<p>National diversified developer Fortis has officially launched Crest &amp; Walker, its latest Brisbane apartment development, with construction now underway on the 20-storey Newstead project.</p>

<p>Award-winning builder BINAH has commenced construction on the Bureau^Proberts-designed building, which will deliver a limited collection of 65 two and three-bedroom apartments on Kyabra Street.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=145922 project_image_fid=373556]</p>

<p>The project marks Fortis' fourth active residential development in Brisbane, following River House, which is nearing completion, alongside projects in New Farm and Hamilton as the national developer continues to expand its South East Queensland pipeline.</p>

<p>Fortis General Manager – Development Queensland Dan Boman said Crest &amp; Walker reflects the developer's long-term commitment to delivering design-led residential projects in Brisbane's established inner-city suburbs.</p>

<p>"We're proud to be strengthening our presence in Brisbane with Crest &amp; Walker, particularly in such a sought-after lifestyle destination as Newstead," Boman said.</p>

<p>"Every Fortis project is shaped by its context, and we approach each one with the respect and care it deserves.</p>

<p>"Our focus is always on creating places that feel connected to their neighbourhood and elevate the everyday experience for residents. Newstead continues to evolve as one of Brisbane's most sought-after urban communities, and Crest &amp; Walker reflects our ambition to contribute meaningfully to that story."</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=145922 project_image_fid=373559]</p>

<p>Positioned between Gasworks Plaza and James Street, <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/crest-walker-newstead-12-kyabra-street-newstead-qld-4006">Crest &amp; Walker</a> has been designed as a boutique residential address offering privacy and generous living spaces within one of Brisbane's most established lifestyle precincts.</p>

<p>The building features a contemporary brick podium softened by integrated landscaping, while the upper levels are characterised by restrained architecture and enduring materiality. Interiors have been designed to maximise natural light, acoustic performance and long-term liveability.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=145922 project_image_fid=373583]</p>

<p>Residences comprise spacious two and three-bedroom floorplans, with two-bedroom apartments priced from $1.55 million and three-bedroom, half-floor residences from $3.95 million.</p>

<p>Residents will have access to a wellness-focused rooftop featuring a swimming pool, sauna, steam room, landscaped dining spaces and outdoor lounge areas overlooking Newstead and the Brisbane CBD.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=145922 project_image_fid=373571]</p>

<p>Sales are being managed by Slaite Projects, with Fortis expecting strong demand from owner-occupiers seeking a high-quality, design-focused apartment in one of Brisbane's most tightly held inner-city suburbs.</p>

<p>Completion of Crest &amp; Walker is slated for late 2028.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=145922]</p>


Joel Robinson

Fortis expands Brisbane pipeline with launch of Crest & Walker in Newstead

<p>The enormity of delivering a true skyscraper in Australia's new development market is often overlooked.</p>

<p>It has taken the best part of a decade since plans for Chevron One were first unveiled, but the 52-storey tower is now complete, with residents collecting their keys and moving into what has become one of the Gold Coast's most recognisable new landmarks.</p>

<p>Rising 127 metres above Chevron Island, Chevron One stands almost twice as high as any other building on the island. Its scale places it alongside the trio of towers at Jewel, arguably the last truly significant addition to the central Gold Coast skyline when they were completed around six years ago.</p>

<p>While there are several developments underway around a similar height to Chevron One, they are more concentrated within clusters of the highest towers in the city. The fact Chevron One sits within a developing precinct, looking back at the other high-rise developments in Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach, makes it a different proposition altogether. It will certainly become a reference point on the Gold Coast skyline.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=6515 project_image_fid=68833]</p>

<p>Developer Bensons Property Group is behind the 52-storey tower, which has just shy of 250 apartments, along with an exhaustive list of resident amenity spread across what is the largest development site ever assembled on Chevron Island.</p>

<p>The tower has been the talk of the town for years, says Ray White Projects Gold Coast agent Caitlin Rosenboom, who is selling the remaining apartments.</p>

<p>"People have been watching Chevron One go up for years," Rosenboom says, adding that many prospective buyers have been surprised by the scale of the views once they step inside.</p>

<p>"It's only when they walk through a completed apartment that they truly understand the position of the building," Rosenboom says.</p>

<p>"The views are jaw-dropping. Whether you're looking east over the ocean, across Surfers Paradise, along the river systems or out to the hinterland, every level offers something different but equally impressive."</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=6515 project_image_fid=360215]</p>

<p>One of Chevron One's defining advantages is its location on the eastern side of Chevron Island on Stanhill Drive, a position which protects the views forever.</p>

<p>"There's only one row of houses between Chevron One and the water, and the height restrictions along the river means views from Chevron One can never be built out,"&nbsp;Rosenboom says.</p>

<p>While new apartment developments continue to emerge across the Gold Coast, Rosenboom says opportunities to secure a completed apartment with this level of outlook are becoming increasingly rare.</p>

<p>"The size of the site is something that would be incredibly difficult to replicate today," she says.</p>

<p>"That's allowed Chevron One to deliver the sort of amenity, open space and resident facilities that very few projects can offer. There are not many completed apartment buildings on the Gold Coast right now that can compete with the combination of scale, quality and amenity."</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=6515 project_image_fid=68839]</p>

<p>There's around 2,000 sqm of amenity solely for the use of residents of Chevron One. Club One features a uniquely shaped swimming pool that mirrors the footprint of the building itself, set within a extensively landscaped gardens. There's also an indoor pool and spa, a fully equipped gym with a Pilates room, a yoga garden, a bookable private dining area and lounge that can host up to 30 people, and a 24-hour concierge service.</p>

<p>As for the buyers, Rosenboom is fielding enquiry from everywhere: Sydneysiders and Melburnians looking at the new and off-the-plan market following the changes in the Federal Budget, as well as those looking to relocate, through to South East Queenslanders seeking either a permanent home or a weekender bolthole.</p>

<p>"The Gold Coast lifestyle continues to resonate with people relocating from the southern states, and when they see the views and the quality of what's been delivered at Chevron One, it becomes very easy for them to understand the appeal," Rosenboom says.</p>

<p>A diverse mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments remain available, with each offering "something a little different", be it the orientation and views, configuration, or level, to suit a wide variety of buyers.</p>

<p>The remaining apartments are ready to inspect in person, by appointment.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=6515]</p>


A decade in the making: Residents to move into Chevron One as construction wraps up

<p>A general rule of thumb in new apartment developments is that the penthouses get the rooftop.</p>

<p>It's a formula that's become commonplace across Australia's apartment market. Residents might have access to a pool, gym or barbecue facilities on a dedicated lower level, but the most desirable outdoor spaces are typically reserved for the highest-priced homes at the top of the building.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/sherpa-property-group">Sherpa Property Group</a> has taken the opposite approach.</p>

<p>Rather than dedicating the rooftop to a handful of buyers, the Gold Coast developer has made it the centrepiece of its Flourish collection, creating expansive shared spaces from the best vantage point in the building.</p>

<p>The philosophy has reached its most ambitious expression at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/flourish-soleira-palm-beach-1150-1160-gold-coast-highway-palm-beach-qld-4221">Flourish Soleira</a> in Palm Beach, where two rooftop precincts connected by a skybridge will deliver one of the most extensive lifestyle offerings seen in a residential apartment project on the Gold Coast.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=150017 project_image_fid=374053]</p>

<p>"We're seeing a clear move toward developments that offer more than just an apartment," Sherpa Group founder Christie Leet said.</p>

<p>"People want spaces that support how they actually live, whether that's working from home, staying active, or spending time with family and friends.</p>

<p>"That's where amenity becomes critical. It's not just about what's included, but how those spaces are designed to be used every day."</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=150017 project_image_fid=374052]</p>

<p>The breadth of amenity has already attracted buyers across multiple demographics. Younger first home buyers have been drawn to Soleira's one-bedroom apartments, a product rarely delivered in Palm Beach, while families have responded to practical inclusions such as the shallow children's pool adjoining the main lap pool and the extensive communal recreation areas.</p>

<p>Instead of a single rooftop, Soleira delivers two distinct lifestyle zones.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=150017 project_image_fid=372547]</p>

<p>The southern rooftop has been dedicated to wellness, featuring a gym, yoga and Pilates studio, work-from-home facilities, a wellness centre, spa, and hot and cold plunge pools.</p>

<p>The northern rooftop focuses on recreation and entertaining, incorporating a heated resort-style pool, private dining rooms, pizza ovens, barbecues, a golf simulator, children's recreation areas, and what is expected to be the Gold Coast's first rooftop basketball court, which will also double as a squash court.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=150017 project_image_fid=374054]</p>

<p>Beyond the rooftops, Soleira will introduce 1,500 sqm of curated retail beneath the towers, creating one of Palm Beach's first genuinely mixed-use lifestyle precincts where cafés, restaurants and convenience retail become part of residents' everyday lives.</p>

<p>Sherpa has also retained management rights across the development, allowing it to oversee the long-term operation of the building through a 24-hour concierge model. The developer is also exploring additional revenue streams within the precinct aimed at helping offset ongoing body corporate costs for residents.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=150017 project_image_fid=370962]</p>

<p>While Soleira is the largest project Sherpa has delivered, the rooftop-first philosophy has been evolving for several years.</p>

<p>It began with <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/amargo-6-12-sixth-avenue-palm-beach-qld-4221">Flourish Amargo</a>, the first project released under the Flourish brand. Rather than competing at the ultra-luxury end of the market with oversized half-floor and full-floor residences, Sherpa focused on creating lifestyle-driven apartments supported by resort-style shared spaces.</p>

<p>Amargo introduced more than 800 sqm of rooftop amenity, combining wellness facilities, heated pools, entertaining areas, cabanas, pizza ovens and private dining spaces into what was designed as an extension of residents' homes rather than a facility used only occasionally.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=146527 project_image_fid=366550]</p>

<p>That approach continued with Flourish Oasis, where the same amenity-led philosophy was refined into a more boutique development. Strong demand from Sherpa's growing VIP database saw much of the project sold before it reached the broader market, reinforcing buyer appetite for apartment communities centred around shared lifestyle experiences.</p>

<p>Flourish Amargo is slated for completion mid-way-through next year, with Oasis to be delivered by late 2027. Flourish Soleira is expected to complete in 2030.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=150017]</p>


Sherpa takes amenity to the sky as Flourish Soleira captures booming Palm Beach demand

<p>As apartment living continues to evolve across Sydney's growth corridors, the quality and distribution of shared spaces is increasingly shaping how residents experience home. Rather than functioning as add-ons, amenities are being embedded into the daily rhythm of a building, supporting everything from quiet retreat to social interaction, often within a single vertical community.</p>

<p>At <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/aeris-melrose-park-nursery-street-melrose-park-nsw-2114">Aeris</a> in Melrose Park, this approach is resolved through a layered amenity offering that unfolds from ground level through to its upper podium. Developed by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/sekisui-house-australia">Sekisui House Australia</a> in partnership with Hankyu Hanshin Properties, the project introduces 468 apartments across two towers and a mid-rise building, positioned at the highest point of the broader masterplan.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=426 project_image_fid=359199]</p>

<p>The amenity experience begins at street level, where two courtyards sit within a landscaped setting that connects residents to the wider network of parks and green spaces. These green spaces are not isolated pockets but part of a wider pedestrian network that links Aeris to the surrounding <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/melrose-park-nsw-2114">Melrose Park</a> precinct, including Central Park, future schools, and the Town Centre opening in July 2026. The result is a transition that moves from public to private without abrupt boundaries, allowing residents to pass through shaded, tree-lined environments before reaching the building itself.</p>

<p>Moving upward, the focus shifts to the level five podium, where the primary communal facilities are concentrated. This space brings together a 16-metre swimming pool, outdoor seating areas, and a communal BBQ zone arranged to take advantage of elevated outlooks. Seating is positioned beneath pergolas, creating pockets of shade that extend the usability of the space throughout the day. The pool edge aligns with views toward the wider district, reinforcing the sense of elevation that defines the project’s positioning.</p>

<p>In the adjacent building, this is complemented by quieter, more contemplative spaces, including an outdoor cinema set within the same level. Positioned to operate primarily in the evening, it introduces a different tempo to the shared environment, shifting from daytime activity to after-hours use without requiring separate zones.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=426 project_image_fid=360299]</p>

<p>The podium also accommodates an intimate private resident gym. Located on the lower levels, it gives residents convenient access to fitness facilities without leaving the building.</p>

<p>Above, the elevated podium sky deck extends the amenity offering, providing additional open-air spaces with elevated outlooks across the surrounding landscape. While more restrained in program, this upper level reinforces the project’s vertical progression, from ground-level greenery to elevated outlook, allowing residents to move between distinct spatial conditions within a single address.</p>

<p>This distribution of amenities reflects a deliberate response to how residents use space across the day. Sekisui House Australia Sales and Marketing Director Peter Kalaf points to the role these shared areas play in shaping buyer demand. Aeris has been conceived as more than a collection of apartments, with the podium pool, gym and outdoor cinema forming part of a broader lifestyle offering that extends the home beyond each individual residence.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=426 project_image_fid=360300]</p>

<p>What distinguishes Aeris is not the inclusion of these elements individually, but how they are arranged in relation to one another. Active, social, and passive spaces are layered vertically rather than separated, allowing residents to choose between them without leaving the building or moving far from their apartment. This proximity supports both routine use, such as a morning swim or evening workout, and more occasional gatherings, whether around the BBQ area or within the cinema setting.</p>

<p>The amenity design also sits within a broader framework of connectivity across Melrose Park. The Melrose Park Town Centre, anchored by Coles and Dan Murphys, features a mix of retail, dining, health and lifestyle offerings, bringing everyday convenience closer to residents. By the end of the year, more than five hectares of parks and open space, equivalent to around seven football fields of green space on residents' doorstep, will further enhance the precinct, allowing the internal facilities at Aeris to operate as an extension of the wider neighbourhood rather than a substitute for it.</p>

<p>Construction at Aeris continues to gather momentum, with ground floor slabs expected to be completed in late 2026 before the first sections of the buildings begin to rise above ground.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=426]</p>


Elevated amenity anchors daily life at Aeris, Melrose Park

<p>Repeat buyers are one of the strongest measures of confidence in any apartment development.</p>

<p>At <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/era-newcastle-west-124-126-bull-street-newcastle-west-nsw-2302">ERA</a> in Newcastle West, some purchasers are returning to <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/gwh">GWH</a> after living at the developer's One Apartments. Their decision to purchase again was driven by the quality of life they found after moving into their first GWH home.</p>

<p>Keith Wilton had spent years living in a house in East Maitland before deciding it was time for a change. Apartment living had always been on his radar, but he was selective about what he wanted.</p>

<p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FH_1EzB-1vs?si=XScVlP1ERsTDJoME" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></p>

<p>"I had some boxes I wanted to tick," he says.</p>

<p>Keith points to the open-plan design, generous outdoor areas and considered inclusions as key reasons One Apartments worked for him.</p>

<p>“One of those things was a nice indoor open plan area, but also I wanted a nice outdoor open area that I could entertain on in summer or Christmases or birthdays,” he says.</p>

<p>He also found value in the smaller details, from integrated appliances to shared resident spaces including the pool, cinema and rooftop areas.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=135096 project_image_fid=356818]</p>

<p>After comparing several developments, he chose One Apartments because of GWH's longstanding local reputation and his own experience working with the developer on a commercial project more than a decade earlier.</p>

<p>"I knew that they were local, that the quality of the build was going to be up there. I'd looked at other apartment complexes around and close by, and I just knew that here was a better decision location wise."</p>

<p>Today, Keith says the move has completely changed how he experiences Newcastle.</p>

<p>"I enjoy living in this location because it's more of a lifestyle change. That Newcastle city living where you can walk to restaurants and bars and even beaches and parks and even shopping across the road."</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=135096 project_image_fid=356828]</p>

<p>Beyond the location, he says it's the sense of community that has surprised him most.</p>

<p>"Everyone loves living here because they chose to live here, but everyone looks out for each other. It's a real great community feel here."</p>

<p>For Aimee and Lyle Goodman, the journey started almost by chance.</p>

<p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tsioMLcnjas?si=zq-ys3JuWpfa5hFv" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></p>

<p>The couple happened to be having coffee in Newcastle when they noticed the site where One Apartments was about to begin construction.</p>

<p>"We were aware GWH was planning a development," Aimee says. "We made one phone call and things moved pretty quickly after that."</p>

<p>As busy business owners, they initially thought apartment living would simply reduce the maintenance that came with larger homes. Instead, it fundamentally changed how they spent time together.</p>

<p>"We actually catch up more as a family now," Aimee says.</p>

<p>"We've had homes with big yards and lots of space, but everyone ended up in different rooms. Here we'll have dinner together, the kids can play, and we spend far more quality time together."</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=135096 project_image_fid=356829]</p>

<p>Lyle says their confidence came from GWH's reputation within Newcastle's building industry.</p>

<p>"I know people who've worked across different apartment projects, and whenever GWH came up the feedback was always the same. They're rock solid. They're quality."</p>

<p>That confidence only grew throughout the buying process.</p>

<p>"One of the things that really impressed us with GWH was the whole process, was the communication," Lyle says. "It was consistent, it was regular, there was no problem if we had some weird questions, there was no problems in getting answers."</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=135096 project_image_fid=351104]</p>

<p>Aimee says one moment stood out.</p>

<p>"The project actually finished on time. We realised we needed to hurry up and sell our house because everything was happening exactly when they said it would."</p>

<p>The positive experience at One Apartments ultimately gave all three buyers the confidence to purchase again with GWH, this time at ERA.</p>

<p>Their confidence reflects what many buyers are seeking in today's apartment market. Location remains important, but so too does certainty around delivery, quality and long-term liveability.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=135096 project_image_fid=356822]</p>

<p>ERA builds on those foundations with 280 one, two and three-bedroom apartments across two landmark towers in <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/newcastle-west-nsw-2302">Newcastle West</a>.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Designed by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/fk-australia">Fender Katsalidis</a>, the project will include more than 2,000 square metres of resident amenities, including a resort-style pool, gym, sauna, private cinema and rooftop entertaining spaces overlooking the harbour and coastline.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The development is also within walking distance of the Newcastle Interchange, Honeysuckle, Darby Street, the harbour foreshore, restaurants, retail and the city’s beaches, continuing the walkable lifestyle that existing GWH buyers say has transformed how they live.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=135096 project_image_fid=356826]</p>

<p>For Keith, the appeal remains straightforward.</p>

<p>"You feel at home even before you've moved into your home."</p>

<p>For Aimee, the change is measured in time.</p>

<p>“I just felt like I had more time,” she says.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=135096 project_image_fid=351102]</p>

<p>Construction at ERA is now underway, with more than half of the residences already sold and limited two and three-bedroom apartments remaining in the East Tower release. Priced from $980,000 for two-bedroom residences and $1.46 million for three-bedroom residences, buyers can secure an apartment with a 10 per cent deposit, with premium homes offering ocean views from Level 8 and harbour views from Level 10.</p>

<p>ERA is also backed by Resilience Insurance's 10-year Latent Defects Insurance policy, providing protection against structural or waterproofing defects for 10 years after completion. The project is anticipated to be completed in early 2028.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=135096]</p>


From ONE to ERA: Why buyers are choosing GWH again in Newcastle West

<p>Sydney’s property market is known for high prices, competitive bidding, and mounting pressure on first home buyers. But change is on the horizon.</p>

<p>From late 2025, eligible first home buyers in New South Wales will have access to a new federal government initiative aimed at addressing affordability: the Help to Buy Scheme.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>What is the Help to Buy Scheme?</h2>

<p>The program introduces a shared equity model intended to reduce the upfront cost of entering the property market, particularly in high-demand urban areas such as Sydney.</p>

<p>The scheme operates under a shared ownership structure in which the federal government takes an equity stake of up to 40 per cent for new homes, or 30 per cent for existing dwellings. This arrangement allows eligible buyers to significantly reduce their loan size and avoid the added cost of Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI).</p>

<p>Under this model, purchasers can enter the property market with as little as a two per cent deposit, well below the traditional 10 to 20 per cent usually required. The government’s contribution is not a loan but a co-ownership stake in the property. As such, there is no interest or rent charged on its portion.</p>

<p>Because the government’s equity combined with the buyer’s deposit typically meets or exceeds the 20 per cent threshold, LMI does not apply. The remaining balance, generally between 60 and 70 per cent of the property’s value, is financed through a standard home loan with a participating lender.</p>

<p>The government's equity in the property remains in place until the buyer chooses to repay it voluntarily or until the property is sold. Buyers can buy back the government’s share over time, in increments of at least five per cent, depending on their financial situation.</p>

<p>There is no fixed repayment timeline, but the amount to be repaid will be based on the property's market value at the time of repayment, not the original purchase price.</p>

<h2>How do you qualify for the&nbsp;Help to Buy Scheme?</h2>

<p>To qualify for the Help to Buy Scheme, applicants must meet the following conditions:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Be an Australian citizen at least 18 years of age.</li>
	<li>Be a first-home buyer who does not currently own property.</li>
	<li>Intend to live in the property as their primary residence.</li>
	<li>Earn less than $100,000 per year for individuals, or $160,000 for couples.</li>
	<li>Purchase a property within the regional price caps, currently $950,000 in Sydney, though this is expected to rise to approximately $1.3 million ahead of the program’s launch.</li>
</ul>

<p>While the Help to Buy Scheme does not solve affordability challenges across the board, it does offer a more accessible pathway for a defined segment of the market, particularly younger buyers with moderate incomes who have been priced out of traditional lending routes.</p>

<p>The scheme is expected to commence in NSW in late 2025, as part of a national rollout.</p>


Under the new model, purchasers can enter the property market with as little as a two per cent deposit, well below the traditional 10 to 20 per cent usually required

Help to Buy Scheme: What first home buyers in NSW need to know

<p>The First Home Owners Grant (FHOG) is a government initiative designed to help eligible first-time home buyers by offering financial assistance towards the purchase or construction of a new home.</p>

<p>While the FHOG is a nationwide program, it is administered separately by each state and territory, meaning the eligibility criteria, grant amounts, and property requirements can vary depending on your location. This means that the amount available and the conditions attached to the grant will differ, so it is important to check the specific guidelines for your state or territory.</p>

<p>It’s important to note that the FHOG is just one of several incentives available to first home buyers. In most states and territories, the grant is not linked to stamp duty exemptions or concessions, with the exception of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The FHOG is typically a one-off payment, reducing the overall cost of purchasing or building a new home before any stamp duty concessions are applied.</p>

<p>Below, we provide a breakdown of the First Home Owner Grants available across Australia, outlining the specific details for each state and territory.</p>

<h2>New South Wales First Home Owner Grant</h2>

<p><strong data-end="252" data-start="225">First Home Owner Grant:</strong> Offers a $10,000 grant for new homes valued up to $600,000. For land purchases and owner-builders, the threshold extends to $750,000.</p>

<p><strong data-end="413" data-start="389">Stamp Duty Benefits:</strong> Provides full stamp duty exemption for homes valued up to $800,000, with concessions available for properties up to $1 million.</p>

<h2>Victoria South Wales First Home Owner Grant</h2>

<p><strong>First Home Owner Grant:</strong> Provides a $10,000 grant for first-home buyers purchasing or building new homes valued up to $750,000.</p>

<p><strong>Stamp Duty Benefits</strong>: Offers full stamp duty exemption for properties up to $600,000, with concessions available up to $750,000.</p>

<h2>Queensland First Home Owner Grant</h2>

<p><strong data-end="920" data-start="893">First Home Owner Grant:</strong> Offers $30,000 for contracts signed between 20 November 2023 and 30 June 2025. The FHOG applies to new homes valued up to $750,000.</p>

<p><strong data-end="1162" data-start="1135">Stamp Duty Concessions:</strong> Provides additional concessions for properties valued up to $800,000.</p>

<h2>Western Australia First Home Owner Grant</h2>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>First Home Owner Grant:</strong> Offers a $10,000 grant for new homes valued up to $750,000 in the southern regions and up to $1 million in the northern regions.</p>

<p><strong>Stamp Duty Concessions:</strong> Available for homes valued up to $600,000 for transactions entered into on or after 9 May 2024.</p>

<h2>Australian Capital Territory First Home Owner Grant</h2>

<p><strong data-end="1617" data-start="1590">First Home Owner Grant:</strong> Replaced by the Home Buyer Concession Scheme, offering full stamp duty concessions for eligible buyers.</p>

<h2>South Australia First Home Owner Grant</h2>

<p><strong>First Home Owner Grant:</strong> Provides up to $15,000 for new homes, including houses, apartments, and townhouses. As of 6 June 2024, there is no property value cap for eligibility.</p>

<p><strong>Stamp Duty Relief:</strong> Available for new homes and vacant land purchases.</p>

<h2>Tasmania First Home Owner Grant</h2>

<p><strong>First Home Owner Grant</strong>: Offers a $10,000 grant for new homes and off the plan purchases.</p>

<p><strong>Stamp Duty Exemption</strong>: Between 18 February 2024 and 30 June 2026, first home buyers of established homes valued up to $750,000 receive a full exemption on property transfer duty.</p>

<h2>Northern Territory First Home Owner Grant</h2>

<p><strong>First Home Owner Grant:</strong> The Northern Territory provides a $10,000 grant for new homes only. Additional government grants and concessions are available for first home buyers.</p>

<p><strong>Stamp Duty Exemption</strong>: The only stamp duty exemption available to property buyers is the House and Land Package Exemption (HLPE).</p>

<p><em>Eligibility criteria and application processes differ across states. Prospective buyers should refer to their respective state revenue offices for full details on grant availability, conditions, and additional concessions.</em></p>


Every First Home Owner Grant for new property by state

<p>In the ever-evolving landscape of sustainable architecture and environmentally conscious design, systems and ratings in place can help determine the energy efficiency of residential buildings in Australia.</p>

<p>Australia has multiple building rating systems that evaluate energy efficiency and sustainability in existing and new building designs.</p>

<p>Some systems assess individual building components, while others provide an overall rating for the entire structure.</p>

<p>A rating system ensures that homes are comfortable and energy-efficient, whether you are buying, renovating, or building.</p>

<p>NatHERS (Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme) is a common way for new homes to meet energy efficiency requirements.</p>

<p>As new developments continue to shape the urban environment, understanding NatHERS ratings becomes essential for developers and homeowners. This article delves into the concept of NatHERS ratings, their significance, and how they contribute to creating energy-efficient homes.</p>

<h2>What is NatHERS?</h2>

<p>NatHERS is a national initiative implemented by the Australian government to promote energy efficiency in residential buildings. The scheme aims to provide a standardised method for assessing the thermal performance of homes, considering factors such as insulation, orientation, ventilation, and building materials.&nbsp;</p>

<p>NatHERS ratings are the most common way new homes meet the National Construction Code's (NCC's) minimum energy efficiency requirements.&nbsp;</p>

<p>NatHERS assessments provide thermal and whole-home ratings for new homes, townhouses, and apartments.</p>

<p>The rating helps evaluate the energy performance of buildings, guides homeowners and developers to make informed decisions about the energy efficiency of their properties, and encourages the construction of more sustainable, comfortable, and cost-effective homes.</p>

<h2>How NatHERS Ratings Work</h2>

<p>NatHERS ratings are determined through four accredited software tools (AccuRate, BERS Pro, FirstRate5, HERO) using a calculation engine CSIRO developed to predict building temperature based on various factors.</p>

<p>The tools can model complex effects of building mass, insulation, window size, and other elements.</p>

<p>The outcome is a star rating that reflects the building's overall thermal efficiency, indicating how well it can maintain a comfortable indoor temperature without excessive reliance on heating or cooling systems.</p>

<p>The star rating scale ranges from 0 to 10, with a 6-star rating being the minimum requirement for compliance with the National Construction Code (NCC).&nbsp;</p>

<p>Achieving a higher star rating demonstrates a commitment to energy efficiency and sustainability, as the building is better equipped to minimise its environmental impact and reduce long-term energy costs.</p>

<p>Anyone can use NatHERS tools, but accredited assessors can provide certified ratings and professional advice.</p>

<h2>Benefits of Higher NatHERS Ratings</h2>

<p><strong>Energy Efficiency:</strong> Buildings with higher NatHERS ratings are more energy-efficient, requiring less heating and cooling energy. This reduces the structure's carbon footprint and lowers occupants' energy bills.</p>

<p><strong>Cost Savings:</strong> Homes with higher NatHERS ratings are generally more energy-efficient, resulting in reduced energy consumption for heating and cooling. This translates to lower energy bills for homeowners, making sustainable living environmentally friendly and economically viable in the long run.</p>

<p><strong>Environmental Impact:</strong> Lower energy consumption directly translates to a reduced environmental impact. Buildings with higher NatHERS ratings contribute to the overall goal of mitigating climate change by lowering greenhouse gas emissions associated with heating and cooling systems.</p>

<p><strong>Improved Comfort: </strong>Buildings with high NatHERS ratings offer better thermal comfort to occupants. Proper insulation, well-designed ventilation, and optimal orientation maintain a consistent and comfortable indoor temperature, providing occupants with a more enjoyable and healthier space.</p>

<p><strong>Market Value and Desirability:</strong> Higher NatHERS ratings can enhance the market value of a property. As energy efficiency becomes a more significant consideration for homebuyers, a well-rated building may attract a premium price and stand out in the real estate market.</p>

<p><strong>Compliance with Building Codes:</strong> NatHERS ratings are a vital component of the National Construction Code (NCC), and compliance with these ratings is often a mandatory requirement for new developments. Local councils and planning authorities may set minimum energy efficiency standards that must be met to obtain development approval.</p>


The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) is a crucial initiative shaping the future of energy-efficient, resilient, and cost-effective homes. With its recent upgrades, NatHERS has evolved into a world-leading tool for the building sector, supporting the global commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

Staff Writer

What is a NatHERS rating in new off the plan apartment developments?

<p>Mixed-use developments have gained significant popularity across Australia in recent years due to their unique blend of residential, commercial, and recreational spaces.</p>

<p>Unlike traditional single-purpose developments, mixed-use projects offer a harmonious integration of various functions within a single locale.</p>

<p>Residential units seamlessly coexist with commercial establishments, retail outlets, dining venues, entertainment hubs, and recreational facilities, with the combination not only enhances convenience but also fosters a vibrant lifestyle and a sense of community.</p>

<h3>Convenience and accessibility</h3>

<p>Mixed-use developments are designed with convenience in mind. They often integrate residential units with commercial spaces, retail outlets, restaurants, and recreational facilities, creating a self-contained community.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=114215 project_image_fid=204874]</p>

<p>The proximity allows residents to enjoy the convenience of having essential amenities and services within walking distance. Whether it's grabbing a cup of coffee, going grocery shopping, or accessing healthcare services, everything is conveniently located, saving residents time and effort.</p>

<h3>Vibrant lifestyle and community</h3>

<p>One of the major advantages of mixed-use developments is the vibrant lifestyle they offer. With a diverse range of amenities and communal spaces, residents have ample opportunities to interact, socialise, and build a sense of community.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=107714 project_image_fid=214122]</p>

<p>The presence of parks, community centres, and shared spaces fosters a lively atmosphere, encouraging residents to engage in various activities and events. The vibrant lifestyle within these developments creates a unique sense of belonging and camaraderie among the residents.</p>

<h3>Potential for higher rental yields and property value appreciation</h3>

<p>Mixed-use developments tend to attract a broad range of tenants and buyers due to their versatile nature. This high demand can result in higher rental yields for investors and potentially lead to property value appreciation over time.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=139989 project_image_fid=212887]</p>

<p>The integration of commercial and retail spaces attracts businesses, which can provide a stable rental income stream. Additionally, the popularity of mixed-use developments often drives up property values, making them a potentially lucrative investment in the long term.</p>

<h3>Enhanced security and maintenance</h3>

<p>Mixed-use developments typically have comprehensive security measures in place. With controlled access points, CCTV surveillance, and professional security staff, residents can enjoy enhanced safety and peace of mind.</p>

<p>[smartcode_project:default project_id=108019 project_image_fid=212658]</p>

<p>Additionally, these developments often have dedicated maintenance teams responsible for the upkeep of common areas, landscaping, and infrastructure. This ensures that the overall appearance and functionality of the development are well-maintained, creating a pleasant living environment for residents.</p>

<h3>Live-work-play balance</h3>

<p>One of the key attractions of mixed-use developments is the ability to achieve a desirable live-work-play balance. The integration of residential and commercial spaces allows residents to live closer to their workplaces, reducing commuting time and improving work-life balance.</p>

<p>The proximity to various amenities and recreational facilities encourages an active and healthy lifestyle. Residents can easily access fitness centres, parks, restaurants, and entertainment options, all within the same development, leading to a more fulfilling and convenient way of life.</p>


alisonwarters@gmail.com

The top five reasons to buy in a mixed-use development

<p style="line-height: 1.38;">When buying a property, everyone needs to be aware of the additional costs that come as part of the buying process.</p>

<p style="line-height: 1.38;">Often the largest outlay, after the deposit which goes to the bank, is stamp duty.</p>

<h2 style="line-height: 1.38;">What is Stamp Duty?</h2>

<p>Stamp duty is an extra tax to pay the government when you buy land, a property, and other certain assets.</p>

<p>It happens when the legal ownership is transferred. It can also be known as property transfer duty or transfer duty.</p>

<p style="line-height: 1.38;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="415" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C32BWkB5--c" title="YouTube video player" width="660"></iframe></p>

<h2>Who pays Stamp Duty?</h2>

<p>In some circumstances, you may get an exemption. For some states, you won’t have to pay for stamp duty if you are a first home buyer or a pensioner for houses under a particular price. There are also stamp duty concessions, where you may be entitled to a discount.</p>

<h2>How much does Stamp Duty cost?</h2>

<p>Each state has different rules which affect how much you need to pay. These rules can affect the rate you pay, and the timeframe you will need to pay in. Before you buy land or a property, make sure you check the up-to-date information for your state’s stamp duty.</p>

<p>You can use a free stamp duty calculator online to see approximately how much you’ll need to pay. Find out if you’re eligible for an exemption by enquiring on a project via Urban!</p>

<p>Overall, the stamp duty you need to pay will depend on:</p>

<ul>
	<li aria-level="1">How much your land/property is worth</li>
	<li aria-level="1">Where your land/property is located</li>
	<li aria-level="1">What type of land/property it is</li>
</ul>

<p style="line-height:1.38">Want to find out more? <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@UrbanAustralia?utm_source=YouTube&amp;utm_medium=Video&amp;utm_campaign=Subscribe&amp;utm_id=Subscribe">Subscribe to our YouTube channel</a> for more property videos.</p>


Ellen Walker

Off-the-plan property explained: What is stamp duty?

<p>Prominent New Zealand apartment and hotel operator, <a href="/developers/safari-group">Safari Group</a>, is offering up a prime investment opportunity for Australians to purchase off the plan in one of the world’s most popular ski destinations.</p>

<p>They recently took to market Mountain Oak Queenstown Apartments, in the growing precinct of Remarkables Park in Frankton, near the airport and at the foot of The Remarkables - the mountain range the locals like to call “The Remarks”.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Sydney investors have shown interest in the one, two and three-bedroom apartments that secure high-season occupancy six months over the year, primarily over summer and winter months.</p>

<p>They average 90 per cent occupancy across their portfolio over January, February, March, August, November and December, while shoulder season months of April, July, September and October are still occupied 70 per cent of the time, with the growing appeal of Queenstown becoming not just a hotspot for the snow, but a lifestyle destination.</p>

<p>Even in the low seasons of May and June, occupancy levels reach around 40 per cent.</p>

<p><img alt="Safari Group’s Mountain Oak Apartments brings new investment potential to Queenstown" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/f_auto,c_limit,w_1440,q_auto/https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/field/image/Ext_Cam15_Sunny.jpg?VersionId=SJAROUM_1s.Tr5ciMk4EEj5oAt_Vewmv" /></p>

<p>Safari’s Safari Hotels arm can also manage the holiday letting for an investor, from the listing on holiday accommodation websites such as Airbnb and Booking.com to the cleaning and maintenance of the investment. They’ve been in the short stay management business for 15 years and offer 24/7 support for investors, an important convenience benefit for any overseas investor</p>

<p>Another major drawcard for Australians is that New Zealand doesn’t have a stamp duty policy - so the entry price of NZ$639,000 (AU$586,000), is all that is payable on completion.</p>

<p><img alt="Safari Group’s Mountain Oak Apartments brings new investment potential to Queenstown" 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/313_Livingv2_WEB.jpg?VersionId=nV229fM0ZeYpoxOrX372HyGjfwY_LR8c" /></p>

<p>Safari is starting construction of the 141 apartments in Q2 this year, with a two-year build estimated to complete in mid-to-late 2027.<span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><img alt="" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" height="15" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXczFpFAb7WuA6f4f9TtKWcqXyNwR8qqtakWv352ERkpqNlP3KwIo8YKxw67jZNHfpjEGIZGv5MQTbnvLZwNt8iu9IVdOrswOjCvBZ4zhSoOOLrpt6etVEZTN1gkBho0r_R72zdHNA?key=yq3daOanqHSb88QFd8jGYKdb" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><span><span>​</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

<p>The apartments will feature modern amenities and contemporary designs with expansive windows capturing sweeping views of The Remarkables mountain range.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Interiors are equipped with modern finishes, premium appliances, and secure electronic key-locked doors, ensuring a comfortable living experience for residents and guests alike.</p>

<p>With its strategic location near Coronet Peak and Cardrona Alpine Resort, as well as key retail and dining precincts such as Market Street, Five Mile Shopping Centre, and Remarkables Market, Mountain Oak offers a strong proposition for investors seeking high rental yields and capital appreciation in one of New Zealand’s most sought-after locations.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Queenstown’s sustained demand for visitor accommodation and rental properties is underpinned by a shortage of housing options, attracting both local and international buyers.</p>


Safari Group offers low-touch investment proposition in Queenstown’s popular ski fields district

<html><body>
<p>In the Clarence Valley there are opportunities for first home buyers to purchase a property that is ripe for renovation, according to HTW’s <em>Month in Review: March 2017</em>. </p>
<p>The valuation firm says there is a range of townhouses available below $400,000 in Yamba and in Maclean, where less than 30% of recent recorded sales were over $400,000.</p>
<p>“Residential development in Townsend is creating an appealing product marketed to first home buyers,” it says.</p>
<p>“This locality has both vacant land and house and land packages available for less than $500,000.”</p>
<p>HTW suggests these areas for home buyers:</p>
<p>• Townsend – Suited to first home buyers that are interested in a brand new product. Townsend creates a perfect environment for vacant land as well as land and housing packages - that are available for less than $500,000.</p>
<p>• Maclean – Suited to first home buyers in the market for perhaps an older product, holding the potential/opportunity for renovation</p>
<p>• Yamba – Suited to first home buyers that are in the market specifically for townhouses/ units. This area provides the most opportunity/widest range of different units for sale.</p>
<p>“Often a premium is paid for brand new product and this may not always be recouped at the time of the next sale if the market has not continued to benefit from capital gains,” HTW says.</p>
<p>“However, there are no overwhelming dangers for these buyers given current market conditions.</p>
<p>“The biggest mistakes that you see first time buyers making in this area is that it is possible that they may overcommit or forget the illiquid nature of property as an asset.”</p>
<p>A three bedroom house at <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-maclean-124709222" target="_blank">57 Woodford Street</a>, Maclean (above) has been listed for $315,000.</p>
<p>Similarly a two bedroom house at <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-townsend-124631734" target="_blank">32 Jubilee Street</a>, Townsend (below) has been listed for $227,500.</p>
<p><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/03/09/32%20Jubilee%20Street.jpg" alt=""></p>
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jonathanchancellor-7SQnKwU6yx

Townsend, Yamba and Maclean affordable options for first time buyers: HTW

<html><body>
<p>A wide gap exists between media-generated perceptions about real estate issues and the reality revealed by research.</p>
<p>Examples abound. Media serves a regular diet of “affordability crisis” stories while the major affordability indexes published quarterly tell a quite different story. The annual survey by Property Investment Professionals of Australia, in which most of the major findings contradict common perceptions, provides another case in point.</p>
<p>The latest Adelaide Bank/REIA Housing Affordability Report finds that affordability (the national average situation) has improved to the best levels in seven years. Continuing reductions to interest rates and (small) increases to incomes have improved home-buyers’ capacity to repay their mortgages, while the overall rate of price growth has diminished.</p>
<p>The proportion of the median family income needed to repay an average loan in the June Quarter was 29.4 percent – down 0.6 percentage points from the March Quarter, and the lowest level since June 2009.</p>
<p>Those figures tell a very different story to the general theme of daily media coverage, which portrays a crisis, the death of the Great Australian Dream and a generation doomed to a lifetime of renting.</p>
<p>The proportion of family income needed to meet loan repayments improved in all state and territories in the past 12 months. NSW remains the most expensive place to service a home loan (35.4 percent of family income) while the ACT is the cheapest (19.4 percent of income).</p>
<p>The report makes a pertinent observation about the level of activity by first-time buyers. Most media reports bemoan the apparent low numbers of first-home buyers, based on highly-misleading loan statistics. The Adelaide Bank report points out that while first-home buyers are 14.3 percent of the owner-occupier market, if you exclude re-financing loans they make up 22.5 percent of the owner-occupier market </p>
<p>And there’s another component to first-time buyer activity not discussed here – the number of first-time buyers who buy an investment property as a first purchase. </p>
<p>The report highlights another point often overlooked by media when discussing the ability of young people to buy homes. The weighted average median house price in the capital cities is $698,000, according to this report, but the average loan size for first-home buyers is $328,000.</p>
<p>This reinforces the view that quoting city medians (especially the very high ones for Sydney) in the context of affordability for first-home buyers is misleading, because first-timers buy at the lower end of the market, as they have always done. First-timers don’t buy mid-range homes, not in Sydney nor anywhere else.</p>
<p>The second annual <em>Property Investor Sentiment Surve</em>y by Property Investment Professionals of Australia (PIPA) shows that 71 percent of respondents think now is a good time to invest in property. This figure is up by five percentage points compared with last year.<br>  <br> While 32 percent of investors say recent changes to lenders’ investment policies have affected their ability to secure finance, 58 percent are nonetheless looking to buy a property in next 6-12 months.<br>  <br> According to the survey, 72 percent of investors are unconcerned about the potential removal of negative gearing and only 2 percent think that negative gearing concessions are a key attraction of real estate investment. This would tend to contradict general media perceptions that investors are piling into real estate, allegedly forcing up prices, because of the tax breaks.</p>
<p>Indeed, the survey shows that almost half of property investors are positively-geared and two-thirds of those who are currently negatively-geared expect they will become positively-geared within five years.</p>
<p>Close to nine out of ten prefer to buy existing properties rather than new, which would suggest the ALP plan to restrict negative gearing to new properties to encourage construction activity would be ineffective (especially given the oversupply of new apartments).</p>
<p>Another myth-buster is the finding that only 13 percent of investors see record low interest rates as the key reason to get into property investment. Most media commentary (usually sourced from economists) would have us believe that the key driver of the mythical “national property boom” has been record low interest rates.<br>  <br> PIPA chair Ben Kingsley says the survey results confirm that property investors remain focused on the long-term benefits of property investment and are not distracted by fleeting media issues like negative gearing, alleged bubbles and looming oversupply in some markets.</p>
<p>As an interesting sidelight from the general theme, investor views on which cities now provide the best investment prospects have the capital cities ranked in this order: Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Hobart, Canberra and Darwin. Half of the survey respondents voted for Brisbane.</p>
<p><em>Terry Ryder is the founder of <a href="https://www.hotspotting.com.au/" target="_blank">hotspotting.com.au</a>. You can <a href="https://mailto:ryder@hotspotting.com.au" target="_blank">email him</a> or follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/hotspotting" target="_blank">Twitter.</a></em></p>
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terryryder-YECXbqmri2

Quoting city medians for first-home buyers misleading

<html><body>
<div>
<p>Fairly in line with market forecasts dwelling prices rose by +2.0 percent in the June 2016 quarter according to the ABS with Sydney (+2.8 percent),  Melbourne (+2.7 percent), and Brisbane (+1.1 percent).</p>
<p>Of the smaller capitals, Canberra also showed a solid increase of +2.2 percent. </p>
<p>The ABS indexes run back to September 2003 with the median house price (+98 percent) and attached dwelling price (+93 percent) having increased since that time. </p>
</div>
<div id="post-body-6073373241639202316">
<div align="justify"> </div>
<div align="justify"><a href="/images/2016/09/23/A5.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></div>
<div align="justify"><img src="/images/2016/09/23/A5.jpg" alt=""></div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span><br></span></span></span>
<div align="justify">This latest move takes the total value of residential dwellings to beyond $6 trillion, an increase of +$1.6 trillion or +36 per cent since June 2012.</div>
<div align="justify"> </div>
<div align="justify"><a href="/images/2016/09/23/A1.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></div>
</div>
<div><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span><span style="color: #7f7f7f;"><img src="/images/2016/09/23/A1.jpg" alt=""></span></span></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span><br></span></span></span>
<div align="justify">The market is now accelerating in the third quarter according to Alan Oster, Chief Economist of National Australia Bank (you see what I did there?).</div>
<div align="justify"> </div>
<div align="justify">Auction clearance rates have again approached record highs again in Sydney, and Oster predicts a substantial +4 percent gain in the harbour city for Q3, as well as +3.5 percent for Melbourne. </div>
<div align="justify"> </div>
<div align="justify">Large capital cities lead</div>
<div align="justify"> </div>
<div align="justify">House prices rose by +3.2 percent in Sydney in the June quarter, with attached dwelling prices showing a much steadier trajectory (both up and down) through the course of this cycle in rising by a further +2.0 percent. </div>
<div align="justify"> </div>
<div align="justify">After six months of house price declines Sydney's all dwellings index hit a fresh all-time high, being +83.7 percent higher than in December 2008.</div>
<div align="justify"> </div>
<div align="justify">Brisbane notched up its sixteenth consecutive quarterly gain with prices rising by +1.1 percent.</div>
<div align="justify"> </div>
<div align="justify">Since Q3 2012 prices in Brisbane have recorded a studious recovery to rise by +18 percent, while Adelaide (+13 percent) and Hobart (+13 percent) have followed a similar, if slightly more subdued, trajectory. </div>
<div align="justify"> </div>
<div align="justify">In the resources capitals prices have declined since the beginning of 2015 (click charts to expand).</div>
<div align="justify"> </div>
<div align="justify"><a href="/images/2016/09/23/A3.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span><br><img src="/images/2016/09/23/A3.jpg" alt=""><br></span></span></span>
<div align="justify"> </div>
<div align="justify"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">State versus state</span></strong></div>
<div align="justify"> </div>
<div align="justify">At the state level over the year to June the mean price has continued to rise in New South Wales (+$35,400), Victoria (+$31,100), Queensland (+$10,100), and South Australia (+$16,800). </div>
<div align="justify"> </div>
<div align="justify">On the other hand the median price in Western Australia has retraced by $37,300 with a notable collapse having taken place up in the Pilbara, and there was also a decline in the Northern Territory mean price of $20,500. </div>
<div align="justify"> </div>
<div align="justify"><a href="/images/2016/09/23/A7.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></div>
<div align="justify"> </div>
<div align="justify"><img src="/images/2016/09/23/A7.jpg" alt=""></div>
<div align="justify">The total value of dwelling stock has increased significantly over the past four years in New South Wales (+$819 billion), Victoria ($+453 billion), and Queensland (+$169 billion).</div>
<div align="justify"> </div>
<div align="justify"><a href="/images/2016/09/23/A2.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></div>
<div align="justify"><img src="/images/2016/09/23/A2.jpg" alt=""></div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span><br></span></span></span>
<div><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Supply response</span></strong></div>
<div align="justify"> </div>
<div align="justify">Finally, the total number of residential dwellings increased by +46,900 in Victoria and +40,600 in New South Wales over the 2016 financial year. </div>
<div align="justify"> </div>
<div align="justify">There are now more than 9.7 million dwellings in Australia.</div>
<div align="justify"> </div>
<div align="justify">Over the past four years Victoria (+7.9 percent) has been far more successful at increasing the total size of its dwelling stock than New South Wales (+4.9 percent). </div>
<div align="justify"> </div>
<div align="justify">From a lower base the uplift has been considerably more pronounced in the Northern Territory (+10.4 percent) and the ACT (+10.4 percent).</div>
<div align="justify"> </div>
<div align="justify"><a href="/images/2016/09/23/A6.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></div>
<div align="justify"><img src="/images/2016/09/23/A6.jpg" alt=""></div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span><br></span></span></span>
<div align="justify"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">The wrap</span></strong></div>
<div align="justify"> </div>
<div align="justify">Overall, there were solid price gains in Q2 which generally matched market expectations.</div>
<div align="justify"> </div>
<div align="justify">The ABS figures are retrospective, so market participants will be watching the market closely to see whether recent gains are sustained.</div>
<div align="justify"> </div>
<div align="justify">In the 2015 calendar year in part due to cooling macroprudential regulatory measures the Sydney auction market softened considerably in the lead up to Christmas, before limping over the line. </div>
<div align="justify"> </div>
<div align="justify">There are still a dozen weekends to go yet this year. </div>
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<p><span><em>PETE WARGENT is the co-founder of <a href="https://allenwargent.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">AllenWargent</a> property buyers (London, Sydney) and a best-selling author and <a href="https://petewargent.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">blogger</a>.</em><br></span></p>
<p><em>His latest book is <a href="https://www.bigskypublishing.com.au/Books/General-Interest/Four-Green-Houses--and-a-Red-Hotel/1015/productview.aspx" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Four Green Houses and a Red Hotel</a>.</em></p>
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pwargent-M4siyDbqQY

Capital city prices rose in Q2: Pete Wargent

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<p>As expected SQM Research's figures showed vacancy rates declining in August in every capital city, and rents jumping in the big cities. </p>
<p>Hobart's vacancy rate fell to just 0.5 percent, while both Sydney (1.7 percent) and Melbourne tightened (1.9 percent) despite talk of an oversupply.</p>
<p>Asking rents for units were up by +4.5 percent in Melbourne and +4.0 percent over the year to August, suggesting that "landlords are in control of the market" according to SQM. </p>
<p>Vacancy rates also declined in August in Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Darwin, and Canberra. </p>
<p><a href="/images/2016/09/23/SQM1.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></p>
<div id="x_post-body-4621751620857808479" class="x_post-body x_entry-content">
<div class="x_separator"><img src="/images/2016/09/23/SQM1.jpg" alt=""></div>
<div> </div>
<div>Smoothing the data on a 4mMA basis shows that Canberra's market has also tightened substantially, with asking rents soaring by +12 percent. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>The smoothed figures show that Darwin is on the mend, but Perth still has a 5 percent vacancy rate to chew through before rents can rise again. </div>
<div> </div>
<div><a href="/images/2016/09/23/SQM2.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></div>
<div> <img src="/images/2016/09/23/SQM2.jpg" alt="">
</div>
<br>According to Louis Christopher of SQM Research:<br><br><div><em>"Sydney is likely to remain a landlords' market, as the city's growing population creates demand for new stock".</em></div>
<div> </div>
<div>Only in one sub-region of Sydney has SQM recorded an increase in advertised vacancies. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<p><span><em>PETE WARGENT is the co-founder of <a href="https://allenwargent.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">AllenWargent</a> property buyers (London, Sydney) and a best-selling author and <a href="https://petewargent.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">blogger</a>.</em><br></span></p>
<p><em>His latest book is <a href="https://www.bigskypublishing.com.au/Books/General-Interest/Four-Green-Houses--and-a-Red-Hotel/1015/productview.aspx" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Four Green Houses and a Red Hotel</a>.</em></p>
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Vacancy rates drop everywhere, big city rents jump

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<div>There are certainly some weird ideas out there about property supply.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Take the example of Pyrmont, if only because I lived there for many years, and as a property owner in the suburb, it's one of the locations I know pretty well. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>From time to time I've heard it said that suburbs like Pyrmont have "too much supply".</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I guess I can kind of see why you might think that if you'd just landed in Sydney, for with about 13,000 residents jammed in to one tight square kilometre, it's the densest suburb in Australia.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Thing is, the bit of the suburb where people want to live was developed about 25 years ago now!</div>
<div> </div>
<div>There's been very little of note lately, though. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>From memory that was a little unit development on Pyrmont Bridge Road, and there's been a bit going on at Ultimo. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Oh, and then there was Lend Lease's 391 apartments in the new 40-storey tower at Darling Square, although they sold out in, what, five hours?</div>
<div> </div>
<div>If you were to fast forward to a decade's time I expect that Wentworth Park and White Bay will be developed with apartments, probably the fish markets too one day, while if Mirvac get their way there will be a commercial/residential tower on top of what is now the Harbourside tourist trap.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>These types of developments can take years to become a reality, though. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>At the end of the day, there isn't an oversupply issue here because more and more people want to live in the area by the year.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Ultimately there are shedloads of people like me who'd enjoy a lazy 5-minute stroll into the city in the morning instead of driving through miles of petroleum fumes and vehicular logjam. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>After accounting for the inevitable frictional vacancies, vacancy rates in Pyrmont are essentially zero. </div>
<div> </div>
<div><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xBc8yaCwwn0/WG7AugNs4OI/AAAAAAAAhDw/tWnNA8e6WNEx3TzLnbLqoU-3wbKYLHcVgCLcB/s640/PYMRONT.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></div>
<div> </div>
<p><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xBc8yaCwwn0/WG7AugNs4OI/AAAAAAAAhDw/tWnNA8e6WNEx3TzLnbLqoU-3wbKYLHcVgCLcB/s1600/PYMRONT.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xBc8yaCwwn0/WG7AugNs4OI/AAAAAAAAhDw/tWnNA8e6WNEx3TzLnbLqoU-3wbKYLHcVgCLcB/s640/PYMRONT.jpg" width="640" height="340"></a></p>
<div>Source: SQM Research</div>
<div> </div>
<div>There will be the new developments over time, but we're more or less always playing catch up with demand. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>You could say the same of, say, Coogee in the beachside eastern suburbs, or Manly to the north. Stacks of demand, not much of note being built. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Even in inner-city Erskineville, which has seen development aplenty both within the suburb and all around it, vacancy rates are very tight, because it's such a convenient and popular location to live in. Loads of demand.</div>
<p><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xyZE02fQnNE/WG7ArXnXA-I/AAAAAAAAhDk/9JLq0Ia5jekQu87qnSXqg03szTeCAM9LACLcB/s640/ERKO.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a><br><br><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xyZE02fQnNE/WG7ArXnXA-I/AAAAAAAAhDk/9JLq0Ia5jekQu87qnSXqg03szTeCAM9LACLcB/s1600/ERKO.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xyZE02fQnNE/WG7ArXnXA-I/AAAAAAAAhDk/9JLq0Ia5jekQu87qnSXqg03szTeCAM9LACLcB/s640/ERKO.jpg" width="640" height="342"></a></p>
<div> </div>
<div>Source: SQM Research</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Those are the kind of suburbs I don't mind owning property forever in, through the cyclical peaks and troughs.</div>
<p>Apartment glut<br><br> Now, this is not to say that things aren't a little different elsewhere.</p>
<div>Where exactly? Follow the cranes!</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Wentworth Point is just a mass of new apartments, and without being unkind, I can't imagine what it would be like to live there.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I guess you'd soon get used to it, though, since as far as I could tell there's only one road in and out (like the Twiglet zone: "Easy to enter, impossible to leave")!</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Vacancy rates are up, up and away...</div>
<div> </div>
<div><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ahyf5FSt0-A/WG7KfKxVcCI/AAAAAAAAhEA/zs6zwtQHABUHOvMA4r_2xAmvBDSm6quigCLcB/s640/Wentowrth%2Bpoint.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></div>
<div> </div>
<div><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ahyf5FSt0-A/WG7KfKxVcCI/AAAAAAAAhEA/zs6zwtQHABUHOvMA4r_2xAmvBDSm6quigCLcB/s1600/Wentowrth%2Bpoint.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ahyf5FSt0-A/WG7KfKxVcCI/AAAAAAAAhEA/zs6zwtQHABUHOvMA4r_2xAmvBDSm6quigCLcB/s640/Wentowrth%2Bpoint.jpg" width="640" height="350"></a></div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<div>Source: SQM Research</div>
<div> </div>
</div>
<div>In Parramatta, there have been high rise towers going up all over the show throughout the last year, a huge concentration risk of generic, high rise, shoebox apartments. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>With net multi-unit completions rising fast in 2015 and 2016, vacancy rates have already increased to well above 3 per cent, and there's always an inherent risk of understatement in reported vacancy rates at this stage in the construction cycle. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>There were another 3,500 dwellings approved in the last financial year too, and overwhelmingly, they were multi-unit in nature at 2,750. Golly gosh...</div>
<p><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TEDIDC6V4OI/WG7AtXKDdgI/AAAAAAAAhDo/chxzk69LiMoioCMQi8YHsNZgVBCO_LCqQCLcB/s640/PARRA.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></p>
<p><br><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TEDIDC6V4OI/WG7AtXKDdgI/AAAAAAAAhDo/chxzk69LiMoioCMQi8YHsNZgVBCO_LCqQCLcB/s1600/PARRA.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TEDIDC6V4OI/WG7AtXKDdgI/AAAAAAAAhDo/chxzk69LiMoioCMQi8YHsNZgVBCO_LCqQCLcB/s640/PARRA.jpg" width="640" height="356"></a><br><br> I also read somewhere this week that Blacktown is about to "boom".</p>
<div>Hmm, well that depends how you define 'boom', I guess! A construction boom, maybe. A boom in traffic congestion?</div>
<div> </div>
<div>That too! I'm somewhat less than convinced about there being a 2017 property boom in the conventional sense, though. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>One thing that you can say in favour of the LGA of Blacktown is that at least there is a level of diversity of development stock between apartments and detached dwellings. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Even so, with more than 11,700 dwellings approved over the last three years and a huge construction pipeline, it looks likely to me that vacancy rates will only be heading north putting more downward pressure on rates.</div>
<p><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TF-oPQjYAWw/WG7AuciggyI/AAAAAAAAhDs/TFT0_qDYPbIDlgfzuRJlH8xW199o2Y31gCLcB/s640/BLACKTOWN.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></p>
<div><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TF-oPQjYAWw/WG7AuciggyI/AAAAAAAAhDs/TFT0_qDYPbIDlgfzuRJlH8xW199o2Y31gCLcB/s1600/BLACKTOWN.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TF-oPQjYAWw/WG7AuciggyI/AAAAAAAAhDs/TFT0_qDYPbIDlgfzuRJlH8xW199o2Y31gCLcB/s640/BLACKTOWN.jpg" width="640" height="340"></a></div>
<div> </div>
<div>There are plenty more suburbs like Parramatta and Blacktown that face a surfeit of new stock as mentioned here previously, including in the Hills District. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>And that's before we even mention the wild exuberance in Western Sydney house prices, with suburb records being smashed by the month in 2016 just as mortgage rates are now beginning to creep back up. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>It'll be very interesting to watch all of this play out in 2017. </div>
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Stock versus flow in inner-Sydney apartments: Pete Wargent

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<div id="post-body-4107984278909140699" class="post-body entry-content">
<div>Retail trade turnover missed expectations in rising by a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent to $25.66 billion, although this was the first miss in four months and came off the back of a 0.5 percent gain in October. </div>
<div> </div>
<div><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/01/11/A1.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></div>
<br><div class="separator"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/01/11/A1.jpg" alt=""></div>
<br><div>The annual rate of turnover growth has eased back to 3.3 percent, comfortably below the half decade average. </div>
<div> </div>
<div><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/01/11/A2.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></div>
<br><div class="separator"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/01/11/A2.jpg" alt=""></div>
<div><span style="text-decoration: underline;"> </span></div>
<div><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Around the traps</span></strong></div>
<div> </div>
<div>There were decent gains in November in New South Wales and Victoria, but not much to write home about elsewhere. </div>
<div> </div>
<div><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/01/11/A3.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></div>
<br><div class="separator"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/01/11/A3.jpg" alt=""></div>
<br><div>The Australian Capital Territory has long been the leader in annual retail turnover growth since the opening of the Canberra IKEA, with New South Wales slotting into second spot, but growth has stalled in Western Australia. </div>
<div> </div>
<div><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/01/11/A4.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></div>
<br><div class="separator"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/01/11/A4.jpg" alt=""></div>
<br><div><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Smashed avo rally over?</span></strong></div>
<br><div>The best performing sector this month was 'threads 'n' treads' - clothing and footwear - and the worst, surprisingly enough, was eating out!</div>
<div> </div>
<div><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/01/11/A5.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></div>
<br><div class="separator"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/01/11/A5.jpg" alt=""></div>
<br><div>Still, I wouldn't read too much into one month of figures - the trend figures show a 14.21 per cent share of total retail accounted for by takeaway food and eating out. It's never been higher. </div>
<div> </div>
<div><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/01/11/A6.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></div>
<br><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/01/11/A6.jpg" alt=""><br><br><div><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">The wrap</span></strong></div>
<div> </div>
<div>A somewhat underwhelming result for retail trade this month, though when spending on services are included Commsec estimated that spending was galloping along at its fastest level since the financial crisis. </div>
<div> </div>
</div>
<div class="post-footer"><em><span>PETE WARGENT </span>is the co-founder of <a href="https://allenwargent.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">AllenWargent</a> property buyers (London, Sydney) and a best-selling author and <a href="https://petewargent.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">blogger</a>. </em></div>
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Retail trade consolidates: Pete Wargent

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<p>Will Rogers probably didn't have Sydney's inner west in mind when he famously said "don't wait to buy land; buy land and wait", but it would have been an apt observation if this has been the case.  </p>
<p>The New South Wales Valuer General reported that total land values had risen yet again by 11.3 percent in the 2016 financial year to $1.5 trillion.</p>
<p>The value of the state's land is up by more than 57 percent in only four financial years.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/01/17/NSW4.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></p>
<div id="post-body-8533436492725214477" class="post-body entry-content">
<div class="separator"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/01/17/NSW4.jpg" alt=""></div>
<br><div>Unsurprisingly the gains were driven by residential land values which rose by 11.1 percent to $1.2 trillion.</div>
<div> </div>
<div><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Inner west land pressures</span></strong></div>
<div> </div>
<div>Caution should always be exercised when interpreting residential land value figures, which were calculated from a sample of more than 38,000 sales in the 2016 financial year. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>This is particularly so at the Local Government Area (LGA) level, where median values can be skewed higher by sites with development potential, particularly at this advanced stage in the cycle.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>As usual the most valuable residential land was the in the leafy LGAs of Mosman to the north ($1.84 million median) and Woollahra to the east ($1.82 million) which remain very much the domain of the wealthy, but most of the serious gains have been seen in the inner west of Sydney.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>No fewer than 16 LGAs now have a median residential land value of more than $1 million, which will result in hefty land tax levies. </div>
<div> </div>
<div><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/01/17/NSW1.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></div>
<br><div class="separator"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/01/17/NSW1.jpg" alt=""></div>
<br><div>Not everywhere saw large gains in land values, with often only moderate changes in regional and coastal New South Wales, and the Blue Mountains, for example. </div>
<div><span> </span></div>
<div>
<span>There were declines too in mining locations. </span><br><span><br></span><span>Broken Hill and the mining areas of the Hunter (the LGAs of Muswellbrook, Singleton, and the Upper Hunter) recorded drops in land values ranging from around 8 per cent to 15 percent.</span>
</div>
<br><div>On the other hand, the greatest gains in the financial year were seen in Burwood, with land values up by no less than 37.5 per cent, a location which saw the sale of a number of development sites in both the centre of the suburb and along Parramatta Road. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Over the past four financial years there have been crunching gains in half a dozen or more LGAs located to the west of the Sydney Central Business District.</div>
<div> </div>
<div><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/01/17/NSW2.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></div>
<br><div class="separator"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/01/17/NSW2.jpg" alt=""></div>
<br><div>We live in a nominal world, as the saying goes, and when looking at the greatest dollar value increase in median residential land values, top of the pile was Strathfield which has recorded an astronomical increase of $723,000 since FY2012.</div>
<div> </div>
<div><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/01/17/NSW3.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></div>
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<br><div class="separator"> </div>
I can't think of anything pithy to say about these numbers, so I'll leave the last word to Will Rogers:<br><br>"Find out where the people are going and buy the land before they get there."<br><br>Indeed.
<div> </div>
</div>
<div class="post-footer">
<p><span><em>PETE WARGENT is the co-founder of <a href="https://allenwargent.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">AllenWargent</a> property buyers (London, Sydney) and a best-selling author and <a href="https://petewargent.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">blogger</a>.</em><br></span></p>
<p><em>His latest book is <a href="https://www.bigskypublishing.com.au/Books/General-Interest/Four-Green-Houses--and-a-Red-Hotel/1015/productview.aspx" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Four Green Houses and a Red Hotel</a>.</em></p>
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NSW land values rise again to $1.5 trillion: Pete Wargent

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<div>If it seemed that the big capital city housing markets were strengthening into Christmas then so it was, with a massive 4.9 percent jump in investment loans to a 17-month high of $13.3 billion, up 21.4 percent from a year ago in seasonally adjusted terms. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>It never pays to get too excited about month to month changes, but even with the ABS drilling its trend line through the figures it's clear than investors were resurgent. </div>
<p><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/01/18/HF1.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></p>
<div class="separator"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/01/18/HF1.jpg" alt=""></div>
<div class="separator"> </div>
<div>Total housing finance increased by 2.2 percent in the month to a strong $32.7 billion.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Ex-refinancing, the number of owner-occupier loans picked up in the month, but the real story is the huge flip back to investment loans. </div>
<p><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/01/18/HF2.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></p>
<div class="separator"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/01/18/HF2.jpg" alt=""></div>
<p>Average loan sizes are now clearly trending up again, having been knocked back by the first salvo of macroprudential measures to curb investor lending. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/01/18/HF4.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></p>
<p><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/01/18/HF4.jpg" alt=""></p>
<p> </p>
<div>In the owner-occupier markets, Melbourne and to some extent Queensland are seeing strong mortgage volumes for owner-occupiers. </div>
<div> </div>
<div><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/01/18/HF3.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></div>
<div> </div>
<div class="separator"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/01/18/HF3.jpg" alt=""></div>
<div class="separator"> </div>
<div>The number of first homebuyer loans jumped from 7,302 to 8,281 in November in original terms, but overall it's a tough environment for first homebuyers in Sydney (which in part accounts for why so many are turning to investment property as a first purchase).  </div>
<p><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/01/18/HF5.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></p>
<div class="separator"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/01/18/HF5.jpg" alt=""></div>
<p><br><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">The wrap - $1 trillion of home loans</span></strong><br><br></p>
<div>Investment loans increased for the sixth time in seven months, and this one was a big leap, taking the year-on-year increase to above 21 per cent, the highest such percentage increase since the peak of the Sydney boom in Q2 2015. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>In part thanks to net loan reclassifications and some cases of 'switching' of loan purpose, the stock of outstanding investor loans increased by only 3 per cent over the year to November.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Owner-occupier loans outstanding on the other hand surged by more than 9 per cent to pass $1 trillion.</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="separator"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-g5-Tg33GHjs/WH31_I5OUZI/AAAAAAAAhRU/VCV8q8CCN5c4WJuXe286wL37ZzkAc-_yQCLcB/s1600/HF6.jpg"><img src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-g5-Tg33GHjs/WH31_I5OUZI/AAAAAAAAhRU/VCV8q8CCN5c4WJuXe286wL37ZzkAc-_yQCLcB/s640/HF6.jpg" width="640" height="356"></a></div>
<div> </div>
<div>Regardless of the blurred classification of outstanding credit, the key takeaway is that investors were pouring back into the market in late 2016, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne,</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I'll look as those investment loans in more detail and by state. </div>
<div> </div>
<div><em><span>PETE WARGENT </span>is the co-founder of <a href="https://allenwargent.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">AllenWargent</a> property buyers (London, Sydney) and a best-selling author and <a href="https://petewargent.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">blogger</a>. </em></div>
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APRA shrugged? Investments loans up 21 percent: Pete Wargent

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<div>No data release seems to create quite as much confusion as the building activity figures.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Construction work in the residential sector is always apparently either booming or crashing, depending on who you believe, or commonly it's both. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Still, where there is discord may we bring harmony, by breaking it all down into three simple parts, starting with...</div>
<div> </div>
<div><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Part 1 - Commencements ease back</span></strong></div>
<div> </div>
<div>Commencements fell again by 2.8 percent to 55,070 in the September 2016 quarter, following a 7.2 percent decline in the June quarter. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Dwelling starts fell in most states, even in New South Wales where the appetite for building is strongest, although the 'trend' figures still show NSW arcing higher. </div>
<div> </div>
<div><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/01/19/A3.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></div>
<p><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/01/19/A3.jpg" alt=""><br><br></p>
<div>Following on from sharp falls in unit and apartment approvals, it's no surprise that it was declines in this sector which have led the fall in commencements, particularly in Melbourne.</div>
<p><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/01/19/A5.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></p>
<p><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/01/19/A5.jpg" alt=""></p>
<div> </div>
<div>This in part represents nervous developers backing away from flooding the apartment markets further, as well as a failure to secure pre-sales in some cases. </div>
<div> </div>
<div><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Part 2 - Completions</span></strong></div>
<div class="separator"> </div>
<div>Despite the huge boom in building work done over recent times, completions still hadn't run too high by the end of September, with 51,070 completions in the quarter, split between 27,773 houses and 22,666 units. </div>
<div> </div>
<div><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/01/19/A2.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></div>
<div class="separator"> </div>
<div class="separator"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/01/19/A2.jpg" alt=""></div>
<div class="separator"> </div>
<div class="separator">The main reason for this is simply that it takes considerably longer to build a block of apartments than it does a detached house. </div>
<div class="separator"> </div>
<div>Despite this, apartment completions are starting to flow through in the most populous states, particularly in New South Wales and Queensland, although Victoria dropped back in the quarter as some developers reportedly moved into a "go slow" mode. </div>
<p><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/01/19/A4.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></p>
<div class="separator"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/01/19/A4.jpg" alt=""></div>
<p> </p>
<div><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Part 3 - The pipeline</span></strong></div>
<div> </div>
<div>The most important thing to note from this release is that although the appetite for commencing new developments has cooled substantially, there were still more than 221,000 dwellings under construction as at the end of Q3 2016, including more than 150,000 units, townhouses, and apartments. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Although some small inroads had been made into the apartment construction pipeline, the bulk of multi-unit project completions had yet to hit the market. </div>
<div> </div>
<div><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/01/19/A1.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></div>
<p><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/01/19/A1.jpg" alt=""></p>
<div> </div>
<div>Given the sheer scale of the pipeline, perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise than an unprecedented number of approvals have not yet seen a shovel lifted in anger, with 42,591 approvals sitting in housing market Limboland.</div>
<p><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/01/19/A6.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></p>
<p><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/01/19/A6.jpg" alt=""><br><br></p>
<div>Of course, there will always be some approvals waiting in this phase, yet 42,500 is just way, way above the historic norm. These are not normal times! </div>
<div> </div>
<div><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">The wrap</span></strong></div>
<div> </div>
<div>Overall, the market does seem to be correcting itself gradually with developers pulling back on new project commencements, and slowing the rate of completions in some cases to allow capital city population growth to play catch up.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>What the figures do show is that the full impact of the high rise boom had barely even begun to take shape by September 2016, so watch out for weakening apartment rents and and prices as 2017 rolls on. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>The value of residential work done in Q3 declined, contributing to an awful negative GDP print for the quarter, and the sector is likely to become a headwind for the economy as the year progresses. </div>
<div> </div>
<div><em><span>PETE WARGENT </span>is the co-founder of <a href="https://allenwargent.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">AllenWargent</a> property buyers (London, Sydney) and a best-selling author and <a href="https://petewargent.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">blogger</a>. </em></div>
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High rise boom has barely begun so watch out for weakening apartment rents and and prices in 2017: Pete Wargent

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<p>Yes, those two words that keep trending every day on the 24-hour news cycle for 365 days each year – housing affordability.</p>
<p>So why can’t anyone come up with a logical explanation on how to fix this ever-growing Australian curse? Well first, nobody is really drilling down to find the precise definition and what will lead to the likely cure and allow me to tell you that massive new high density construction in the major cities is not going to fix the problem.</p>
<p>Sydney is a prime example although first we need to pin point a year when housing affordability really started to change for the worse and for me that year would be 1990 which is when the Australian economy embarked on its unprecedented 25 years of economic growth.</p>
<p>Yes house prices boomed in 1987 to 1989 which really was Sydney’s last massive housing boom which then was brought crashing down with the recession of the early 1990’s. In the late 1980’s our population was not really going anywhere, for example in Mosman in 1987 Cremorne Girls’ High School closed its doors to then see it acquired by SCEGGS Redlands.</p>
<p>In 1989, Balmoral Beach Infants’ School was closed and mysteriously sold to Queenwood Girls’ School the night before the site was due to go to public tender. Beauty Point Public School, Middle Harbour Primary School, Mosman Primary School and Mosman High School all were facing closure as attendance records were well below the Department of Education acceptable levels for operation requirements.</p>
<p>Today, all these schools are at maximum attendance levels. The closure of schools over this period was happening all over NSW – it was not an isolated event.</p>
<p>Back then property prices in Mosman were ten to fifteen times lower than where they find themselves today. The cash rate was sitting at 17.00 to 17.50 per cent on 23 January 1990 where today it sits at 1.50 per cent.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The “Baby Boomers” born the decade after World War II (now roughly aged 47 – 65) were all jumping into that family tradition of buying real estate. The problem here is that the strong concentration of the boomers all wanted to live in the Sydney CBD – which remains the same patterns that we see today. The missing link here in this housing affordability discussion is that transport infrastructure was frozen to the extent that 25 years later despite a massive upswing in our population we are still using the same archaic transport infrastructure.</p>
<p>For the past 25 years, our elected politicians have all been caught up in a transport infrastructure brain freeze where sadly today there is no big picture for Sydney, although we could name an abundance of other major cities around the world who have successfully addressed growing populations with transport infrastructure.</p>
<p>This explains exactly why we now have raging property prices today, which certainly would not be the case if we had a transport infrastructure where a 200-kilometre radius around Sydney was inter connected with state of the art fast train services. It really should not be that difficult to pinpoint the problem. Although it is very clear why so many have extreme difficulties when attempting to define housing affordability and what needs to be done to correct these huge problems facing so many Australians.</p>
<p>Exorbitant stamp duties payable on the purchases of properties have played a major role in seeing record low stock levels across Sydney, although there is another part of this mystery puzzle that keeps sailing under our property radars. Look again at the baby boomers who would be Australia’s largest property owners in the home ownership and investment portfolios. They are astute businesspeople who know that they will not get any returns with cash sitting in the bank where we now have the lowest cash rate on record. In recent years, they have been enjoying huge capital gains on their principle place of residence, so they have held – off selling for most obvious reasons.</p>
<p>This in turn has significantly impacted the supply side of the equation where such collaborative actions have driven prices higher, and in all probability this will continue in 2017. Although having said that all eyes will be on Trump, Brexit and how Europe reacts together with the goings – on in China and Russia. Of course, we can’t ignore this week’s unemployment rate which hit 5.8 per cent being the worst calendar year result since 2013.</p>
<p>It is hard to see the Reserve Bank of Australia lowering the cash rate further from the present 1.50 per cent so it would be fair to suggest that we are at the lowest possible rates.</p>
<p>So, in 2017, I will be closely watching the baby boomers simply because at the first sight of severe head – winds they will be first to cash – up which in turn would see stock levels increase significantly. In the meantime, we just sit back and observe the property market machinations with great interest.</p>
<p>Next week, NSW will appoint its seventh premier in 12 years – what does that tell you? No doubt the allergy to economic reform will remain in isolation.</p>
<p><em>ROBERT SIMEON is a director of </em><em><a href="https://www.rwm.com.au/" target="_blank" title="RWM" rel="nofollow">Richardson Wrench Mosman and Neutral Bay</a> </em><em>and has been selling residential real estate in Sydney since 1985. </em></p>
<p><em>He has also been writing real estate blog </em><em><a href="https://www.rwm.com.au/news/" target="_blank" title="Virtual Realty News" rel="nofollow">Virtual Realty News</a> </em><em>since 2000.</em></p>
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