Following our projects in Palm Beach, Kirra and Mermaid Beach, Broadbeach represented the natural next step for the business.”

The Surf Parade site brought together proximity to the beach, protected coastal outlooks and walkability to dining, shopping and recreation. Hirsch &amp; Faigen also identified the street as an emerging premium residential address, with enough separation from Broadbeach's busier destinations to retain a quieter environment at home.

The Eveleigh is now under construction by Maxcon, with completion forecast for mid-2028. Three-bedroom residences are currently available from $2.87 million.

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Joel Robinson

The Eveleigh brings house-like apartments to Broadbeach

A long-stalled Campbelltown development site is back in play, with new plans for 139 apartments set to supersede a mixed-use scheme approved almost a decade ago but never built.

The new proposal for 28 Cordeaux Street would deliver 116 market and 23 affordable apartments in a part 14-storey building, bringing a substantial new project into a Campbelltown market where new apartment supply remains limited.

Plans have been filed over the 3,092 sqm corner site at Moore-Oxley Street, around 600 metres from Campbelltown Railway Station and the city-centre retail core.

The site already carries a mixed-use residential approval dating to 2016. Doroch Architects has now been engaged on a larger replacement scheme, which is progressing as a State Significant Development Application following a Housing Delivery Authority determination in August 2025.

The apartment mix comprises 39 one-bedroom, 72 two-bedroom and 28 three-bedroom residences. Two-bedroom apartments make up just over half of the project, while three-bedroom homes account for 20 per cent.

<img alt="First look: New 139-apartment plans revive long-stalled Campbelltown city centre site" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="136dd5b9-3791-4da6-9e31-76f533f5b4de" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Campbelltown%20da2.png?VersionId=LgOSy9nwf5u.MGswBBwaGGxuX8QpHSl_" />

Of the 139 apartments, 23 will be delivered as affordable housing under the in-fill affordable housing provisions of the Housing SEPP. The affordable component represents 15 per cent of the residential gross floor area and will be managed by a registered Community Housing Provider.

Doroch has sought to break the scale of the building into two distinct elements, with a masonry podium of around four storeys establishing the street edge before the residential tower steps back above.

The corner position has shaped that approach. Cordeaux Street faces toward the commercial and civic centre, while Moore-Oxley Street leads into the lower-scale residential neighbourhood to the south, and the design verification report describes the site as "bridging the commercial core to the north and established residential areas to the south."

The podium will be expressed predominantly in face brick, while the upper levels shift to brushed and grooved concrete cladding with darker metal detailing. Recessed sections, deep balcony edges and landscaping break down the upper form, with an approximately 11.8-metre setback to the northern boundary addressing the adjoining St Peters Anglican School.

<img alt="First look: New 139-apartment plans revive long-stalled Campbelltown city centre site" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="c8b3d2d3-c561-4bfc-a5d9-a68c0c10dac1" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Campbelltown%20da1.png?VersionId=AeAEyJU02Gk2k5noUj2StziCvdQ7fW4B" />

Campbelltown has been starved of new residential developments in the last decade.

The only other notable development set to come to market this year is ALAND's Queen Square, a mixed-use precinct on over two hectares that will comprise apartments above a vibrant ground-level retail and hospitality dining precinct.

First look: New 139-apartment plans revive long-stalled Campbelltown city centre site

First Look: Sherlock Construction pitches apartments for low-rise Deception Bay

Queensland builder-developer MAYD has revealed the first look at its major North Kirra beachfront development, lodging amended plans that reduce the number of apartments and increase the proportion of larger residences.

The project is planned across a substantial 4,742 sqm amalgamated site spanning seven lots at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/2-6-pacific-parade-bilinga-qld-4225">2-6 Pacific Parade</a> and 27-33 Golden Four Drive in Bilin​ga, directly opposite Nor​th Kirra Beach.

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/mayd-group">MAYD</a> secured the site for $32.5 million in 2025, in what was one of the Gold Coast's largest property transactions of the year.

The development will be delivered across two stages, with the first stage carrying an estimated gross realisation value of around $360 million.

The latest amendments seek to reduce the overall apartment count and shift the project further toward the owner-occupier market, with larger residences designed for buyers wanting considerably more space than traditionally offered in a beachfront apartment.

The residential mix will include townhomes, oversized two-bedroom apartments, substantial three-bedroom residences and four-bedroom homes.

MAYD has appointed Cera Stribley to lead the architecture and interiors, with the Melbourne-based design practice drawing on the beachfront setting through a series of ocean-facing terraces and heavily landscaped balconies.

Strong horizontal forms and curved balconies will define the exterior, with subtropical landscaping integrated throughout the building to soften the built form and increase the connection between the residences and the beachfront.

The project will also include an extensive collection of resident wellness and lifestyle facilities, continuing the broader shift across the Gold Coast's luxury apartment market toward larger homes supported by resort-style amenity.

<img alt="MAYD" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="d1bcbb05-e659-4b47-8bd4-1e595315e2ad" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-08-27%20at%202.05.03%E2%80%AFPM.png?VersionId=jj0XEud1X1DuLt7_KyElhjMdZGOXmLHP" />

MAYD Founder Todd Mould said North Kirra was increasingly appealing to buyers attracted to the more established, lower-density character of the southern Gold Coast.

"North Kirra presents one of the most compelling luxury residential opportunities currently emerging in Australia, combining absolute beachfront with the character and authenticity that buyers are increasingly seeking, and the same sense of tight-knit community that defined Burleigh and Currumbin perhaps 10 or 15 years ago," Mould said.

"With Gold Coast Airport on its doorstep, it also offers a level of accessibility that broadens its appeal across almost every market demographic."

The project comes as the southern Gold Coast continues to attract an increasing share of high-end apartment development and buyer activity.

Kirra in particular has emerged as one of the region's more tightly held beachfront markets, with its relatively low-density character, established surf and hospitality scene and proximity to Gold Coast Airport differentiating it from the higher-density markets further north.

Mould said those characteristics had informed the approach MAYD and Cera Stribley had taken to the project.

"We've worked closely with Cera Stribley to create a vision that is deeply connected to its surroundings," he said.

"Inspired by the coastline itself, the architecture has been shaped around space, privacy and resort-style living, creating a collection of homes that reflects the next generation of luxury on the southern Gold Coast."

MOTIV Managing Director Carly Cottam, who has been appointed to market the project, said buyer attention had continued to move south along the Gold Coast.

"Purchasers who may once have defaulted to Broadbeach, Main Beach or Surfers Paradise are increasingly recognising the value of a genuine beachfront location that offers lower density, strong amenity and a more established sense of community," Cottam said.

"Kirra has a powerful combination of growing demand and genuine scarcity. Beachfront supply is inherently constrained, the area remains relatively low density, and buyers are increasingly placing a premium on locations that feel established, uncrowded and authentic rather than heavily developed."

Cottam said the proximity to Gold Coast Airport was also proving increasingly important for interstate and second-home buyers.

"Being minutes from Gold Coast Airport makes it particularly compelling for interstate buyers, frequent travellers and second-home purchasers who can access an authentic coastal lifestyle almost immediately after stepping off a flight."

The acquisition takes MAYD's active development portfolio to more than $500 million, with the North Kirra project representing one of its largest undertakings to date.

MAYD is targeting an early 2027 launch.

First look at MAYD's North Kirra mixed-use precinct

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Castle Hill, the longtime hub of the Hills District, has been one of the major beneficiaries of Sydney's Metro expansion, with improved connectivity helping drive continued population growth, development and buyer demand across the Hills District.

But despite that growth, the suburb has seen relatively few major new apartment projects brought to market over the past 18 months.

Hills District developer Reve Group is looking to fill that gap with <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/nova-r-ve-castle-hill-2-garthowen-crescent-castle-hill-nsw-2154">Nova Rêve</a>, a major new mixed-use precinct on the corner of Garthowen Crescent and Old Castle Hill Road, a short walk from Castle Hill Metro Station and Castle Towers.

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The project will comprise three residential towers alongside a hotel, restaurants, cafes and a skybar, more than 1,600 sqm of ground-floor retail and almost an acre of landscaped gardens.

It represents the largest project undertaken by Reve Group, the development arm of the Kassis family, which has been building across the Hills District for more than 30 years through Kassis Homes.

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Nova Rêve also represents a significant step up from the family's first apartment development, Grand Rêve, which was delivered nearby on Garthowen Crescent.

Grand Rêve introduced larger, house-like apartment layouts and premium inclusions including Wolf and Sub-Zero appliances to the Castle Hill market.

Nova Rêve takes that approach to a precinct scale, combining the residential component with hospitality, retail and substantial public and resident landscaping.

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Reve Group Managing Director Sam Kassis said the project reflected the family's three decades of building in the Hills, which has evolved from trophy homes on quarter-acre blocks to larger-scale apartment development.

"Grand Rêve was our first apartment project here and it showed us what this pocket of Castle Hill could be. Nova Rêve is the refinement of that idea: not just apartments, but a place the whole suburb can use," Kassis said.

A key part of that approach is the hotel, which has been designed to operate as an amenity for the wider Castle Hill community rather than solely hotel guests.

It will include restaurants, cafes, skybars and all-day dining, alongside conference and event facilities catering to business functions, community groups and private events.

At ground level, more than 1,600 sqm of shops and cafes will open onto the surrounding streets and landscaped areas.

Almost an acre of gardens designed by Land and Form Studios will run through the precinct, incorporating pathways, seating, barbecue areas and children's play spaces.

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Reve Group's Romio Georges said creating an active ground plane had been central to the planning of Nova Rêve.

"There are gardens with pathways, barbecues, seating and play areas, shops and cafes opening onto the street, and a hotel with restaurants and a skybar that anyone in Castle Hill can walk into," Georges said.

The project's elevated position on one of Sydney's highest ridgelines will also provide apartments with outlooks toward the Sydney skyline, surrounding parkland and the Blue Mountains.

More than 80 per cent of the apartments will occupy corner positions, with Turner responsible for both the architecture and interiors.

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Larry Schlesinger

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