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There was a small increase in the number of home loan borrowers more than one month behind in their mortgage repayments in the final quarter of 2012, according to the latest Fitch Dinkum Index.
The index monitors underlying Australian residential mortgage-backed securities – a form of funding where loans are bundled together and sold to institutional investors by lenders.
The percentage of loans between 30 and 59 days in arrears increased by 20 basis points in the December quarter from 0.49% to 0.69%, despite the RBA rate cut in October 2012.
This led to a marginal increase in 30+ delinquencies in the Australian prime RMBS sector to 1.46% of mortgages in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared with a rate 1.36% in the third quarter of 2012.
<img alt="fitchapril10one" height="170" width="470" src="/images/stories/2013/04/fitchapril10one.jpg">
“The stable environment and the significant number of [LMI] claims in the fourth quarter of 2012 have helped reduce 90 plus days arrears by 8 basis points to 0.55%, the lowest level since December 2010,” says Fitch.
With a stable outlook on Australian macro-economic conditions, Fitch expects arrears rates in 2013 to remain similar to what they were 2012.
Fitch expects a seasonal increase in arrears due to holiday and Christmas spending to be evident in the first quarter of 2013, although this will be partially mitigated by the December 2012 cash rate cut and some continuing impact from the October 2012 decrease.
“Australia’s economic conditions remain stable, as over the past 20 years. Low interest rates and over 20 years of economic growth have resulted in a rise in real estate values and a significant build-up in household debt,” says Fitch.
“An economic downturn, coupled with high unemployment and/or rising interest rates, would affect the ability of individuals to service debt.”
Low-doc arrears rates increased from 1.66% to 1.72% for borrowers more than a month behind on mortgage repayments.
Around 90% of securitised home loans are prime, full-doc mortgages with around 7% prime low-doc and the remainder non-conforming loans.
The Dinkum index is compiled by Hai Duong Le, James Zanesi, and Natasha Vojvodic.
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Mortgage arrears rates rise slightly in final quarter of 2012: Fitch

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The premises of the Midas Car Care centre on Whitehorse Road in the affluent east Melbourne suburb of Balwyn have sold for $2.85 million at auction today.
The 240 square metre premises standing on an 836 square metre site at <a href="https://www.realcommercial.com.au/property-retail-vic-balwyn-500657503">267 Whitehorse Road</a> is leased to Midas on a 10 year lease expiring in August with no further terms of Lease renewal.
The property, which has 30 square metres of street frontage on the ‘homeward’ bound side of Whitehorse Road was marketed as an opportunity for an investor to either re-lease, occupy or redevelop.
Its net income was around $112,000 per annum. There were around four bidders.
The investor report notes that the landlord recently agreed to reduce the rent to $120,160 per annum due to a long-standing relationship with the tenant.
In the first year of the lease in 2003, Midas paid rent of $90,000.
The premises have been leased by Midas for over 20 years and include work bays, 12 on-site car spaces and paved hardstands and driveways. Midas have indicated a keenness to extend their lease according to auctioneer David Scholes.
The redevelopable land is zoned business 2 with the premises marketed by Billy Holderhead and Sam Newton of Burgess Rawson.
In August 2011, two retail shops set on a 400 square metre block of land on <a href="https://www.realcommercial.com.au/property-retail-vic-balwyn-5798564">Whitehorse Road sold</a> for $3.68 million on a yield of around 3.5% through Nick Peden of Savills.
Midas is an international automotive service chain headquartered in the US with over 80 shops in Australia.
Midas Australia was acquired by Lazard Limited’s private equity arm in 2008/09.
Other prominent retailers on Whitehorse Road include McDonalds, branches of the Commonwealth Bank and NAB, Woolworths and First Choice Liquor.
Balwyn is located within the city of Borondara, about 10 kilometres east of the CBD with a large, <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/victoria/balwyns-school-zone-continues-to-draw-asian-buyers/2013031158731">affluent Chinese population</a> attracted to the suburb due to it being in the Whitehorse school zone.
Balwyn is home to the Balwyn High School along with a dozen other secondary schools nearby, including Box Hill High and Canterbury Girls School.
It is home to 2,861 residents of Chinese descent, out of a population of 12,944, according to the 2011 census.
The median house price is $1,280,000 according to RP Data and there is ample public transport infrastructure, particularly trams.
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Midas premises on Whitehorse Road in Balwyn sells for $2.85 million

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The premises of an ANZ bank branch in the Victorian heritage country town of Korumburra in South East Gippsland has sold at auction today for $462,000.
It had pre-auction hopes of around $325,000 with bids starting $300,000.
There were around six bidders and the property sold on a yield of around 5.2%.
The bank premises, with a three year lease beginning January 2013, were marketed by Raoul Holderhead and Jamie Perlinger of Burgess Rawson.
Located at <a href="https://www.commercialrealestate.com.au/property/2010343234/for-sale/vic/korumburra/offices/retail" target="_blank">27 Commercial Street</a> – the main retail strip running through the town – the two-level brick building measuring 177 square metres brings in annual income of just under $25,000.
It is leased to ANZ for three years with renewal options and with fixed 3% annual rent increases.
It has seven metres of street frontage and includes an ATM in the lobby.
The building which has housed the bank for 25 years was recently upgraded at a cost of $230,000.
The most recent sale on Commercial Street was a <a href="https://www.realcommercial.com.au/property-retail-vic-korumburra-500361699" target="_blank">vacant shopfront</a> measuring 110 square metres, which sold for $159,000 plus GST through Alex Scott &amp; Staff - Korumburra. It had been listed at $180,000.
Korumburra, which dates back to the 1880s, is 120 kilometres south-east of Melbourne with a trade catchment population of around 6,000 people.
It is the base of the popular tourist railway South Gippsland Railway.
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ANZ bank premises in Korumburra sell for $462,000

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The resurrection of the former debt-laden shopping centre owner and manager Centro into Federation Centres appears complete with Goldman Sachs upgrading its recommendation for the A-REIT from ‘neutral’ to ‘buy’.
Goldman Sachs A-REITs analyst Simon Wheatley says Federation Centres is now trading at a 6% premium to its net tangible assets of $2.22, but says this is justified due to its earnings per share (EPS) growth profile.
In his latest monthly A-REITs report, Wheatley notes the forecast EPS three-year compound annual growth rate for Federation Centres is 6.9% – among the highest of A-REIT stocks covered by Goldman Sachs “with potential further upside from acquisitions and development activity”.
“Federation Centres forecast 5.6% dividends per share yield (based on an 85% payout ratio) compares to the sector average of 5.2%,” says Wheatley.
“Overall, we think that Federation Centres has earnings catalysts in the short to medium term that many of its sector peers lack.”
Factors that led Goldman Sachs to upgrade its recommendation on Federation Centres include the ongoing simplification of its syndicates business, asset acquisitions, non-core asset disposals and the rollout of its $1.1bn development pipeline.
Federation Centres plans to develop 16 shopping centres over the next five years.
The A-REIT reported an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/retail/federation-centres-emerges-from-centro-with-stronger-balance-sheet-and-back-in-the-black/2013021959432">interim net profit $115.91 million for the six months to December 31</a> - its first complete first-half results under its new Federation Centres brand.
This compared with a loss of $100 million recorded in the previous corresponding period, when it was known as Centro Retail Australia.
Federation Centres also reported a healthy balance sheet with its gearing down to 29.9% after entering into a number of joint-ownership agreements.
The Federation Centres portfolio comprises 78 properties valued at $6.6 billion with an occupancy rate of 99.5%.
It continues to simplify its previously complex mix of unlisted shopping centre syndicates with $548m of assets acquired by the group and $438m sold on market.
The company expects $1.2bn of assets expected to be transacted by 2015 with $500m to be sold on market and $700m potentially acquired by the group, subject to further capital recycling initiatives.
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Federation Centres resurrection complete with Goldman Sachs buy recommendation

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MFAA CEO Phil Naylor has hit back at mortgage brokers who claim they should be refunded their membership fees after being kicked out of the industry body for not completing education requirements by January 31.

The peak industry body announced last month that it had <a target="_blank" href="/news">cancelled the memberships of 1,100 mortgage</a> – around 1 in 10 members – for failing to obtain a Diploma in Financial Services or equivalent qualification necessary to become MFAA trademarked ‘Credit Advisers’. 
The diploma qualification is an MFAA requirement.
Credit regulator ASIC only requires that licensed mortgage brokers obtain a Certificate IV qualification.
“The MFAA has terminated the membership of some of its most senior and experienced members who see no merit in obtaining an additional educational qualification when they have been very successfully writing home loans for many years,” wrote a disgruntled mortgage broker on PropertyObserver.com.au.
“However, the MFAA is refusing to refund the members subscription fee of $422 despite discontinuing the members membership and the provision of the services that the fee pays for.
“Surely if the MFAA ceases a members membership how can it justify not refunding the membership fee?” 
Naylor told Property Observer these brokers had “no entitlement to a refund when they renewed [their annual memberships] knowing full well the conditions of membership. 
“Those members had their memberships ceased because they had failed to satisfy a well-publicised membership criteria for loan writers.  This was after many reminders over the past three years and warnings that their membership was at risk if they failed to achieve diploma or FastTrack status (available to existing members with more than five years’ experience). 
“Any member that renewed their membership in the past two years would have been aware that a condition of membership was that they achieve the above mentioned status by, originally, July 1 2012 – later extended to January 31 2013. 
Naylor said he was confident that a significant proportion of those who had their memberships cancelled were now completing the required courses and would be reinstated over the next month or so. 
“A stream of completions are coming into us every day. 
“We are confident that well over 90% of members will have satisfied the requirements by the end of May,” he says. 
Last year, MFAA membership numbers fell from around 12,000 as of June 2011 to 11,000 as of June 2012 despite the industry body taking on additional 1,295 new members, a review of MFAA annual reports shows.
Brokers make up 98% of the MFAA’s member base. 
The loss of so many brokers will impact on the MFAA’s future bottom line with its 2012 annual report showing that more than half of its $9.2 million annual revenue (inclusive of GST) came from membership fees. 
Membership fees including GST totalled $4.9 million in 2012 down from $5.1 million in 2011. 
Events, principally the MFAA's annual conference, bring in $2.3 million.
Training revenues, including courses provided to mortgage brokers add up to $719,000, but is a growing source of revenue.
The MFAA recorded an annual profit to June 2012 of $25,000 compared with a loss of $696,000 in 2011.
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Expelled mortgage brokers have no claim to membership fee refund: MFAA CEO

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UK menswear designer Peter Werth has signed a short-term lease to open a pop-up shop in the Howey Place shopping arcade in the Melbourne CBD.
Howey Place is a short, narrow covered laneway, running south from Little Collins Street between Swanston Street and Elizabeth Street.
The 9 Howey Place tenancy comprises a 33-square-metre premises taken on a short-term lease.
The rental was not disclosed however recent deals along Howey place have been transacted around the $4,000 a square metre plus GST mark.
The deal was brokered by Savills Australia retail director, Michael Di Carlo, alongside colleague Jeremy Marmur.
Peter Werth currently has an in-store outlet at Myers, also in the CBD.
According to Di Carlo, Peter Werth wished to test the market with a pop-up store. 
"<a target="_blank" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/retail/pop-up-shops-on-the-rise-as-melbourne-retail-vacancy-rate-falls-cbre/2012032353993">Pop-up stores</a> have become very popular as a means of testing the market with a view to establishing a more permanent presence and we’re now seeing that concept defined by the length of the lease term as much as the style of tenancy,’’ Di Carlo said.
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UK menswear designer Peter Werth opens pop-up shop in Howey Place

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<img alt="collierslogo" height="94" width="470" src="/images/stories/2013/02/collierslogo.jpg">
Colliers International’s Ben Lalic says he would consider investing a spare $750,000 in large parcels of land with development upside. 
<img style="margin: 5px; float: left;" alt="lalicheadshot" height="200" width="200" src="/images/stories/2013/04/lalicheadshot.png">Agent: Ben Lalic
Position: Manager, office leasing – Sydney west
Company: Colliers International
Office location: Parramatta 
How long have you been in the industry?
I first started in real estate in 2001.
What’s happening in the area you specialise in?
The Parramatta market is very tight, with vacancy rates declining. There is limited A-grade vacancy with incentives reducing.
Describe the most interesting property you have leased:
Over the years there have been many interesting transactions, it is hard to pin point one precise property – the reason I am in this job is because every property is so versatile and unique.
What are the ingredients to being successful in your job? 
You have to be honest, reliable, proactive and love meeting new people. True success comes from having a forward vision and looking into the future, with your clients’ best interest at heart every time. By being in it for the long term, success will increase year-on-year.
What aspects of your role do you enjoy the most?
Meeting new people and finalising solutions for all parties involved.
Where would you invest a spare $750,000?
Crown Casino … just joking! This would depend on my investment goal at the time. However, I do like large parcels of land with development upside.
Which football team do you support?
NRL : Sydney Roosters; AFL: Collingwood, of course; A League: Central Coast Mariners
What’s your favourite app or techno gadget?
Garmin “e-trax 30” GPS with Topo Maps. I really enjoy the outdoors and getting away from the ‘big smoke’ and the GPS can take me everywhere
How do you use social media?
Facebook – only to keep in touch with family and close friends. I like keeping my personal life personal.
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In profile: Colliers International Parramatta leasing specialist Ben Lalic

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The Safeway supermarket that anchors Lend Lease’s Victoria Harbour Merchant Street retail strip in Melbourne’s Docklands has been listed for sale. 
The 2,681-square-metre supermarket on Merchant Street is the only full-line national supermarket in Docklands and the first major retail investment to be sold in the Victoria Harbour precinct. 
It was built by <a href="companies/lend-lease" target="_blank">Lend Lease</a> in 2008 and is leased to Safeway until May 2028 and brings in fully leased net income of around $910,000 per annum.
The sale includes two kiosks (72 square metres and 90 square metres) leased to food and beverage tenants and 120 car parks. 
Merchant Street includes 12 specialty retail outlets (totaling 1,500 square metres) at 63-93 Merchant Street and eight shops (measuring 1,300 square metres) across the road in The Gauge office building at 825 Bourke Street. 
Real estate listings suggest the strip is tightly held – unlike other parts of <a href="/news">Docklands</a> where many shops stand vacant – with no shops available for lease on Merchant Street and very few recent transactions. 
There are more than two dozen shops available for lease in other parts of Docklands, including in Victoria Harbour. 
The inclusion of the car park in the Safeway sale is considered a “key factor” bringing in “strong casual parking income due to its central location adjacent to Woolworths, ANZ, Lend Lease, Ericsson and Myer, and its proximity to NAB and Etihad Stadium, according to Colliers International agent Daniel Wolman. 
Wolman is marketing the property alongside Colliers International colleagues Lachlan MacGillivray and Tom Noonan. 
“Victoria Harbour’s car park market is also an exceptionally tightly held and lucrative market sector, one that is protected by planning policies aimed at minimising the construction of additional car bays within Docklands and the CBD.” 
Interest is expected from high net worth private investors and syndicators. 
A price in excess of $14 million is expected, The Australian reported. 
Victoria Harbour is home to more than 38,000 office works including 4,500 NAB staff who work in the 700 Bourke Street building, 6,500 ANZ staff who work in the ANZ building at 833 Collins Street, the Australia’s largest single-tenant office building and 1,000 Myer staff. 
There are 1,500 apartments close by and plans for another 1,800 to be built.
Lend Lease project director for Victoria Harbour Claire Johnston quotes the latest Macro Plan Dimasi report, which forecasts the current working population of 38,020 to nearly double to more than 69,980 by 2026.
“We are continuing to see strong investor demand for supermarket retail due to the strong covenant and ability to provide steady rental income through long term leases and food retail which has lower average occupancy costs than traditional retail uses,” Noonan says. 
“The demand for quality retail investment property is far outweighing supply, with only two metropolitan Woolworths transactions since February 2010, with average sub-6.5% yields, and our recent sale of Woolworths Byron Bay negotiated on a yield of sub-6%.”
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Lend Lease lists Docklands Safeway supermarket premises seeking $14 million-plus

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A “steady stream” of investors are adding their names to what could become a Slater &amp; Gordon class action against financial planners who recommended they invest in mortgage funds issued by collapsed Gold Coast-based fund manager and developer LM Investment Management (LMIM).

Slater &amp; Gordon had already issued legal proceedings against financial advisors on behalf of a number of those investors and says more proceedings will be issued in coming weeks.
LMIM was placed into voluntary administration last month with initial reports suggesting there may be <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/developments/irregularities-suspected-in-lmim-s-maddison-estate-mortgage-fund-reports/2013040160117" target="_blank">irregularities in how some of the funds operated</a>.
Administrators John Park and Ginette Muller from FTI Consulting have applied to become the receivers of the $400 million LM Managed Performance Fund, which has the $1 billion Maddison Estate on the Gold Coast as its primary investment asset. The application has the backing of ASIC, The Australian Financial Review reported.
Another Gold Coast residential development backed by the same LMIM fund, the 271-unit Rhodes apartment development (pictured below) on Mount Cotton Road at Capalaba is caught up in the collapse of LMIM.
<img alt="lmimapril10one" src="/images/stories/2013/04/lmimapril10one.jpg" width="470" height="264">
Last week administrators revealed the business lent its founder, Peter Drake, a loan worth $17 million.
Slater &amp; Gordon commercial litigation lawyer Mark Walter has told Property Observer the firm continues to field inquiries from investors and is confident of commencing proceedings in the “near future”.
The exact form they will take has not been decided but it could a class action with Slater &amp; Gordon specialists in this area.
Previous class actions have included litigation on behalf of investors against financial planners who recommended investments in Basis Capital Funds; a fund linked to the US sub-prime market, Premium Income Fund and collapsed Gold Coast property and financial services group MFS.
 
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Walter says some investors have up to $1 million invested in LMIM mortgage funds, but have little prospect of getting any of their money back.
Instead investors will seek to reclaim their money from financial advisers – LMIM used as many as 250 different financial advisory firms.
“Any advisor needs to have a reasonable basis for their recommendations,” says Walter.
He says the timing and the circumstances of these recommendations have been called into question with queries about the appropriate of recommending these product types for investors.
“Planners are required under the corporations act to be able to match up their recommendations with their clients’ objectives,” he says.
Walter warns that a six-year time limit generally applied for anyone wanting to sue, meaning anyone who invested in 2007 during the pre-GFC boom period needed to obtain immediate legal advice.
“We believe there is a large number of viable claims against financial advisors who recommended this and other high-risk products that will be affected by the time limit,” Walter says.
“It's important that people exercise their right to hold their advisors to account and seek legal advice before it is too late.
“We have found that funds like LM were particularly popular among financial planners in communities where there are large populations of retirees with money to invest.
“The people we are talking about are typically risk averse and conservative and have relied on the professional advice of financial advisors to invest in these funds. It is debatable whether these funds were appropriate for them given their conservative needs.”
Another law firm, Piper Alderman, has also been assisting unit holders who invested in the LM First Mortgage Fund in respect of a class action.
Piper Alderman partner Amanda Banton and her team are investigating claims against the responsible entity of the Fund, LM Investment Management Limited, its directors and other third parties, including advisors, associated with the fund’s demise with a view to bringing a class action or any other appropriate action.
“Those actions will seek to recover the losses sustained by unit holders, many of whom are elderly persons who invested their life savings,” says Piper Alderman.
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Angry investors line up to sue financial planners who spruiked LMIM mortgage funds

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New Zealand is facing the increasing risk of a “significant” downward house price adjustment as house prices continue to rise, most notably in Auckland and Christchurch.
The warning comes from Grant Spencer, deputy governor and head of financial stability, at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) in a speech where he highlighted that New Zealand’s economy and banking system is even more reliant on a stable housing market than Australia.
New Zealand house prices are up 8% over the past year (compared with just over 2% in Australia), but unlike the boom of 2003 to 2007, the current house price pressures are concentrated in Auckland and Christchurch due to supply constraints and pent up demand from first-home buyers with house price inflation in the rest of the country less pronounced - around 4% over the past 12 months.
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“We have concerns that the current escalation of house prices is increasing risk in the New Zealand financial system, by increasing both the probability and potential effect of a significant downward house price adjustment that could result from a future economic or financial shock," said Spencer in a speech to the Employers and Manufacturers Association in Auckland.
“Unlike many other countries, New Zealand did not experience a major house price correction during the GFC and the median house price is now 12% above its end-2007 level. This has left us with house prices that are already high relative to international norms.
Spencer references the contentious US-based Demographia survey (dismissed by RP Data as “flawed”) in his observation that New Zealand house prices “are already high relative to international norms”.
“For example, in a recent international study of housing affordability, median New Zealand house prices (relative to disposable incomes) were the third highest amongst comparable countries.”
“The more that house prices continue to overshoot their long-run sustainable levels, the greater the prospect of an eventual significant downward correction,” he goes on to say.
 
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Spencer warns of the “significant damage that can result from sharp declines in house prices, both in terms of financial system losses and the economic stresses placed on borrowers”.
“The impact of such an adjustment could be worsened by existing economic headwinds in the form of an overvalued exchange rate, drought affected agriculture and the government’s significant fiscal consolidation,” he says.
Spencer presented figures comparing New Zealand economic reliance on its housing market versus the situation in Australia.
Housing assets account for 73% of New Zealand’s total asset base compared with 56% in Australia.
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“Two observations are key: first, the value of housing is a large share of total household assets in New Zealand compared to Australia (and the United States) where financial assets play a much greater role in saving for retirement,” says Spencer.
“Consequently, house price movements in New Zealand have a relatively large impact on household confidence and spending compared to many other developed countries where the state of the financial markets plays a larger role in driving consumer confidence and spending.”
Spencer also noted the New Zealand banking sector’s exposure to the housing sector with mortgage credit “by far the biggest asset class of the New Zealand banking system, making up just over half of total banking system lending” meaning housing is a “significant source of risk to both the household sector itself, and the New Zealand banking system”.
The RBNZ expects that household spending will generally pick up in line with stronger incomes but not to the extent to encourage “a rise in speculative investment that could extend house price pressures to the rest of the country”.
But he does warn of an alternative scenario:
"There is a risk of course that our assumptions turn out to be wrong: that the housing market continues to gather momentum and that households return to their pre-GFC ways of borrowing and spending in excess of incomes. The recent fourth quarter GDP numbers, which showed expenditure GDP growth of 1.4% and private consumption growth of 1.6% over the quarter, remind us that this alternative outlook for household behaviour is a real risk," he says.
The New Zealand cash rate is currently at 2.5% with current ‘best in market’ mortgage rates around 4.8% to 5%.
Spencer says mortgage rates are down half a percent over the past year due to lower funding costs on international markets.
Image courtesy of Flickr.
 
 
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New Zealand's house prices outperform Australia's but face “significant” correction risk: RBNZ deputy governor

Perth’s new apartment market recorded its strongest quarter of sales since Q4 2021, with 412 apartments sold in Q1 2026 and a record quarterly sold value of $537 million, according to Urbis’ latest Apartment Essentials results.

Urbis said the March quarter result reflects strong, highly product‑specific demand across both ends of the market, from more attainable projects delivering at scale, through to premium stock being absorbed by equity‑rich downsizers.&nbsp;

David Cresp, Partner at Urbis, said the key story in Perth is not demand, it is the market’s ability to convert demand into delivered housing.&nbsp;

“This is the strongest sales quarter since Q4 2021, and it reinforces that demand in Perth is real and it’s local,” David Cresp said. “But the task now is delivery, turning that demand into projects that can actually be built and completed.”&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=110291 project_image_fid=302785]

<h2>Affordable product leads, premium demand remains resilient</h2>

Sales in Q1 were led by more affordable projects, with The Boulevard (SKS Group) recording 115 sales in the quarter, the presentation noting this is only the second time a single project has surpassed 100 quarterly sales. The project was able to offer more affordable housing product right next to a train station.&nbsp;

Palmyra West (Finbar) also delivered strong results with 28 sales in Q1, following 84 sales in Q4, with an average price of under $800,000, underscoring depth of demand for well‑located, attainable new stock.&nbsp;

At the premium end, Urbis said downsizer demand is continuing, with the results highlighting Romeo (Applecross, Finbar) recording 75 sales and reaching almost 50% sold in one quarter.

Jual (Shenton Park, Celsius Property) also posted a strong quarter with 28 sales, reaching 39% sold in one quarter.

Urbis noted that Perth apartment demand is not speculative, not investor‑led, and not uniform, describing it as localised, often equity‑driven and highly product‑specific, a pattern reflected in the polarisation between strong “attainable” performers and premium downsizer product.&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=148957 project_image_fid=364102]

<h2>Prices underpinned by costs, and the delivery risk is growing</h2>

Urbis said pricing pressure is cost not demand‑driven: construction costs and delivery risk are now a central constraint, with the results noting build costs remain elevated and volatile, and that energy, fuel and labour uncertainty weigh on feasibility.

David Cresp said a growing challenge for private Build‑to‑Sell developers is simply securing a builder in the current environment.

“Developers are really feeling the pressure from a building market that was operating at capacity and securing a builder is challenging,” David Cresp said, adding that even where a builder can be secured, “trying to get to the price that makes the development financially viable is incredibly challenging in the current market.”&nbsp;

Urbis’ broader WA commentary also notes that industry remains at or above capacity with lot and housing creation, and that many builders are limiting new sales to manage stretched workforces and fixed‑price contract pressures, conditions that flow directly into apartment feasibility and delivery timing.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=108869 project_image_fid=317905]

<h2>Supply: improving later, but still constrained, and Perth lags eastern benchmarks</h2>

While near‑term supply remains constrained, Urbis’ forecast shows completions lifting “Supply is forecast to be back above 1,500 apartments per annum for the first time since 2019”, with 1,775 completions forecast for 2026, and volumes remaining above that level over the following years.&nbsp;

Looking further ahead, completions are forecast to reach 2,500 in 2028, with the report noting 32% of that total is social/affordable, reflecting the role of government‑supported delivery in rebuilding the pipeline.&nbsp;

However, Urbis said Perth remains behind comparable markets on pipeline scale. In a national comparison of projects under construction, the report shows under construction Perth Build‑to‑Sell (BTS) at 3,446 apartments versus the Gold Coast at 7,922. Mr Cresp said “The challenge for Perth is how to we grow the delivery pipeline”.

Urbis’ conclusion is that Perth’s market is increasingly defined by product discipline and delivery certainty, with the research identifying “delivery certainty is key” and calling out builder risk and procurement models as core success factors, alongside “timing and staging”.&nbsp;

Joel Robinson

Perth apartment sales hit strongest pace since late 2021 as builder capacity tightens

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/sammut-developments">Sammut Group</a> has secured development approval for its latest Brisbane apartment project, marking the Sydney developer’s next step in expanding its Queensland pipeline following the success of its debut Gold Coast development, Coast.

The approved project at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/44-glen-road-toowong-qld-4066">44 Glen Road, </a><a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/toowong-qld-4066">Toowong</a> will deliver a 15-storey riverfront apartment building with 42 residences, significantly increasing the scale of the site’s previous approval for a smaller luxury scheme. Designed by Bureau^proberts, the development will comprise a mix of predominantly four-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments positioned to maximise Brisbane River and city views.

Sammut Director Julian Sammut said the group had been actively searching Brisbane for several years before identifying Toowong as the right fit.

“Brisbane was the right step for Sammut,” Sammut said.

“With the success of Coast we thought we should definitely look to do more in Queensland alone. We then pushed up to look at Brisbane. We've been looking for I'd say two to three years actually and it was hard to find the right location.”

<img alt="Sammut makes Brisbane apartment play" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/f_auto,c_limit,w_1440,q_75/https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/field/image/Screenshot%202025-12-23%20at%203.27.14%E2%80%AFPM.png?VersionId=dYAVIL7qdcGA8ojvkslSrLjczXFejSSx" />

Sammut said suburbs including New Farm and Teneriffe were considered before the group ultimately focused on Toowong due to its strong downsizer demographic and limited supply of developable riverfront land.

The site was acquired off-market after what Sammut described as a lengthy negotiation and planning process, with the developer pursuing an uplift to the original approval.

“We are DA approved now which is very exciting,” Sammut said.

“We've had our change approval come through and we've obviously doubled the height, 15 storeys plus rooftop. We've got 42 amazing apartments that are going to be coming to market soon.”

<img alt="Sammut makes Brisbane apartment play" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,dpr_2.0,q_auto:good/https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202025-12-23%20at%203.27.26%E2%80%AFPM.png?VersionId=ohkRkY0dIZlqdfME2EZePsCQavRiBadE" />

Bureau^proberts said the design responds to Toowong’s evolving urban character, balancing contemporary apartment living with the area’s established residential identity.

“A place where traditional Queensland living has taken place for centuries; Toowong is seeing a shift of contemporary influence, commercial and retail hubs mixed with well-considered residential offerings – all the while maintaining its character and charm,” the architect noted in planning documents submitted to Brisbane City Council.

The architecture practice said the project’s form was shaped by its riverfront setting, flood considerations, neighbouring building scales, and view corridors.

“They said the mix of four and two-bedroom apartments capture the ‘fundamental qualities of Queenslander living,’ translated into the context of a contemporary subtropical building.”

The development sits just off Coronation Drive within walking distance of Toowong’s retail precinct and the upgraded Regatta ferry terminal, while also benefiting from proximity to the incoming green bridge connection to West End. Sammut said the accessibility and amenity offering were central to the site’s appeal.

The approval adds to growing residential activity along the Toowong riverfront, joining nearby projects including Consolidated Properties’ Monarch Residences and Spyre Group’s ARC Residences.

Sammut secures approval for debut Brisbane apartment development in Toowong

Developer Lanevick is heading back into Sydney’s apartment market after focusing more heavily on the luxury townhouse and terrace sector in recent years.

Lanevick, founded and directed by Steve Maroun, is expecting to receive approval in the coming months for a new apartment development in Gladesville, with the aim to launch it to the market later this year.

The 51-apartment project, designed by Studio Johnston, will comprise a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments positioned toward the Hunters Hill downsizer market.

“Traditionally it’s been difficult for people in that market to downsize because there just hasn’t been the right product available,” Maroun said.

“We’re targeting buyers who might have 30 to 40 per cent of their house value sitting in the bank after downsizing.

“They still want good spacious entertaining areas, they still want quality design, but they also want flexibility and the ability to enjoy life a bit more after working hard for a long time.”

The project sits near Boronia Park and within close proximity to the Parramatta River foreshore, an area Maroun says offers more of a Hunters Hill lifestyle than a traditional apartment precinct.

“From a lifestyle perspective, it’s really more Hunters Hill than Gladesville,” Maroun said. “You’re close to the foreshore, close to parklands, and still connected back into the village precinct.”

From level four and above, apartments will capture water views&nbsp;toward Sydney Harbour. Communal amenity will include rooftop entertaining areas, wellness spaces, and a gym tailored toward owner-occupier buyers.

“We’ve really designed these apartments around that buyer coming from the Hunters Hill LGA and what they’re actually looking for in their next chapter.”

The proposed development has also been designed to respond to the changing character of the broader Gladesville town centre, where a growing number of mixed-use and residential proposals are expected to emerge over the coming years.

“Gladesville presented a rare opportunity to deliver a genuinely design-led residential project within an evolving lifestyle precinct, just moments from the growing Gladesville town centre, and we’ve approached the project with a strong focus on architecture, liveability and long-term community value,” Maroun said.

Maroun said Lanevick saw a first-mover advantage within the precinct as planning controls continue to evolve to accommodate greater housing density.

“We think there’s a real opportunity there that hasn’t really been serviced properly yet,” he said.

“There’s going to be a broader evolution of the whole Gladesville village precinct over time, particularly with more activation and mixed-use outcomes.”

The Venus Street proposal will include a commercial and retail component at ground level designed to contribute to that evolving streetscape activation.

“A big part of the thinking was how do you activate that area properly and create more vibrancy and amenity, which is what Hunters Hill has been looking for,” Maroun said.

Lanevick’s focus since 2020 has largely been on smaller-scale luxury townhouse and terrace developments. The developer recently completed Royale Randwick, also designed by Studio Johnston, where prices reached $3.65 million. The project was featured in the UDIA NSW 2026 Professional Development Prospectus and was also named a finalist for Development of the Year.

&nbsp;

Lanevick to cater for Hunters Hill downsizers with new Gladesville apartment development

Property developer One Living, backed by former Macquarie banker turned investment manager Chris Green’s investment firm, has unveiled plans to bring more institutional capital into housing to help address the national supply crisis.

The New York-based investor has focused his firm, GreenPoint Partners, on addressing the supply shortage hitting middle market housing in Australia.

It is backing the new One Living business to develop more than 1000 units along the eastern seaboard. The new firm is starting with a development on Mona Vale Road, on the border of Mona Vale and Pymble, in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, with around 140 apartments planned. They are eyeing off more sites across the city.

With cost pressures rising in the industry, One Living’s model is to be a vertically integrated developer-builder, so it can respond directly to the housing gap by removing the cost inefficiencies embedded in traditional residential delivery.

“We are building a platform designed to operate at scale and starting in a market where there’s a clear need for quality, attainable housing,” One Living joint managing director Joseph Scuderi said.

“It’s that missing middle – it’s that attainable end of housing… that’s what most Australians invest into and what Australians can actually afford.”

<img alt="Mona Vale" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="798dfa93-4941-4db6-a696-31e9dc18e81c" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-05-28%20at%202.31.50%E2%80%AFPM.png?VersionId=mKBqi5C_DmeiXS.AtJkcR8LQIxqCqmFi" />

GreenPoint Partners brings years of experience assembling and scaling real estate operating businesses across major markets. And Green sees a big opportunity in Australia.

“For its size, sophistication and importance to the community, Australia’s living sector has remained largely under-institutionalised, which represents significant opportunity,” Green said. “GreenPoint identified that gap, assembled the right team, and is backing One Living to build a platform that is aligned to market needs.”

Green said being a builder-developer would give the company the capacity and flexibility it required to deliver reasonably-priced homes.

“We want it to be at that attainable level; not super high end luxury but at that attainable level,” he said.

<img alt="Mona Vale" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="74a5344a-4b26-4d4a-ada3-056b1220be77" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-05-28%20at%202.32.15%E2%80%AFPM.png?VersionId=vY8hXHO4reBMdO8ZXMWCNtGZJofUPQ3j" />

&nbsp;

One Living will undertake a component of affordable housing in its schemes, which it will own and operate, and it could also run build-to-rent on some sites.

Green praised local policy settings.

“The NSW government is being very supportive, strategic and pragmatic in terms of how do we generate more supply of housing,” he said. “We think it’s actually positive for development and the bit that’s been lacking at that attainable level is that it’s lots of relatively small private developers, whereas we want to create an institutional platform.”

One Living is also&nbsp;looking at high-density projects and could take on more institutional funding in the future.

“The way we will be able to achieve economies of scale is through size,” Green added.

One Living enters Sydney's new apartment market with Northern Beaches site acquisition

It's been several years since there's been an opportunity to buy a brand new townhome in Melbourne's coastal suburb of Mordialloc. Even apartment developments in recent times have been few and far between in the area.

Local developer LDS Property identified the gap in new housing, securing a site on White Street, directly opposite&nbsp;Woodlands Golf Club Mordialloc. They've recently launched&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-townhouses/wm-residences-mordialloc-102-white-street-mordialloc-vic-3195">WM Residences</a>, just 13 townhouses which they have already started building.

Projects by Buxton Director Heath Thompson, who is selling WM Residences, says the townhouses x that perfect middle ground be

"Mordialloc residents have had limited options to downsize within the suburb, often forcing them to look elsewhere despite long-standing ties to the area," Thompson says.

"With very little comparable new supply coming to market, projects like WM Residences are well placed, particularly as buyers look to capitalise on current conditions amid constrained supply."

[smartcode_project:default project_id=134646 project_image_fid=6109]

The development, designed by regarded architecture firm&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/ewert-leaf">Ewert Leaf</a>,&nbsp;adopts a deliberately restrained architectural approach, focusing on simplicity, durability and liveability rather than overt design gestures.

The boutique scale is central to the offering. With only 13 three-bedroom residences, each home is configured to prioritise functional layouts and everyday use, supported by private terraces and secure two-car garages.

Ewert Leaf’s design response leans into a calm, neutral material palette. Interiors are defined by oak flooring, white walls and soft finishes, creating a consistent and understated backdrop. The approach avoids trend-driven detailing in favour of longevity, with an emphasis on natural light and spatial clarity.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=134646 project_image_fid=6110]

Beyond aesthetics, the homes are designed to meet contemporary performance expectations. Each residence targets a minimum 6-star energy rating, incorporating double glazing, comprehensive insulation and all-electric Bosch appliances.

The project’s location supports a walkable coastal lifestyle, sitting within close proximity to Mordialloc’s foreshore, Main Street retail strip and the train station. Local cafés and dining venues, including Suburbia Deli and Hendriks Café, are within a short walk, reinforcing the area’s established neighbourhood character.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=134646 project_image_fid=6116]

While <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/mordialloc-vic-3195">Mordialloc</a> is often defined by its beach and pier, the project taps into other areas of day to day living, offering easy access to local food, casual dining and transport, rather than positioning itself purely as a lifestyle retreat.

WM Residences reflects a continued trend across Melbourne’s coastal suburbs towards smaller-scale, design-led townhouse developments, particularly on infill sites where proximity to amenity is already established.

With construction commenced prior to its market entry, the project aligns with a growing preference among buyers for developments with visible progress and defined delivery timeframes.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=134646]

Larry Schlesinger

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