<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/broadbeach-qld-4218">Broadbeach</a> offers plenty of reasons to live vertically, but moving from a substantial family home into an apartment can expose the compromises of high-density living. Privacy, room for guests and usable living space tend to matter more when an apartment is intended as a permanent home rather than an occasional coastal base.

A typical residential floor at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/the-eveleigh-broadbeach-7-9-surf-parade-broadbeach-qld-4218">The Eveleigh</a>, on Surf Parade,&nbsp;contains just four apartments. The 94-residence development by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/hirsch-faigen">Hirsch &amp; Faigen</a> is predominantly made up of expansive three-bedroom homes, with a limited collection of half-floor penthouses above.

Across the apartment floors, <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/rothelowman">Rothelowman</a> has used the relatively limited number of residences to give each home greater access to natural light and outlook. Living spaces extend towards full-height glazing, while a series of bay windows frame selected views across the Pacific Ocean, city and hinterland rather than treating the building edge as a continuous wall of glass.

&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=149670 project_image_fid=360965]

“The apartment floors deliver a collection of homes that embrace controlled outlook via a series of bay windows deliberately framing moments of view,” Rothelowman Director Kim Lowman said.

From outside, those projecting forms contribute to the tower’s faceted profile. Strong horizontal and vertical elements establish its proportions, while the changing position of the sun alters the light, shadow and reflection across the façade throughout the day.

The same attention moves inside the apartments, where the material palette combines warm timber, natural stone, metallic detailing and softer curved forms. Kitchens sit within the main living zone, with stone island benches, integrated joinery and European appliances, before the living areas extend towards the glazing and the outlook.

&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=149670 project_image_fid=360981]

Three genuine bedrooms provide room to accommodate family and guests, while two secure car spaces and storage address some of the practical considerations that can become more noticeable when moving from a larger home. Feedback from the display suite has centred on the warmth and restraint of the interiors, with buyers commenting that the residences feel like homes rather than conventional coastal apartments.

A limited collection of half-floor penthouses occupies the upper levels, increasing the scale of the living spaces and adding private balconies and elevated finishes. From this position, the outlook extends between the ocean and hinterland.

Outside the private residences, The Eveleigh separates its shared spaces between the podium and rooftop. The podium is centred on wellness, with subtropical landscaping surrounding a swimming pool and pool terrace, yoga garden, private gymnasium, sauna and hot and cold plunge facilities. Landscaped retreats and pavilions provide additional places to sit away from the main recreation areas.

&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=149670 project_image_fid=360966]

Higher in the building, a rooftop pavilion and private dining suite sit alongside resident lounge, barbecue and outdoor dining areas, opening towards panoramic views across the ocean, city and hinterland.

“Buyers are no longer just looking for an apartment, but a lifestyle where they can relax, reset, and enjoy a balanced way of living,” Hirsch &amp; Faigen Director of Sales Matt George said.

Interest to date has come from established owner-occupiers and interstate lifestyle purchasers, including buyers planning a future move to the Gold Coast. Many are coming from larger homes and want to reduce ongoing maintenance without giving up space for family and guests, privacy, two car spaces or the ability to entertain at home.

&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=149670 project_image_fid=360969]

Much of that daily life can also take place beyond the building without requiring a drive. Kurrawa Beach and Pratten Park are an easy walk from Surf Parade, while Pacific Fair, Oracle Boulevard, The Oasis, restaurants, cafés, entertainment and public transport are also within walking distance.

The Eveleigh is Hirsch &amp; Faigen's fourth Gold Coast development since entering the market in 2021, following The Hemingway at Palm Beach, The Emerson at Kirra and Yves at Mermaid Beach. Each of the preceding projects sold out before completion.

“Broadbeach had been on our radar throughout our time operating on the Gold Coast,” the developer said. “Following our projects in Palm Beach, Kirra and Mermaid Beach, Broadbeach represented the natural next step for the business.”

The Surf Parade site brought together proximity to the beach, protected coastal outlooks and walkability to dining, shopping and recreation. Hirsch &amp; Faigen also identified the street as an emerging premium residential address, with enough separation from Broadbeach's busier destinations to retain a quieter environment at home.

The Eveleigh is now under construction by Maxcon, with completion forecast for mid-2028. Three-bedroom residences are currently available from $2.87 million.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=149670]

Joel Robinson

The Eveleigh brings house-like apartments to Broadbeach

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

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

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

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

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

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Castle Hill, the longtime hub of the Hills District, has been one of the major beneficiaries of Sydney's Metro expansion, with improved connectivity helping drive continued population growth, development and buyer demand across the Hills District.

But despite that growth, the suburb has seen relatively few major new apartment projects brought to market over the past 18 months.

Hills District developer Reve Group is looking to fill that gap with <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/nova-r-ve-castle-hill-2-garthowen-crescent-castle-hill-nsw-2154">Nova Rêve</a>, a major new mixed-use precinct on the corner of Garthowen Crescent and Old Castle Hill Road, a short walk from Castle Hill Metro Station and Castle Towers.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=152737 project_image_fid=377679]

The project will comprise three residential towers alongside a hotel, restaurants, cafes and a skybar, more than 1,600 sqm of ground-floor retail and almost an acre of landscaped gardens.

It represents the largest project undertaken by Reve Group, the development arm of the Kassis family, which has been building across the Hills District for more than 30 years through Kassis Homes.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=152737 project_image_fid=377675]

Nova Rêve also represents a significant step up from the family's first apartment development, Grand Rêve, which was delivered nearby on Garthowen Crescent.

Grand Rêve introduced larger, house-like apartment layouts and premium inclusions including Wolf and Sub-Zero appliances to the Castle Hill market.

Nova Rêve takes that approach to a precinct scale, combining the residential component with hospitality, retail and substantial public and resident landscaping.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=152737 project_image_fid=377685]

Reve Group Managing Director Sam Kassis said the project reflected the family's three decades of building in the Hills, which has evolved from trophy homes on quarter-acre blocks to larger-scale apartment development.

"Grand Rêve was our first apartment project here and it showed us what this pocket of Castle Hill could be. Nova Rêve is the refinement of that idea: not just apartments, but a place the whole suburb can use," Kassis said.

A key part of that approach is the hotel, which has been designed to operate as an amenity for the wider Castle Hill community rather than solely hotel guests.

It will include restaurants, cafes, skybars and all-day dining, alongside conference and event facilities catering to business functions, community groups and private events.

At ground level, more than 1,600 sqm of shops and cafes will open onto the surrounding streets and landscaped areas.

Almost an acre of gardens designed by Land and Form Studios will run through the precinct, incorporating pathways, seating, barbecue areas and children's play spaces.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=152737 project_image_fid=377680]

Reve Group's Romio Georges said creating an active ground plane had been central to the planning of Nova Rêve.

"There are gardens with pathways, barbecues, seating and play areas, shops and cafes opening onto the street, and a hotel with restaurants and a skybar that anyone in Castle Hill can walk into," Georges said.

The project's elevated position on one of Sydney's highest ridgelines will also provide apartments with outlooks toward the Sydney skyline, surrounding parkland and the Blue Mountains.

More than 80 per cent of the apartments will occupy corner positions, with Turner responsible for both the architecture and interiors.

&nbsp;

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=152737]

<h3 data-end="3697" data-section-id="q3n5ak" data-start="3672">&nbsp;</h3>
</main>

Nova Rêve arrives as Reve Group bets on Castle Hill's next growth phase

Sydney’s property market is known for high prices, competitive bidding, and mounting pressure on first home buyers. But change is on the horizon.

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;

<h2>What is the Help to Buy Scheme?</h2>

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

<h2>How do you qualify for the&nbsp;Help to Buy Scheme?</h2>

To qualify for the Help to Buy Scheme, applicants must meet the following conditions:

<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>

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.

The scheme is expected to commence in NSW in late 2025, as part of a national rollout.

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

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.

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.

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.

Below, we provide a breakdown of the First Home Owner Grants available across Australia, outlining the specific details for each state and territory.

<h2>New South Wales First Home Owner Grant</h2>

First Home Owner Grant: 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.

Stamp Duty Benefits: Provides full stamp duty exemption for homes valued up to $800,000, with concessions available for properties up to $1 million.

<h2>Victoria South Wales First Home Owner Grant</h2>

First Home Owner Grant: Provides a $10,000 grant for first-home buyers purchasing or building new homes valued up to $750,000.

Stamp Duty Benefits: Offers full stamp duty exemption for properties up to $600,000, with concessions available up to $750,000.

<h2>Queensland First Home Owner Grant</h2>

First Home Owner Grant: 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.

Stamp Duty Concessions: Provides additional concessions for properties valued up to $800,000.

<h2>Western Australia First Home Owner Grant</h2>

&nbsp;

First Home Owner Grant: 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.

Stamp Duty Concessions: Available for homes valued up to $600,000 for transactions entered into on or after 9 May 2024.

<h2>Australian Capital Territory First Home Owner Grant</h2>

First Home Owner Grant: Replaced by the Home Buyer Concession Scheme, offering full stamp duty concessions for eligible buyers.

<h2>South Australia First Home Owner Grant</h2>

First Home Owner Grant: 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.

Stamp Duty Relief: Available for new homes and vacant land purchases.

<h2>Tasmania First Home Owner Grant</h2>

First Home Owner Grant: Offers a $10,000 grant for new homes and off the plan purchases.

Stamp Duty Exemption: 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.

<h2>Northern Territory First Home Owner Grant</h2>

First Home Owner Grant: The Northern Territory provides a $10,000 grant for new homes only. Additional government grants and concessions are available for first home buyers.

Stamp Duty Exemption: The only stamp duty exemption available to property buyers is the House and Land Package Exemption (HLPE).

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.

Every First Home Owner Grant for new property by state

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.

Australia has multiple building rating systems that evaluate energy efficiency and sustainability in existing and new building designs.

Some systems assess individual building components, while others provide an overall rating for the entire structure.

A rating system ensures that homes are comfortable and energy-efficient, whether you are buying, renovating, or building.

NatHERS (Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme) is a common way for new homes to meet energy efficiency requirements.

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.

<h2>What is NatHERS?</h2>

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;

NatHERS ratings are the most common way new homes meet the National Construction Code's (NCC's) minimum energy efficiency requirements.&nbsp;

NatHERS assessments provide thermal and whole-home ratings for new homes, townhouses, and apartments.

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.

<h2>How NatHERS Ratings Work</h2>

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.

The tools can model complex effects of building mass, insulation, window size, and other elements.

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.

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;

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.

Anyone can use NatHERS tools, but accredited assessors can provide certified ratings and professional advice.

<h2>Benefits of Higher NatHERS Ratings</h2>

Energy Efficiency: 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.

Cost Savings: 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.

Environmental Impact: 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.

Improved Comfort: 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.

Market Value and Desirability: 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.

Compliance with Building Codes: 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.

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?

Mixed-use developments have gained significant popularity across Australia in recent years due to their unique blend of residential, commercial, and recreational spaces.

Unlike traditional single-purpose developments, mixed-use projects offer a harmonious integration of various functions within a single locale.

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.

<h3>Convenience and accessibility</h3>

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.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=114215 project_image_fid=204874]

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.

<h3>Vibrant lifestyle and community</h3>

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.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=107714 project_image_fid=214122]

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.

<h3>Potential for higher rental yields and property value appreciation</h3>

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.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=139989 project_image_fid=212887]

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.

<h3>Enhanced security and maintenance</h3>

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.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=108019 project_image_fid=212658]

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.

<h3>Live-work-play balance</h3>

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.

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.

alisonwarters@gmail.com

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

When buying a property, everyone needs to be aware of the additional costs that come as part of the buying process.

Often the largest outlay, after the deposit which goes to the bank, is stamp duty.

<h2 style="line-height: 1.38;">What is Stamp Duty?</h2>

Stamp duty is an extra tax to pay the government when you buy land, a property, and other certain assets.

It happens when the legal ownership is transferred. It can also be known as property transfer duty or transfer duty.

<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>

<h2>Who pays Stamp Duty?</h2>

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.

<h2>How much does Stamp Duty cost?</h2>

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.

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!

Overall, the stamp duty you need to pay will depend on:

<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>

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Ellen Walker

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

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Everyone’s keen to address affordability in the housing market.  It’s top of mind for struggling first-home buyers and the average Joe holding a mortgage.  Each time the RBA sit down to assess the economy, the concentration around interest rates dropping is always flagged in headlines of “good news for mortgage holders”, with only a few remembering to mention hard-working savers and self-funded retirees losing out as a consequence.
A drop in rates may help those struggling with loan repayments (assuming the banks play ball and “pay it forward”), however it hardly inspires confidence in the economy. In the eyes of us regular folk, sharp rate cuts are akin to putting on the emergency breaks – it waves a red flag of concern. There is broad opinion in the housing industry that the established market will respond to the drop and “recover” recent loses – however for the “non-economist” the data is confusing.  We’re told the Australian economy is in “good nick” by Wayne Swan, with low unemployment, “on target” inflation and accelerating growth.  After being told GDP would flag in lower than expected, the final quarterly figures exceeded all expectation at 1.3% (4.3% over the year).  On paper out economy is rocking along, yet rates being cut give the impression of just the reverse – I greatly doubt it will inspire spending spree.
Of course, doom and gloom in the housing market is rarely out of the media spotlight.  It’s been a drab couple of years for established dwelling prices as far as growth is concerned.  However, considering the growing number of buyers getting locked out the market and only a drip feed of first-home buyers to represent a new demographic, lower prices in established suburbs where most want to live, work and play is no great tragedy.  I’d go so far as to argue it’s exactly what’s needed.
RP Data released figures last week showing the national capital city median house price dropped in May by 1.4% – with the largest drop of 2.7% evidenced in Melbourne. However, it’s important to remember the median house price is simply the middle number of all properties sold, and therefore not helpful when it comes to working out individual values.  The pull back in Melbourne’s house prices – showing little recovery despite May’s rate cut – is understandable when you take a close look at the historical data.
 
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Figures pulled from RP Data-Rismark's new daily hedonic index series and featured on Christopher Joye’s blog last week prove the extraordinary boom that occurred in Melbourne over the Jan 2009 – Dec 2010 period, during which prices rose a whopping 34%.  This level of growth is unhealthy and clearly unsustainable.  Therefore a correction was necessary, as a subsequent 9% in the median to date (most of which has occurred since April this year) proves. However, the average home buyer shopping in the established housing market may be wondering why he or she not noticing a great drop in prices considering the lacklustre clearance rates and falling median prices?  For this, we need to delve a little deeper to assess exactly where the price drops are occurring.
Thanks again to <a href="https://christopherjoye.blogspot.com.au/">Christopher Joye’s blog</a> which has a wealth of interesting data, further information based on RP Data-Rismark’s house price data reveals the median house price is being pulled down principally because of weakness in the top end of the market.  Once broken down, the most expensive suburbs nationally (accounting for 20% of the market) – have experienced the largest falls to date (3%).  However, the middle 60% of suburbs have sustained market prices and properties in the lower price bracket – the cheapest 20% of suburbs – have shown a marginal upswing in growth.
This largely corresponds with on-the-ground agent feedback.  Weekly I attend eight to 10 auctions across Melbourne, covering a broad range of house prices and wide span of suburbs. There’s little evidence to show properties around the state median (currently $490,000) are dwindling.  Providing the property has been marketed and priced “at value” and appeals to the predominant home buyer demographic shopping in that particular suburb, it’s more common to experience relatively strong demand and competitive bidding.  Many times, I’ll walk away from an auction because a property has exceeded comparable value – on some occasions of late, it’s been well in excess of 10%
Along with this, AFG (Australia’s biggest mortgage broker) – processed 7,600 mortgages in May, which tops all other months since March 2009, clearly indicating there’s increased activity in the market.  A breakdown of the Victorian data indicates the average size of those loans was $379,130 with an LVR of 68.65%, therefore it’s clear where the major buyer demographic sits – not in the luxury housing market!  However, based on the above housing data, a cut in rates is not needed in the established housing market, albeit other areas of the economy would no doubt vehemently disagree.
You’d be forgiven pondering the unfortunate circumstance this year’s rate rocketing Channel 9 television series The Block has landed itself in. Not only have producers managed to pick what seems to be on paper the worst-performing mainland capital city market since the GFC to date (beaten only marginally by Hobart). They’ve also chosen to turn this year’s ugly duckling properties into “luxury” $1 million-plus houses, which, as shown above, is the sector of the market suffering the greatest losses.
Even taking into account the latest interest rate drop, it’s unlikely they’ll be any evidentiary effect on buyer sentiment by the time these properties are auctioned. Obviously I’m not a fortune teller, however with clearance rates in Melbourne still struggling to break into the 60% bracket, which is in line with market conditions when the 2011 series finale was recorded, it’s highly unlikely the properties on Dorcas Street, South Melbourne will sell under the hammer.  In addition, the 60% clearance rate is not a good indicator of “under the hammer sales”.
The Real Estate Institute of Victoria releases the most comprehensive auction data for <country-region>Melbourne</country-region> each Saturday evening.  The percentage reached is made up not only of properties sold “under the hammer” but also properties that sold via post auction negotiation (usually resulting from a “passed in” result) Therefore the percentage clearance rate is not representative of what most would consider an exciting “street theatre” event.  Watching a property pass in on national TV – as we witnessed last year – is hardly a heart-stopping experience.
It’s not unusual to get the figures posted on a Saturday evening with a large number of auction results unreported.  This can often be as much as 16 or 17%.  When the results are finally gathered up in a mid-week round up, the clearance figure “corrects” – nine times out of 10 falling a percentage or two further.
For those familiar with the auction process, it’s clear the unreported results are down to a larger than usual proportion of selling agents trying to tie up deals for properties that failed to attract an adequate amount of interest to sell under the hammer.  Negotiations can take time to finalise, and therefore the results are subsequently late arriving.  This doesn’t mean the property will necessarily sell for less – a good negotiator will still be able to extract a fair price for the home.  However, it doesn’t make good street theatre for the 50 or 60 or so neighbours who’ve turned up hoping for an entertaining boom result.
Last years The Block grand finale was heralded a huge anticlimax principally because the Richmond houses failed to attract competitive demand on the night.  It didn’t seem to concern Channel 9 – the series attracts fantastic ratings and a level of advertising sponsorship that would no doubt pay for the houses’ end value twice over. However, I have no doubt it will be of concern to the selling agents, who will be relying on the publicity to raise their individual and company profiles. The last thing an auctioneer needs is an audience of millions watching a property pass in on a vendor bid on national television.
Ruth Roberts – one of last year’s auctioneers – fell under much criticism when she failed to sell Josh and Jenna’s house under the hammer. It’s a shame she didn’t get more positive press when she managed to negotiate the fantastic post-auction price of $1 million – which I’d assess to be above market value considering the location. (Lesson number one when choosing a sales agent – hire the best negotiator!)
The price paid for the Richmond homes last year was far above reasonable market value. By the time stamp duty, holding costs, and planning permits had been accounted for, the properties were already valued above $1 million.  The price of $3.8 million (not including stamp duty of $209,000) paid for this year’s South Melbourne properties is a fairer price.  The position is better than last year’s Richmond location, however when all the planning and renovation costs have been accounted for, the properties still need to sell past current market value to achieve a reasonable return.
There have only been six auctions on Dorcas Street thus far this year – two sold at auction, one sold prior to auction and three passed in at auction.  From the results, the closest comparable to The Block properties is 349 Dorcas Street,  which passed in on a vendor bid of $1.15 million in April – finally selling one month later for an undisclosed price. To date, the clearance rate for South Melbourne is trending below the state average (63%) at 58.3%.  Thus far, it’s not looking good for this year’s contestants.
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As entertaining as they are, programs like Channel 9’s The Block play to the concept that it’s possible to renovate and “flip” a home immediately back onto the market, covering costs and gaining a healthy profit on the outlay. Updating an older-style home through a carefully thought-out renovation is a fantastic idea if the owner is a) careful not to over capitalise and b) holds the property for a period of time suited to market conditions.  The first rule is perhaps the most important, because one person’s tastes are not universal. Most potential owner-occupiers want to place their own stamp on a home, so while a good floor plan and effective use of interior space will provide a backdrop for a new buyer to do this, few want to pay a premium for someone else’s extravagance, and it takes experience to recognise how to finely balance the difference.
Interestingly, from all the “serious” buyers who viewed the properties used on The Block last year, three of the four homes were purchased by investors and subsequently rented for around $1,000 per week. No doubt most of the home buyers would have been interested in adapting the renovation ideas to their own tastes rather than paying a premium for a completed version not specifically tailored to their needs. It really was a perfect example of over-capitalisation. Though clearly that was half the fun of the program and proved great entertainment. Whether the properties will attract current yields in years to come as the initial shine wears off, especially considering the compromised position of the homes opposite a multistorey car park and bottle shop, is debatable.
Australia’s obsession with renovation is not unique or arguably harmful for those doing it for personal enjoyment. Furthermore, altering the floor plan of an old Victorian dwelling to improve the arrangement of the bathroom’s proximity to the bedrooms while creating a nice environment suited to our modern lifestyles is a requirement for today’s market and adds value for most home buyers who would be willing to pay a good deal extra for the service.  However, it’s a fine line – particularly in a soft market – that separates what buyers will and won’t pay for. The Block renovations obviously over-step this line as, was evidenced last year.
Interestingly enough, it was argued back in 2010 by Phillip Lowe – assistant governor at the Reserve Bank – that Australia’s obsession with renovating and extending established dwellings was fueling the desire for bigger and better homes, thereby stagnating investment into new housing, which is necessary to reduce inflation. Investors make up roughly 35% of our housing market, and our negative gearing policies direct the purchasing power to properties that historically prove good rates of capital growth – principally the established housing market.
At the root of this obsession lays the widespread acceptance that property always goes up in value. It’s looked upon not so much as a place to live, but a key to building wealth and establishing financial security. With the ability to also claim tax incentives for capital works on an investment property, it’s no surprise to find homes not just being improved to make them comfortable for renters, rather they are renovated to inspire premium prices.
However, if you analyse individual house data, the stark truth remains that even in a rising market, renovating and “flipping” expecting an immediate profit can achieve little more – once costs are accounted for – than a small return at best. To do so successfully requires numerous calculations that not only include the initial outlay, time plus cost of improvements and an analysis of recent sales to establish the likely ‘end’ selling price.  It also requires an expert assessment of the major buyer demographic in the neighborhood to ensure it ‘meets’ relevant demand without overreaching.
On top of this, market conditions – often unpredictable – have the untimely ability to change as months pass, always leaving an element of speculation in the equation.  Therefore, have a go if you must, but do so knowing the risks and understanding in many respects it’s a gamble.
As for The Block – enjoyable as it is – I’m laying my own bets on another finale re-run of last year.
Catherine Cashmore is a market analyst with extensive experience in all aspects relating to property acquisition. She is Channel Ten’s property expert on <a href="https://ten.com.au/the-circle.htm">The Circle</a> and a senior consultant for <a href="https://www.nationalpropertybuyers.com.au/">National Property Buyers</a> servicing the needs of property owners Australia wide.
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The Block 2012 unlikely to get Dorcas Street clean sweep as the Melbourne $1 million-plus market struggles: Catherine Cashmore

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Unit, townhouse and villa prices in tourism-dependent Cairns and the Whitsundays have fallen more than four times the rate of decline in Brisbane over the year to March, according to the latest update from the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ).
The latest report has the Brisbane median unit price down 3.7% over this period to a median of $387,750, reflecting a state-wide trend of buyers snapping up properties at the cheaper end of the spectrum.
The report notes a “dramatic increase” in numbers of units sold between $250,000 and $350,000, with sales in this price bracket increasing 22%.
In Cairns, the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, apartments, villas and townhouse prices have fallen 17% in the 12 months to March 2012 to a median price of $212,500.
In March 2011, the Cairns median unit price was $265,000
In the Whitsundays, unit prices are down almost 18% over the same period, falling from $345,000 to $285,000.
These results contrast starkly with sales figures in the mining boom town of Gladstone, where unit prices are up 10.4% to a median of $458,000 over the year to March.
The report notes that the Cairns’ unit market continues to struggle, with sales down 30%.
“Comments from various regional zone chairs, Cairns included, say that units are proving difficult to sell, as buyers are put off by the increased costs associated with owning a unit, such as body corporate fees, insurance levies and council rates.
"As such, buyers end up seeing more value in buying a house, with the ongoing servicing costs equalling that of a unit,” notes the REIQ.
REIQ chief exexutive Anton Kardash says the state-wide increase in more affordable unit and townhouse sales is being driven by demand from first-home buyers and investors, who often target properties at the lower end of the market.
‘‘About 19% of homes financed in Queensland are now being bought by first home buyers, which is the highest level of activity from first-time property buyers since 2009 when the first-home owners' boost was available.
‘‘Investors too are making a long-awaited return to the market, with more than 4,500 properties bought by investors in March this year. The 10-year average is 5,000 dwellings per month, so this is also the strongest level of activity from investors since early 2010,” he says.
The Brisbane satellite cities of Logan City and Redland City both experienced big falls in their median unit price with the REIQ attributing this to a “shift towards affordable stock”.
Logan City unit prices fell 8.9% to a median of $239,000, while the Redland City median unit price was down 14.3% to a median of $307,500.
“Woodridge in Logan saw an increase in sales – particularly for the sub-$250,000 bracket. In Redland, Cleveland sales were down, while more affordable sales in Capalaba were up," says the REIQ.
“Logan recorded the largest increase in sales activity for the southeast, with preliminary sales numbers nearly doubling that recorded over the previous quarter."
The Sunshine Coast was also the only major region in south-east Queensland to record a quarterly increase in its median, up 2.2% to $332,250. 
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Brisbane unit prices ease 3.7% but 17% wipe-out in Cairns and Whitsundays: REIQ

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{yoogallery src=[images/stories/2012/06/june8tarchi]}
<img src="/images/stories/flagtitletat.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 5px;">With plans to upgrade along the Bondi Beach promenade, the Tarchi family have listed their current dress circle apartment amalgamation with $12 million-plus hopes (pictured above). The two-floor Campbell Parade apartment in The Bondi is listed through McGrath agents Steven Chen and Elizabeth Brunton, with offers due by June 27. With views stretching from Ben Buckler Point to Icebergs, the offering spans two half-floors. Its interiors span 490 square metres plus a further 383 square metres of private terracing. The listing comes since they have their eye on doing the same at the Pacific Bondi Beach, one of the last big beachfront projects planned in Sydney. On the site of the old Swiss-Grand Hotel, it will house 95 apartments and a 69-apartment hotel, with prices set to start about $500,000 for a 45-square-metre studio up to $15 million for its 300-square-metre, three-bedroom penthouse. It represents $50,000 a square metre. Pre-registration names are being collected by CBRE and McGrath. The $440 million-plus conversion is being undertaken by developers Allen Linz and Eduard Litver's Rebel Property Group, who were also responsible for The Bondi. The highest recorded apartment price in Bondi sits at $11.5 million - which was paid off the plan in late 2010 by Allen Linz's father, Sam Linz, for the penthouse at the recently completed 40-apartment block, The Beach House, next to The Bondi Hotel.
<img src="/images/stories/2012/06/killeen.jpg">
<img src="/images/stories/flagtitletat.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 5px;">The Bondi beachfront penthouse of Gretel Killeen, who hosted the Big Brother series for seven years from 2001, has been listed for June 27 auction through Vicki Laing and Simon Polito of Laing Real Estate with $2 million hopes. The three-bedroom 172-square-metre penthouse occupies the entire top level of the very Art Deco block La Pacifique (pictured above). It's a block of seven apartments at the northern end of Campbell Parade opposite parkland adjacent to North Bondi Surf Club. It comes with large living and dining areas, plus modern kitchen, sunroom and a rooftop entertainment terrace. There’s the exclusive use of a car-parking space entered from Brighton Boulevard on the building's back boundary. It last traded for $1.09 million in 2001 by Killeen, who's now an inner-city empty-nester. It was bought from Susan Blewett, the daughter of former federal health minister Neal Blewett, who had bought it from Freehills solicitor Terry Burke for $300,000 in 1990 shortly before he retired from Federal Parliament.
<img src="/images/stories/2012/06/campbellpde2.jpg">
<img src="/images/stories/flagtitletat.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 5px;">It’s been the big mystery – even among the Bondi Beach early morning walkers – but Title Tattle has discovered the Corrigan family who have listed their Woollahra residence are the buyers of the penthouse of Cadigal (pictured above), the modern beachfront building in Campbell Parade, which sold last month. Title Tattle was able to connect the dots after their neo-Georgian, Wellington Street, Woollahra residence was listed on realestateview.com.au as a poa listing. The Bondi Beach purchase has been made jointly by Valerie Corrigan, the wife of the shipping industry entrepreneur Chris Corrigan and their daughter, Lucinda. It’s 373 square metres of space. The funds manager Wayne Peters had it listed with revised $7 million plus hopes through Martin Maskin at Raine &amp; Horne. Peters had $13.5 million-plus hopes in 2008. The Cadigal complex penthouse, which tops the former Bondi Diggers site, first sold for $5,875,000 in 2006 when bought by Peters, the founder of Peters MacGregor Capital Management. Its 2006 sale represented a then record price for Bondi Beach at approximately $24,100 per square metre for the 244-square-metre three-bedroom penthouse with 100-plus square metres of balconies.
<img src="/images/stories/flagtitletat.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 5px;">Hermes boss Karin Upton Baker has sold her redundant Bondi Beach carspace. It's been offloaded for $75,000 in the Notts Avenue block, Pacific Terraces. It was a small part of the overly ambitious speculative property play embarked on by Upton Baker and her developer husband, Gary Baker. The couple's high hopes were dashed after the global financial crisis.
<img src="/images/stories/2012/06/thomas.jpg">
<img src="/images/stories/flagtitletat.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 5px;">The Quarry family have sold their Federation Bondi Beach house (pictured above) for $2.53 million. With Arts and Crafts influences, the four bedroom 1910 Sir Thomas Mitchell Drive house last traded at $1.66 million in 2005. Michael Finger and Diane Wilson at Ray White had the 342 sq m listing in conjunction with Richard Carwin at Ray White Paddington. Sandy Kogan at Richardson &amp; Wrench Bondi Junction takes another free-standing house to June 28 auction. Its a two storey four bedroom townhouse style abode on 254 sq m.
 
<img src="/images/stories/flagtitletat.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 5px;">The Triguboff family has recently spent $2,075,000 to buy a Bondi Beach apartment. It's through a family company co-directed by daughter Orna and her father, Harry. It's in the recently completed Swell complex of six apartments developed by the Fahey family. It's a two-bedroom, two-bathroom Warners Avenue garden apartment with one car space.
<img src="/images/stories/2012/06/doco.jpg" width="470">
<img src="/images/stories/flagtitletat.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 5px;">Documentary maker Michaela Perske - whose done Footy Chicks, Inspiring Teachers and, more recently, Sex: An Unnatural History - has spent $602,500 on her recent two-bedroom Berkeley Court purchase (pictured above) through Raine &amp; Horne Double Bay. The two-bedroom apartment last sold in 2009 at $600,000.
 
<img src="/images/stories/flagtitletat.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 5px;">No sale yet of the onetime Bondi Beach record-setting $9 million apartment. The Notts Avenue triplex penthouse sold in 2006 to Spencer Young, the founder and chairman of a $6 billion global hedge fund business. It's been for sale since last September. The apartment covers the top floor of a three-story building at the south end of Bondi Beach, which has a north-easterly aspect. The apartment includes four security car spaces. The offering is listed through Martin Maskin at Raine &amp; Horne Double Bay.
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A very Bondi Title Tattle 

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The Australian economy, the resources sector and housing markets tied to the boom are all set to reap some benefit from China cutting interest rates for the first time in four years.
For the first time since 2008, the People’s Bank of China cut its one-year lending rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 6.31% in an effort to stimulate economic growth.
It comes as the average rate for a 30-year mortgage in the US dropped to its lowest level since 1971, and the Australian cash rate is also just off record lows.
The Chinese central bank has also relaxed borrowing rules for banks, allowing them to offer a 20% discount on the lending benchmark, up from the previous 10% discount.
The deposit rate was cut from 3.5% to 3.25%.
Westpac's weekly Phat Dragon reports says rate cut will allow banks to offer more attractive rates to prospective borrowers, "while being forced to take a view on the competitive landscape for deposits".
"That has margin implications of course - but that is the point. If the authorities wished to jolt the financial sector back onto a commercialisation trajectory (and Premier Wen’s strident rhetorical attack on the banking ‘monopoly’ points decisively in that direction) making them think for themselves...is a very good start," says Phat Dragon.
China relies on Australia for around 5% of its exports, mainly in the form of its mineral resources.
<img src="/images/stories/2012/06/savillsjune8.jpg">
Source: Savills
Iron ore prices have risen 700% and coal more than 400% between January 2003 and February 2012 in line with China’s massive expansion and urbanisation.
Click to enlarge
<a href="/images/stories/2012/06/savillsjune81.jpg" rel="shadowbox" title="Click to enlarge"><img src="/images/stories/2012/06/savillsjune81thumb.jpg"></a>
Source: Savills
The rate cut will also stimulate the Chinese housing market, which has a very high rate of home ownership (89%) and massive urbanisation, with around 16.5 million people moving to the major cities every year.
About 670 million of China’s 1.3 billion population currently live in urban areas.
According to James McDonald, associate director of China research at Savills, Chinese banks are not as heavily exposed to the property market as Australian banks and other world banks because of low gearing ratios.
Banks require a deposit of between 30% to 40% from borrowers and a 60% deposit for a second home, he says.
The latest rate cut is designed to encourage more borrowing and investment and raise the current rate of GDP growth of around 7.5% back closer to around 8%.
In addition, many of China’s 875,000 US dollar millionaires have property investments in Australia.
The last change to the borrowing rate was in July 2011 when the one-year benchmark lending rate was raised by 25 basis points to 6.56%
The global interest rates you need to know:
 3.68% 
The average rate for a 30-year mortgage in the US, the lowest it has been since 1971.
3.59%
The cheapest five-year fixed-rate in the UK offered by the Post Office
3.5%
The cash rate as set by the RBA
2.3% to 3%
The average mortgage rate in Spain
1%
The current official interest rate in the eurozone
0.5%
The current base cash rate as set by the Bank of England
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A global interest rates guide as China rate cut to flow through to Australian property market

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A barn-house that looks straight out of midwest America has been listed in Garfield, 70 kilometres south-east of Melbourne.
A dream for fans of Americana, the property is even pictured with a classic 1950s jukebox.
Agent Graeme Dimsey from LJ Hooker Cranbourne says the vendor, Robert Seger, is a fan of all things American.
“He did a lot of travelling to America, he’s got a lot of custom-built American cars. He has a lot of nostalgic things he’s collected over the years,” he says.
“He liked what he saw in the midwestern barn and decided to build a house on top of one.
“He built it just because he could. He’s a very cool character.”
The property is billed as being ideal for horse trainers or agistment. Mustangs can run free on the property’s 15-hectare spread. The barn comes with five stables, a 90,000-litre underground tank and bore, numerous loose boxes and timber post and rail fencing.
Upstairs is a four-bedroom residence with timber floorboards, dark-tiled bathroom and a huge kitchen big enough to prepare and cook a Thanksgiving day roast turkey and pumpkin pie.
There is room for a small muscle car collection in the property’s three-car garage, as well as plenty of room for uncovered parking.
Dimsey says a lot of the wood used on the property is reclaimed timber.
“A lot of the timber you see, all the posts and things, a lot of it came from Queenscliff when they ripped down the jetty, all the reclaimed boardwalks and jetties.”
Dimsey expects to sell for around $1.3 million.
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Midwest American-style barn on the market in Garfield, Victoria

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<div>As Property Observer celebrates its first anniversary, we look back on some of the biggest numbers that made property news in the past year.</div>
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<div><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/south-australia/adelaide-mistakenly-overlooked-by-investors-as-projects-get-under-way-terry-ryder/2012041154211" target="_blank"><img src="/images/stories/50b.gif"></a></div>
<div>The approximate value of mining projects <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/south-australia/adelaide-mistakenly-overlooked-by-investors-as-projects-get-under-way-terry-ryder/2012041154211" target="_blank">currently under way in South Australia</a>, according to Hotspotting.com.au director Terry Ryder. Ryder says the state is Australia's most under-rated economy and could be a good prospect for investors.</div>
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<div><a title="Melbourne office sales" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/news/melbourne-office-sales-to-reach-%242-billion-in-2011-colliers/2011072750932" target="_self"><img src="/images/stories/2bill.jpg"></a></div>
<div>The <a title="Melbourne office sales to reach $2 billion" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/news/melbourne-office-sales-to-reach-%242-billion-in-2011-colliers/2011072750932" target="_blank">sales volume expected for Melbourne offices in 2011</a>, according to Colliers. “The reasons for Melbourne being the hottest office market in Australia will not change overnight. The fundamentals of our economy are very healthy and the medium-term forecast for office rental growth in the CBD is very strong,” says Nick Rathgeber, director of institutional investment services at Colliers.</div>
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<div><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/residential/leonardo-dicaprio-gets-his-sydney-tennis-court-for-gatsby-shoot/2011083151370" target="_blank"><img src="/images/stories/10k.jpg"></a></div>
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<div>The amount per week actor <a title="Leonardo DiCaprio" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/residential/leonardo-dicaprio-gets-his-sydney-tennis-court-for-gatsby-shoot/2011083151370" target="_blank">Leonardo DiCaprio paid per week to rent a property in Vaucluse </a>while he filmed the titular role in Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of The Great Gatsby in Sydney.</div>
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<div><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/residential/chinese-appetite-for-gold-coast-property-soars-to-record-highs-in-2010-11-colliers/2012012353056" target="_blank"><img src="/images/stories/66point9.jpg"></a></div>
<div>The amount of money that <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/residential/chinese-appetite-for-gold-coast-property-soars-to-record-highs-in-2010-11-colliers/2012012353056" target="_blank">offshore Chinese buyers spent on Gold Coast property during the 2010-11 financial year</a>. Chinese buyers accounted for nearly a third of foreign purchases of Queensland residential real estate during the 2010-11 financial year</div>
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<div><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/residential/incredible-prediction-of-australian-property-bloodbath-excites-twitter/2012012053102" target="_self"><img src="/images/stories/60.jpg"></a></div>
<div>The amount by which American<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/residential/incredible-prediction-of-australian-property-bloodbath-excites-twitter/2012012053102" target="_blank"> self-described "real estate expert" Jordan Wirsz predicts Australian house prices will fall</a> in the next five years. Prominent property doom commentator Steve Keen expressed ironic relief via Twitter that another analyst has forecast even worse tidings than his longstanding forecast for the Australian property market.</div>
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<div><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/residential/harry-triguboffs-six-steps-to-apartment-affordability-%E2%80%93-starting-with-more-high-rise/2012041754326" target="_blank"><img src="/images/stories/12.gif"></a></div>
<div>The minimum number of stories a new development in inner Melbourne or Sydney should have, <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/residential/harry-triguboffs-six-steps-to-apartment-affordability-%E2%80%93-starting-with-more-high-rise/2012041754326" target="_blank">according to Meriton boss Harry Triguboff</a>. "In inner-city areas we need to recognise that five-to six-storey apartments are uneconomical," Triguboff says.</div>
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<div><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/residential/melbourne-housing-market-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-ledger-residex-boss-john-edwards/2012041954363" target="_blank"><img src="/images/stories/70percent.gif"></a></div>
<div>The<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/residential/melbourne-housing-market-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-ledger-residex-boss-john-edwards/2012041954363" target="_blank"> amount of overhang of stock in Melbourne</a>, the largest stock overhang of any capital in Australia, according to Residex boss John Edwards. “I’m worried about Victoria,” he says.</div>
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 <div><img src="/images/stories/21.gif"></div>
<div>The number of consecutive months house prices have fallen to May, according to the ABS. "The odds are that the rate of decline will accelerate in the next year," <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/residential/abs-figures-show-australia-s-housing-price-bubble-is-bursting-steve-keen/2012050254514" target="_blank">says economist Steve Keen</a>, who sees the ABS figures as a sign that Australia's housing bubble is bursting.</div>
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<div><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/economy/federal-budget2012-tax-breaks-for-green-buildings-dumped/2012050854605" target="_blank"><img src="/images/stories/405m.gif"></a></div>
<div>The amount of money the federal government will save in the next four years by <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/economy/federal-budget2012-tax-breaks-for-green-buildings-dumped/2012050854605" target="_blank">axing green buildings tax breaks </a>in the federal budget. The scheme had never come into effect, being shut down before it began.</div>
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<div><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/new-south-wales/1st-fleet-s-stephen-brown-owns-just-one-thousandth-of-his-%2416-million-harbourfront-watson-bay-property-listing/2012051354676" target="_blank"><img src="/images/stories/1over1000.gif"></a></div>
<div>The amount of equity that <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/new-south-wales/1st-fleet-s-stephen-brown-owns-just-one-thousandth-of-his-%2416-million-harbourfront-watson-bay-property-listing/2012051354676" target="_blank">1st Fleet boss Stephen Brown has in his Sydney Harbour home</a>, which is on the market with $16 million price hopes. His wife, Corrine, holding the remaining 999/1,000 equity.</div>
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<div><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/industry-news/rolls-royce-lifestyle-over-for-refund-founder-wayne-ormond-as-creditors-to-investigate-if-company-traded-insolvent/2012052354812" target="_self"><img src="/images/stories/3.gif"></a></div>
<div>The number of <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/industry-news/rolls-royce-lifestyle-over-for-refund-founder-wayne-ormond-as-creditors-to-investigate-if-company-traded-insolvent/2012052354812" target="_blank">Rolls-Royces that Refund Home Loans founder Wayne Ormond owned in the past</a>. He says they have all been disposed of or repossessed.</div>
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<div><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/developments/lend-leases-docklands-project-forte-will-be-worlds-tallest-residential-timber-building/2012052554840" target="_blank"><img src="/images/stories/2012/05/10.gif"></a></div>
<div>The number of storeys <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/developments/lend-leases-docklands-project-forte-will-be-worlds-tallest-residential-timber-building/2012052554840" target="_blank">planned for Lend Lease development Forté</a>. It will be the world's tallest timber residential building. The building will rise to 32 metres and will be built with prefabricated wooden panels made from cross-laminated timber (CLT) and will feature 23 apartments.</div>
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cknowlton-QnEa6ntUYP

The 12 must-know property numbers of the last financial year

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Property prices in prime central London rose 0.7% over May as European investors sought safer ground in the midst of the eurozone crisis, according to research by Knight Frank.
The latest increase brings prices of prime London houses 47.3% above their March 2009 low.
Knight Frank researcher Liam Bailey says interest from south west Europe has taken up the slack left by Greek investors.
"While it looks very much that the surge in Greek buyers has fallen off sharply since the beginning of the year – those who have had the funds to buy have done so – we are now seeing a noticeable uptick in interest from France, Italy, Spain and even German-based purchasers looking at the prime London market.”
Bailey says in the event of a European Union break-up, London could experience greater levels of foreign investment.
He says countries at risk of ejection from the eurozone will likely experience a massive outflow of capital, with some destined for London prime real estate.
Meanwhile, property website Primelocation.com has released research showing Britain’s residential property is worth a total of £5.6 trillion ($8.74 trillion), with almost one-third of it £1.65 trillion ($2.58 trillion), in homes in the south-east region.
The south-east region just pips London, which was put at £1 trillion ($1.56 trillion).
Outside of London, Surrey tops the list for total value, £287.6 billion ($4.49 billion), and value per head, £255,125 ($398,274). For value per head, Surrey is followed by Dorset, Buckinghamshire and East Sussex.
Despite low interest rates, however, strict lending conditions make it harder for families to pull money out of these homes by remortgaging.
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“Property wealth per head is driven by one key factor: demand,” says PrimeLocation.com analyst Nigel Lewis.
“Homes in and around the capital will always be sought after because of the increased population density in the south and its better employment opportunities.”
Primelocation.com’s report is at odds with a recent report by Lloyds TSB Private Banking, which put the total value at of privately held UK housing stock at £3.9 trillion ($6.09 trillion) in 2011.
And as our monarch celebrates her 60th year of rule, property agency Savills UK has released an analysis of property trends over Queen Elizabeth II’s long reign.
Since her coronation in 1952, there have been four cycles of boom and bust, but inflation-adjusted figures show house price growth has exceeded 250%.
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As Her Majesty started her rule, the total value of the UK’s housing stock was between £25 and £30 billion ($39 and $47 billion), roughly the same value as Bristol today.
The report found the biggest increase over a 10-year period was 1962-72, when prices increased 48%.
Savills research director Lucian Cook says changes over the past 60 years mean more surplus income is being invested in property.
“Over the past 60 years we have seen great changes in the way we view housing. Our demands on and requirements from housing have changed, meaning that it has become part necessity, part luxury and part investment.”
“Combined with a mismatch between housing demand and supply and a shift to smaller households, this has meant that more of the nation’s surplus income has been directed at housing. As a result house prices have risen more in line with the standard rather than the cost of living, leaving the UK with an asset class worth a total of £4.3 trillion [$6.71 trillion].”
Cook says home ownership has peaked and a repeat of such dramatic growth is unlikely.
“In the short term our forecast is for real house price falls at a national mainstream market level, as inflation strips out price growth. We expect these to lead to a period of much less spectacular house price growth than we have become accustomed to at certain parts in the housing market cycle.
“Future house prices booms and sharp corrections are inevitable but there’ll be a long wait for the next boom.”
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London prime property market shines as safe haven as Queen celebrates Diamond Jubilee 

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Queensland’s Office of Fair Trading has appointed accountants to investigate alleged misappropriation of property management trust account funds at the LJ Hooker Coolangatta agency.
The alleged staff misappropriation is said to have taken place between August and December last year, and then noticed by the agency principals.
No one has been charged over the matter, which has led to the appointment of receivers on May 3 by financier Bankwest, which is understood to have been owed $800,000.
Having since sold the rent roll, Stefan Dopking and Quentin Olde of Taylor Woodings have since retired from the receivership.
Julie Williams, of Insolvency Turnaround Solutions in Brisbane, was appointed receiver to the agency's property management and sales trust accounts on May 23.
This week Williams posted a public notice in the Gold Coast Bulletin advising that dealings in respect of the agency's trust accounts "must now be conducted with the receiver or her duly authorised representatives".
Golden Four Coolangatta Real Estate, the company holding the LJ Hooker Coolangatta franchise, has had its franchise cancelled by LJ Hooker headquarters.
It is the third known franchise cancellation by LJH in the past year, the others being at <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/industry-news/lj-hooker-terminates-pymble-franchise-office/2011090151388" target="_blank">Pymble</a> and <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/industry-news/lj-hooker-surry-hills-office-relied-on-advances-to-help-cash-flow/2011111052295" target="_blank">Surry Hills</a> in Sydney.
It is suspected that an employee removed the funds and the company's principals tried to sort out the matter but were unable to do so, apparently because data was corrupted, liquidator Jason Bettles, of Worrells Solvency and Forensic Accountants told the Gold Coast Bulletin.
"The principals had been utilising profits to top up rent payments and knew that this could not be sustained, and that is when I was appointed," he added.
Bettles said Golden Four Coolangatta Real Estate held no other assets, with nothing available to pay other creditors.
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Queensland Office of Fair Trading investigating LJ Hooker Coolangatta for alleged property management trust misappropriation

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WA’s Supreme Court has ruled that a ‘rent to buy’ scheme operated illegally because the owners were not licensed estate agents and also misled people who signed up.
The landmark ruling handed down by Master Craig Sanderson declared that unlicensed promoters of a rent-to-buy scheme, No Loan Home Pty Ltd, its sole director Filip (Fil) Butkovic and employee Nikola (Nik) Butkovic, of Nedlands, had engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct.
Under the ruling No Loan Home Pty Ltd, the proprietor of the business Perth’s Easyhomes WA has been restrained from advertising and promoting the scheme or entering into any further rent-to-buy transactions without first obtaining a real estate agent’s licence.
WA’s Consumer Protection first raised allegations about the scheme.
It says the ruling has implications for all promoters of rent-to-buy schemes, and is now looking into other similar schemes.
Rent-to-buy schemes are targeted at people who don’t qualify for a home loan.
Buyers enter into a contract whereby they agree to pay rent to the seller in return for being able to purchase the property at a later date.
Under the scheme being promoted by No Loan Home, the buyer paid an "upfront option fee" to the business of about $15,000, as well as an "ongoing option fee", a proportion of which was to be credited towards the final purchase of the property.
The buyer was required to sign a tenancy agreement with the seller in which rent was payable until the end of the contract period, usually four years, when the option to purchase would to be exercised.
“The Supreme Court judgment [handed down on May 30] supported the WA Commissioner for Consumer Protection’s allegation that the promoters had also breached the Australian Consumer Law by misleading potential purchasers regarding the future value of the property, the potential equity that they are able to build up over a four to five year period and their ability to obtain finance at the end of this period,” said WA’s Department of Commerce’s consumer protection division.
“The company’s website and advertising material makes misleading representations as to future property values without setting out the basis for these estimates.
“The Supreme Court ruled that the ‘rent to buy’ transactions are real estate transactions for the purposes of the act,” it said.
“The Supreme Court supported Consumer Protection’s belief that the promoters of these schemes were engaging in real estate transactions so were required to be licensed and were therefore operating outside the law,” said acting commissioner for consumer protection Gary Newcombe following the ruling.
“Our major concern was that the consumers who took part in these schemes didn’t have the protection that the licensing system and laws offer and now we have legal clarity over these issues following the Supreme Court ruling.
“Consumers have recourse to a fund for reimbursement where serious misconduct of a licensed real estate agent causes loss, and licensed agents are accountable to the Commissioner under a Code of Conduct and the Act. Those operating without a licence provide no such protections.
“These schemes prey on vulnerable people who are finding it difficult to either sell or buy a home. We urge consumers who have had dealings with No Loan Home or any other rent to buy scheme to contact us.”
Consumer advocate Neil Jenman, a long campaigner against rent-to-buy schemes, calls them “dangerous scams” that are “designed by predators who prey on the poor” in 2007.
“They are a complete rip-off and should be outlawed," Jenman said. “Like all slick scams, 'rent-to-buy' schemes are so seductive. The pitch goes like this: We are here to help you. We have a unique system. If the banks reject you, we can help you.  “And on and on and on it goes. One twisted truth after another.”
According to Jenman, victims of these scams are ripped off in three ways. "First, they are charged an exorbitant amount of rent ... second, as well as the exorbitant rent, the "buyers" (victims) pay an exorbitant price for the home, and thirdly, buyers are not the owners of the homes they are buying," he says.
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WA “rent to buy’ scheme ruled deceptive and illegal with other similar schemes facing investigation

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 “There’s a whole lot of nothing happening in the prestige markets,” one market observer noted. Luxury home shoppers have been mostly dormant, just cherry picking the listings where sizable price adjustments had finally been made. Property Observer has compiled a special anniversary list of 12 trophy homes that buyers can still snap up. 
 
 
1.
{yoogallery src=[images/stories/June6sentinel]}
The Raby Bay, Queensland mansion built for Savage Garden musician Daniel Jones was Property Observer’s first trophy home. <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-qld-raby+bay-106701850" target="_blank">The five-bedroom, six-bathroom house </a>on the outskirts of Brisbane remains listed with an $8.5 million asking price. It is still listed with LJ Hooker Cleveland agent Tom Banjanin. Jones sold the property in 2006 for $5.8 million, having paid $810,000 for the 2,327-square-metre holding in 1999.
2.
<img src="/images/stories/mosmanpark.jpg">
<a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-wa-mosman+park-108958331" target="_parent">Anuket at Mosman Park in Perth</a> remains listed for sale in a partially gutted state. It last sold in 2008, when property developer Luke Saraceni bought it from mining speculator David Rigoll, the former early-1990s Colonial Resources managing director, through agent William Porteous for $16 million. It had previously also traded at $16 million in 2007 when offloaded by Firepower director Tim Johnston, who had bought it from property developer Warren Anderson. The house was built for the Burswood Casino developer Dallas Dempster to a design by architect Louise St John Kennedy. Its listing agent, William Porteous from William Porteous Properties International, is understandably marketing it as "one of Perth's most iconic properties". The house is gutted and ready to be finished to one's own standard, Porteous has advised potential inspectees. Set on a 1,425-square-metre block, it comes with five bedrooms, six bathrooms and four living areas. The Chidley Way property comes with a huge lap pool overlooking the Swan River. It was listed last December and not a rushed marketing campaign, as expressions of interest fell due in March this year. Porteous advised the vendors will meet the market.
3.
{yoogallery src=[images/stories/June7hopeisland]}
Sails, on Hope Island, Queensland remains for sale. The vendors will take $16.5 million now, compared with the $19 million desired last June. Set on 5,371 square metres of land, this Hope Island stunner has seven bedrooms, 176 metres of shoreline and a jaw-dropping décor. From the elegant stone lions on either side of the doorway through to the striking black marble bathroom and high-celinged purple lounge room with 180-degree views of the canal, every aspect of the property can only be described as opulent. There’s a 10-seat theatre and beach hut by the pool. The 2,700-square-metre Gracemere Circuit house is still being sold by Ruth Fea of <a title="Hum&amp;Fea" href="https://www.humfea.com.au/" target="_blank">Hum&amp;Fea</a>.
 
 
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4.
 
{yoogallery src=[images/stories/feb22woodlands]}
Woodlands, the 6,130-square-metre Brighton estate with a striking European inspired residence, remains on the market, having returned to the web listings in early 2012. Ian Jackson at <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-brighton-109652496" target="_blank">Kay &amp; Burton has the South Road listing</a>, which hit the market in both 2009 and 2010. The six-bedroom residence was designed by local architect Jon Friedrich within Paul Bangay-designed gardens. Its foyer has a sweeping wrought-iron staircase with marble flooring. The estate comes with a guest house, flood-lit mod-grass tennis court and glassed indoor pool and spa. Buyers must ask Jackson for price guidance for Woodlands, which was initially listed with $10 million-plus hopes. It reputedly sits on the suburb's largest private landholding, the block costing $1 million in 2002.

5. 
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Arts guru Leo Schofield is still seeking buyers for his <a href="https://www.charlottepeterswald.com.au/view_dysart_house__historical_landmark_kempton_12962176" target="_blank">early colonial Tasmanian sandstone residence, Dysart House</a>, marketed since late 2010 through Charlotte Peterswald agent Brian Watchorn. The 1842 residence comes with a music room, billiard room, commercial kitchen and 10 bedrooms and has been Schofield's base since he departed Bronte House. Dysart House’s past owners include Sydneysiders Paul and Yvonne Maule, along with actor Reg Livermore. Dysart House has been marketed as suited for adaption to boutique accommodation, restaurant, or even as cooking school, the state’s current big thing. Its stables could be also be used as an antique centre. Located about 40 minutes from Hobart, it represents the best of listings in Tasmania. The former coaching inn stands on six hectares in the historic village of Kempton, where its first occupant, ex-convict embezzler-turned-innkeeper William Ellis, is buried in the nearby cemetery. Designed in the Greek Revival (Georgian) style, its main facade is breakfront with five bays. The portico has square and round Tuscan columns, framing the central entrance with four-panel door, fanlight and half sidelights. Built in 1842, it was originally named 'The Green Ponds Hotel' and served as an inn, public house and residence until the 1860s. Schofield undertook an extensive restoration over in the past six years. More than $1.2 million is being sought.

6.
{yoogallery src=[images/stories/september19mereworth]}
Historic <a title="Berrima" href="/news" target="_blank">Berrima</a> farm Mereworth remains listed for sale by the Oxley family. The<a href="https://www.meares.com.au/property/mereworth/gallery/mereworth.htm" target="_blank"> 500-hectare property </a>ranks among the most intact Southern Highlands farms, but it is possible to be subdivided before or after sale. It had initial $11 million hopes. It has been held by the pioneering tea-merchant family since it was bought in 1963 after almost 100 years of ownership by the Cowley family. The nine-bedroom 1964 sandstone house was designed by architect John Amory, with a French provincial feel. Its formal lounge room comes with a baronial fireplace and raked ceilings. Shuttered windows and french doors frame the views of the mature garden, once described by Elwyn Swane as one of the finest by landscaper Paul Sorenson. It is listed through Chris Meares from Meares &amp; Associates, who describes it as the best listing since Reg and Joy Grundy paid $15 million for Comfort Hill, the 200-hectare Sutton Forest property from adman-turned-farmer Michael Ball and his wife, Daria, in 2007. The property, with two creeks, 12 dams and seven bores, suits grazing cattle, sheep and horses. Mereworth's occupancy dates back to John Atkinson's 1820 settlement. His brother, James, owned Oldbury at Sutton Forest.
 
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7.
 
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Cunana, the iconic property situated on the Mornington Peninsula in Merricks, was listed with $12 million-plus hopes last November and remains for sale. It was completed in 2007, after four years of planning and construction, to a design by architect Alfred de Bruyne of SJB Architects, with SJB Interiors completing the interior design. Its deluxe design was no doubt influenced by the vendor, who held a senior position at a leading luxury hotel and resort group for many years. <a href="https://www.realestateview.com.au/Real-Estate/3509-frankston-flinders-road-merricks/Property-Details-buy-rural-3374417" target="_blank">Tom Ormerod from Knight Frank </a>has the listing. Glass walls has created an intimate relationship between the house and its surroundings – the three glass sides offer different views of the ocean, vineyards and rolling hills. The property sleeps 14 people, including a master suite with dressing room and two self-contained apartments, which would be suitable for families, long-term guests or live-in staff. Five kitchens and two large terraces offer entertaining opportunities. There’s an indoor pool, gym, and games room complete with arcade machines and a private cinema. The house sits in 11 hectares of land on one of the highest points of the peninsula and includes two hectares of landscaped gardens, orchards and a vegetable garden. There is also croquet lawn and a boule court.

8.
<img src="/images/stories/innisfallen1.jpg">
Innisfallen Castle, the Castle Cove trophy home billed as an irreplaceable piece of history, hasn’t yet found its buying knight. Ranked among Sydney and Australia’s most romantic residential castellated mansions, it's still listed <a href="https://www.kenjacobs.com.au/120087/" target="_blank">through Ken Jacobs of Christies International </a>with approved architects plans for substantial transformation of both the house and grounds. It's listed in the $10 million-plus category. The turreted Innisfallen, last sold in 1988 for $5.25 million, was only built in 1903 on the Castle Cove waterfront. It’s listed by Peter Montgomery, who also owns Fernleigh Castle in Rose Bay. The landmark Gothic sandstone castle occupies 8,353 square metres of waterfront reserve land overlooking Middle Harbour. It’s only had the two owners since it was held by the Willis family since construction until 1988.
9.
 <img src="/images/stories/wolesleyrd.jpg">
The downsizing executive headhunter Julia Ross has yet to sell her Point Piper non-waterfront <a href="https://www.ljhooker.com.au/J7YF93" target="_blank">Villa del Mare</a>. The vast limestone hilltop palazzo sits on 1,508 square metres. Villa del Mare's $21.5 million non-waterfront price when sold to Ross in 2005 was a Sydney non-harbourfront record. The Wolseley Road offering was discreetly put on the market late last year. The trophy residence came with $40 million-plus hopes through Ken Jacobs of Christie's Great Estates and LJ Hooker Double Bay's Bill Malouf. The limestone palazzowas designed by Chris Norris when built in the late 1990s by developer Nati Stoliar. It’s almost certain to sell to Chinese buyers.
 
 
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10. 
{yoogallery src=[images/stories/march9minkara]} 
Former freight tycoon Gregory Poche and Kay van Norton have lessened high hopes for <a href="https://www.maxwalls.com/buying/search/detail.aspx?id=ID110&amp;wlid=d64f2090-f9a6-4e41-96dd-f51e1dc55734" target="_blank">their lavishly imposing Bayview residence La Joie de Vivre</a>. The five-bedroom, seven-bathroom house sits on a 4,091-square-metre Minkara Road hillside holding with Pittwater views. The residence was built for Beirut industrialist Agob Dellalian, replete with fine finishes such as 24-carat gold filigree balustrades. Billed as the ultimate entertainment venue for glamorous gala occasions, its entrance is via the semicircular drive and grand foyer. It has a commercial-grade kitchen and, on its sandstone terrace, a commercial-style wet bar. The grounds come with a heated pool and spa, sauna, gymnasium and tennis court with pavilion. It last sold for $10 million in 2003. When initially listed in 2010 it came with suggestions it was likely to fall short of a double-digit sale price. Poche and van Norton spent $11 million in 2009 buying a vacant Manly harbourfront site on which they are building their own dream home. The philanthropic Poche sold his freight logistics company, Star Track Express, to Qantas for $750 million in 2003. Poche left school at 14 and, after various jobs, joined TNT as the company's national marketing manager in 1970.
11. 
<img src="/images/stories/pacificst.jpg"> 
Soccer star Mark Schwarzer and his wife, Paloma, are staying in Britain, so their 1870s Watsons Bay harbourfront house was listed for sale in March. The five-bedroom Victorian weatherboard – best known for its association with the Stead family – <a href="https://www.pillinger.com/current-listing/72-14-Pacific-WATSONS-BAY" target="_blank">is now on its second marketing campaign through Brad Pillinger of Pillinger Property</a>. He was initially quoting $12 million plus. It was built for John Harmer, a clerk in the water police office at Watsons Bay, by his father, William, a builder and ferry boat owner. During the Stead ownership the property was known as Boongarre, derived from the name of an Aborigine, Bungaree, whom Governor Lachlan Macquarie described as the chief of the Broken Bay tribe. Set on a 1,132-square-metre block, the five-bedroom house has been listed after Schwarzer did all the hard yards securing development approval for Tobias Partners alterations and extensions. He met some resistance when the likes of the US author Jonathan Franzen had asked that the house be preserved as a national heritage item. It was bought from the Pavlik family for $10.2 million in 2009. The Pavlik family bought it from the National Trust in 1991 as it had been bequeathed by Stead's third wife, botanist Thistle Harris, best known as the author of Wild Flowers Of Australia.
12.
<img src="/images/stories/benacre.jpg">
Benacre, a 1870s bluestone Adelaide mansion, remains listed by the wine industry entrepreneur Rory O’Neill and his wife, Cathryn. O’Neill is director of the wine label Australian Domaine Wines. It was built for Henry Scott, the Adelaide mayor and his wife, Emily Gooch, who named it after her ancestral home in Suffolk. After its last major subdivision in the early 1970s, the two-storey house sits on a 6,600-square-metre block at Glen Osmond. The five-bedroom, four-bathroom heritage-listed Victorian Italianate mansion has grand formal rooms with marble details, parquetry floors and hand-painted friezes. There’s a modern extension plus gourmet kitchen that opens to the saltwater pool. The <a href="https://www.toop.com.au/fulldetails.asp?refid=6BENACGLE0A" target="_self">Toop and Toop listing agent Lew Toop</a> had been advising buyers on its initial listing last that they were hoping for close to $6 million. It nows has a $4.95 million asking price.</body></html>

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