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.

Joel Robinson

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

A collection of just 25 large-format apartments and penthouses overlooking Goodwin Park is entering the Coolangatta market, with <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/marea-residences-coolangatta-27-27a-dixon-street-coolangatta-qld-4225">Maréa Residences</a> combining a low-density, residential-only approach with uninterrupted park and Pacific Ocean outlooks.

Located at 27 Dixon Street, Maréa comprises three and four-bedroom residences alongside a limited number of dual-level penthouses, with the project positioned between Goodwin Park and <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/coolangatta-qld-4225">Coolangatta</a>’s coastal precinct.

Construction has commenced, with completion currently estimated for late 2027. Three-bedroom residences are priced from $1.8 million.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=150999 project_image_fid=374005]

The project has been designed around its northern outlook across the park, with the building’s architecture, landscaping and material palette intended to establish a connection with the neighbouring green space. The residences have been configured to maximise natural light and views across Goodwin Park towards the ocean.

Inside, the material palette incorporates timber, stone and brushed brass, complemented by curved detailing and ambient lighting. Kitchens and bathrooms carry the same natural material approach, while residences also include basement parking, storage and lift access.

Maréa’s penthouses are arranged over two levels and include private pools, adding another layer to the project’s focus on larger-format apartment living. Across the development, residences are configured with three or four bedrooms rather than the broader mix of smaller apartment types commonly found in larger projects.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=150999 project_image_fid=374010]

Resident amenity is concentrated at rooftop level, where landscaped entertaining terraces and pools take advantage of elevated views across Coolangatta and the Pacific Ocean.

The project has so far been particularly well received by local owner-occupiers and downsizers, according to Urban Activation Property Sales and Marketing Director Matt George, with the residential-only format, construction quality and northern park outlook among the features resonating with purchasers.

“The uninterrupted northern aspect overlooking Goodwin Park has been a key point of difference, with buyers attracted to the sense of serenity and open space the park provides, while still enjoying easy access to the ocean and being within walking distance of the lifestyle and amenities Coolangatta has to offer,” George said.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=150999 project_image_fid=374002]

“The combination of high-quality construction, a residential-only building, park outlook and proximity to the beach has resonated strongly with the local downsizer market.”

The Dixon Street address is within walking distance of Coolangatta Beach and the broader southern Gold Coast coastline, including the surf breaks at Snapper Rocks and Kirra. Coolangatta’s cafés, restaurants and retail are nearby, while Gold Coast Airport is also within close proximity.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=150999]

Maréa Residences brings parkside apartments to Coolangatta

Sydney

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<div>The Sydney weekend auction market produced another strong result at the weekend although APM senior economist Dr Andrew Wilson acknowledges the trend has clearly weakened over recent weeks.  </div>
<div> </div>
<div>"Saturday’s 83.2 percent clearance rate was the lowest non-holiday rate reported since March 7," he noted. The revised result sits even lower, though still in the 80s. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>There was a $1.26 median house price across Sydney auction and an $843,500 median apartment price. Just the five sales below $500,000 in the Sydney metropolitan suburbs. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<div>The most expensive property reported sold at auction at the weekend was a 1960s three bedroom home at 4 Sverge Street Mosman sold for $3,050,000 by McGrath Mosman. 
Mosman again had the highest sale across Sydney - at $3.05 million at 4 Sverge Street - again through McGrath, albeit at half last weekend's $6 million top reported sale.
The weekend sale was a 1960s original on 768 square metres.
</div>
<div>The most affordable property reported sold at the weekend was a two bedroom Canley Vale apartment (below) that fetched $365,000, then outside of Sydney a two bedroom home at 39 Allambee Crescent, Blue Haven that sold for $295,000 by Raine and Horne Charmhaven.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>The Canley Vale apartment sold a $163,000 in 2008, reflecting a very healthy 12% annual growth.</div>
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<div id="Content_Content_propertyPhotos_MainImage_upnlHeroImage">
<div id="Content_Content_propertyPhotos_MainImage_MainImagePlaceholder" class="img-wrapper"><img class="js-first-image" src="https://b.domainstatic.com.au/w800-h600-w3456-h2304-2011962878_1_pi_150507_124645" alt="11/55 bartley st cabramatta NSW 2166"></div>
</div>
<a id="Content_Content_propertyPhotos_lnkPhoto" href="https://www.domain.com.au/ore/Public/Gallery/Photo.aspx?adid=2012019634&amp;pic=1&amp;mode=Sold&amp;AgencyID=8437" style="line-height: 1.3em;"> </a>
</div>
<div>Saturdays result was slightly lower than last weekend’s 83.3 percent but well ahead of the 75.1 percent recorded over the same weekend last year. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>"Sydney’s weekend clearance rates however have now fallen over three consecutive Saturdays which may indicate early signs of the usual mid-year hibernation for the market as buyers and sellers re-focus on a spring campaign," Dr Wilson suggested.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Sydney's overall weekend clearance rate was a smidge down at 83.2%, compared to last weekend's initial 83.3%, which was then revised down to 81.9% after the late notified results.</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="separator">Saturday’s weekend result was achieved from high auction numbers for this time of the year with 686 listings – just below last weekend’s 692 but well ahead of the 580 listed over the same weekend last year.</div>
<div class="separator"> </div>
<div class="separator">Over 650 auctions are expected next weekend.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>The Blue Mountains again reported the highest regional clearance rate with 100% from just two reported auctions.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Next highest was the north west with 96.2 percent with just one of the 26 reported auctions failing to sell under the hammer.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>The inner west followed with 87.5 percent, the northern beaches 86.7 percent, Canterbury Bankstown 86.5 percent, the lower north shore 86.2 percent, the city and east 85.5 percent, the west 83.3 percent, the upper north shore 81.3 percent, the south 80.0 percent, and the south west 69.0 percent.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>The central coast with a 66.7 percent clearance rate.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<div>Sydney’s upper north shore hosted the most number of auctions of the suburban regions with 98 scheduled.  Next highest was the inner west with 93 followed by the south 87, the city and east 74, the lower north and the west each with 60, Canterbury Bankstown  43, the northern beaches 42, the north west 33, the central coast 19 and the Blue Mountains with 2 auctions scheduled this weekend.</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="separator">The most popular suburb for auctions in Sydney on the weekend was Wahroonga with 12 followed by Mosman with 11, Baulkham Hills 10, Hurstville and Blacktown each with nine.</div>
</div>
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jchancellor-FAypfDUnLy

Mosman again the weekend's dearest with Canley Vale $365,000 the cheapest

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For the third time this year Thornleigh has secured another suburb price record.
This time, the Daily Telegraph reports, it was the sale of a renovated four-bedroom house on Beresford Road which bettered the $1,715,000 set last month when the record was set twice on the same day.
Auctioneer Leon Axford sold <a href="https://www.realestateview.com.au/Real-Estate/37-beresford-road-thornleigh/Property-Details-buy-residential-8947628" target="_blank">37 Beresford Road</a> through Dion Verzeletti at Ray White at $1,717,000 today. <a href="https://au.news.yahoo.com/video/watch/28508435/property-bubble-bigger-than-estimated/#page1" target="_blank">Channel 7 were there</a>.
<img src="https://i3.au.reastatic.net/800x600/56e73ac2c4a76a378b7f9ba23cb7c97c7f3cdb45b76d5b5c2d2090d1cee674cb/main.jpg" alt="37 Beresford Road, Thornleigh" title="37 Beresford Road, Thornleigh" data-index="0">
Property Observer recently noted Thornleigh was among 14 Sydney suburbs scoring a perfect 100% auction clearance rate during the autumn selling season.
Thornleigh on the upper north shore headlined the remarkable feat <a href="/expert-insights/buying/thornleighs-100-autumn-auction-success-rate-and-the-13-other-stellar-sydney-hotspots">with 23 sales over the three months to May 31</a>.
The $1,717,000 house had been extensively renovated having previously (photo below) sold at $660,000 in 2013 and at $640,000 in 2010.
<img class="js-first-image" src="https://b.domainstatic.com.au/w800-h600-6747086_1_pi_150228_085305" alt="37 beresford rd thornleigh NSW 2120">
Thornleigh's runner up now is 20 Handley Avenue, (below) a five bedroom country style homestead.
<img src="https://i1.au.reastatic.net/456x342/07c6c3fd3959eadaed1cb608088d03b78596262841232e83d31c38f03847f97d/main.jpg" alt="20 Handley Avenue, Thornleigh" title="20 Handley Avenue, Thornleigh" data-index="0">
Still on the podium is 23 Judson Road, a five bedroom single storey home (below) on a 778 square metre triangular block.
<img src="https://i1.au.reastatic.net/456x342/b2bf40fa180206e8289961625184f19419bcb7aff967a9a5732619e744b6707a/main.jpg" alt="23 Judson Road, Thornleigh" title="23 Judson Road, Thornleigh" data-index="0">
The suburb went into 2015 with a $1,525,000 top sale price.
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$2000 higher, so Thornleigh's third record residential sale in 2015

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Australia has boosted its prime residential price index, with Sydney and Melbourne boosting their international status as number 10 and 11 respectively on the latest Knight Frank Prime Global Cities Index.
The index enables investors and developers to monitor and compare the performance of prime residential prices across key global cities, with prime property corresponding to the top five per cent of the wider housing market in each city.
The Knight Frank Prime Global Cities Index increased by 3.9% globally in the year to March 2015. North American cities occupy three of the top four rankings for annual price growth, while luxury properties are, on average, 46% more expensive than in Q2 2009 when the index hit its financial crisis low.
 
Out of the 56 markets monitored by Knight Frank, only 14 locations registered price declines.
The worst performing was war-torn Ukraine, showing a 15.5 percent drop in rates, followed by Cyprus, where values fell by 8.2 percent and China, falling by 6.4 percent.
 
The index, which is compiled on a quarterly basis using official government statistics or central bank data, indicated that Hong Kong is currently the top performing market today in terms of growth in property values, registering an increase of 18.7 percent.
 
The second top performing market is Turkey, where values accelerated by 18.6 percent, followed by Ireland in the third place (16.8 percent), Luxembourg (12.1  percent) and Estonia (11 percent).
According to Knight Frank’s Associate Director for Residential Research in Australia, Michelle Ciesielski, Sydney and Melbourne have increased on the index by 7.4% and 7.2% respectively over the past 12 months.
“Despite the mainstream market in Sydney over the same time achieving growth of 16.5% for houses, and 12.9% for apartments, those purchasing prime properties in Sydney have preferred to wait for the right opportunity, at the right value.
“The two years following the introduction of the Significant Investor Visa in 2012, we saw more Chinese-based purchasers in the prime residential market.
“However, over the past 18 months we’ve witnessed more local purchasers, with many expats returning to Sydney and Melbourne.
 “We expect growth to continue in the top five per cent of the residential market with the current low-interest rate environment, steady business confidence and a weaker Australian dollar than we saw when the Significant Investor Visa was first introduced.
“Attracting more net worth individuals to Australia, from July 1, the Government will be offering a more expeditious, 12-month pathway to permanent residency for those meeting an AUD$15 million threshold under the Premium Investor Visa,” said Ms Ciesielski.
According to the report, globally the index showed a mixed picture. Previous strong performers such as London slipped back, whilst cities such as San Francisco, Vancouver and Sydney climbed the rankings.
The report found the ongoing tussle between globalisation (wealth creation, improved connectivity) on the one hand and protectionism (including foreign buyer restrictions, capital controls) on the other is set to dominate purchase decisions for luxury buyers and hence market performance going forward, as explored in this year’s <a href="https://www.knightfrank.com/wealthreport" target="_blank" style="line-height: 1.3em;">Wealth Report</a>.
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Sydney and Melbourne boost international status: Knight Frank Prime Global Cities Index

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Pharmacists Gary and Mary Smoker have relisted their Mosman trophy home, Ardagh.
It had initial $15 million hopes through Brendan Warner of Raine &amp; Horne Mosman, but is now listed through Richard Harding at LJ Hooker who says there had been only five owners in a rich 110 year history, "truly one of the North Shore's finest family estates."
<a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-mosman-119904045" target="_blank">Set on 2700 square metres</a>, the seven-bedroom Federation mansion with pool and tennis court was built in 1905.
In 1922 it was bought by former British trade commissioner John Adamsand his wife Gwynneth who sold it in 1964 to pianist John Champ.
Smoker, a former Mosman alderman, bought the Prince Albert Street property in 1993 for $1.7 million. 
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Ardagh, the Mosman trophy home relisted

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Most of the price data that clutters up the airways is essentially useless information.
Boffins sitting in an office in Paris look at a number which says “Australian property values rose 9% in the past year” and imagine that tells them something about conditions in the fictitious creature they call the Australian property market.
Suddenly we have the OECD telling us we’re at risk of a price correction after gazing at Australia through an out-of-focus telescope across a distance of 17,000km. Seriously, these turkeys have no right to even express an opinion. Especially as that opinion is based on a meaningless statistic.
I’ve read in the past two weeks at least five different figures purporting to describe the median cost of the home in Sydney, ranging from $750,000 to $1 million.
Most of them are fanciful and inaccurate but that doesn’t stop commentators from giving them enormous import. The walking talking ego generally known as Graham Richardson pontificated that the average Sydney home cost a million dollars and declared that no one could afford that. The statement was inherently absurd because if the Sydney market is raging and a million dollars is the median price, clearly a lot of people can afford it because half of all sales are higher than that median figure.
The bottom line is: the average, mean or median is not a million dollars. CoreLogic RP Data’s latest figures suggest the median dwelling price for Sydney is currently $752,000. The other bottom line is that this figure is meaningless and misleading when you understand that Sydney has over 700 suburbs with median house prices ranging from $345,000 to $3.46 million.
It’s particularly meaningless and misleading in this context: first-home buyers can’t afford to pay $752,000 therefore, according to the misinformed, we have an affordability crisis which means we need to scrap negative gearing, ban foreign investment, cut out all first-home buyer grants because apparently they just inflate prices, introduce lending restrictions, call another federal parliamentary inquiry because the 18-month inquiry recently concluded didn’t discover anything new and savage the Federal Treasurer for daring to suggest a good job enhances your prospects of getting a loan.
The end result: truth, accuracy, balance and fair play just took another hammering - but, hey, lots of newspapers got sold.
The latest edition of Market Monitor from the Real Estate Institute of Queensland highlights how unhelpful it is to quote a single price statistic for an entire large city.
CoreLogic RP Data says the home value index for the Greater Brisbane area rose 3.1% in the past 12 months. Domain says the median house price increased 2.8%.
What do you deduce from that? That the Brisbane market is lukewarm? That growth in the city is anaemic at best? Richardson, in his irresponsible outburst on Sky News last week, declared Brisbane had recorded “no growth for years”.
You have to look deeper, otherwise you’re wasting everyone’s time.
Market Monitor shows the median house price for the Brisbane City local government area rose 7.2% in the year to April. So the Brisbane City Council area has been better than the wider Brisbane metropolitan area. 
And many individual suburbs did considerably better than that. Northgate grew 12.7% and Holland Park 13.5%, while Chermside rose 18.4% and Nudgee 17.3%.
A scan of the figures suggests that the middle market suburbs of Brisbane City have done much better than the LGA average, which in turn in much higher than the Greater Brisbane average result.
But media quotes the area average rise, which creates a quite misleading impression.
If you take the time to look through a report like Market Monitor, there are hundreds of stories about suburban and town markets, all doing different things influenced by local events - oblivious to the level of interest rates or the ignorance of media talking heads or the pompous proclamations of twits working for a bureaucracy based in Europe.
TERRY RYDER is the founder of <a href="https://www.hotspotting.com.au/" target="_blank">hotspotting.com.au</a>. You can <a href="https://mailto:ryder@hotspotting.com.au" target="_blank">email him</a> or follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/hotspotting" target="_blank">Twitter.</a> 
Terry was joined by Property Observer editor at large Jonathan Chancellor yesterday for a webinar on why research is the key to successful property investing in 2015. You can download slides and audio from the webinar here.
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terryryder-YECXbqmri2

Accurate price data or useless information? Terry Ryder

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Conditions in the housing market in Sydney and parts of Melbourne had remained "very strong," though trends were more mixed in other cities, according to the Reserve Bank of Australia June meeting minutes.
The ratcheting up of the market strength comes after prior commentary that had these markets as "strong." 
It noted dwelling investment looked to have grown strongly in the March quarter and forward-looking indicators of construction activity pointed to a further pick-up.
Members noted that conditions in the established housing market had continued to vary across the country.
"Although housing price inflation had remained high in Sydney and, to a lesser extent, in Melbourne over recent months, there had been some divergence in price developments for different segments of these markets; price inflation of detached houses had increased, whereas price inflation for units had eased in both cities."
This trend was picked up in the <a href="/expert-insights/buying/apartment-price-decline-mays-most-marked-trend-corelogic-rp-data">June CoreLogic RP Data statistics</a>. 
"Noting that housing price growth in other cities and regional areas had declined over recent months, members discussed the strength and composition of underlying supply and demand conditions in different parts of the housing market."
They also observed that there was a relatively low stock of dwellings for sale in Sydney and Melbourne and that dwellings took only a short time to sell.
Members noted that housing credit growth overall had been broadly steady at around 7% (on a six-month-ended annualised basis), though the latest data on loan approvals had showed a pick-up.
Over the past six months or so, growth in investor credit had eased back to be running at an annualised pace of a bit above 10%. However, over more recent months there had been solid increases in housing loan approvals to both owner-occupiers and investors, particularly in New South Wales, following earlier declines.
 
  
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Units off the boil, but house inflation in Sydney and parts of Melbourne now "very strong" RBA June minutes 

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New figures from the Commonwealth Bank in conjunction with CoreLogic RP Data show a number of 'extreme' conditions for selling property located within the western, outer west, outer south west and inner Sydney suburbs.
The <a href="/expert-insights/buyers-favoured-over-sellers-in-queensland-commonwealth-bank-home-buyers-index">Commonwealth Bank-CoreLogic Home Buyers Index (HBI)</a> April 2015, released today, noted Liverpool-Fairfield and Blacktown as suburbs which market conditions became much less favourable for sellers during the three-month period ending in April.
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The report also suggested appropriately-priced are selling quickly and often above list price, with buyers "having much less negotiating power due to low stock levels and rapid selling times."
 
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'Extreme' selling conditions in Sydney pockets: Commonwealth Bank-CoreLogic Home Buyers Index

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The debate over Sydney’s property price bubble (Yes there is! No there isn’t!) sits smack bang in the middle of one of the most fascinating economic questions of our time: how risky is sudden asset price inflation?
And if the risk is judged to be high what, if anything, are policymakers to do about it?
In the 24/7 world of US and European bond markets, traders’ Bloomberg screens have bleated dire warnings since bond yields went negative last year for the first time in modern economic history. In China, speculators watch equity markets in Shanghai and Shenzhen that have risen more than 150% in the past 12 months. And in Australia, Australian_property_bubble is its own Wikipedia page.
As my former boss Saul Eslake pointed out last week in the Sydney Morning Herald, to use the term bubble in relation to asset prices is “emotionally laden”. It has no definition in the academic literature, other than a generalised notion of a sudden and upward acceleration in asset price movements that poses the risk of a violent crash.
Alan Greenspan’s famous term “irrational exuberance,” was another expression of emotion. Bubbles – the endgame of a bull market – are not as well defined as a bear market, which generally refers to a 20% or more fall in equity prices, or an economic recession, which is two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth.
What is a bubble and other tricky definitions
One of the big challenges in defining a bubble is in establishing its start. Sydney property prices are a case in point. In 2014, the ABS residential property price index for Sydney indicated a 14.7% rise for the year. That’s strong growth, and was at least double the rate of growth seen in other capital cities. But extend the starting point back five years, and Sydney’s property prices have increased by 39%, roughly on par with Canberra (36%) and Melbourne (35%). Go back 10 years, and Sydney’s property price growth of 57% is significantly less than the national weighted average of (85%) and less than half that of Darwin (168%) and Perth (133%), or even Melbourne (113%).
So are Sydney property prices in bubble territory, or are they just catching up after a period of flat-to-negative growth in the early 2000s? What of other factors such as the underlying dynamics of supply and demand, housing density, urban planning and land value?
When policymakers are staring in the face a potential bubble, their real concern is the underlying drivers of that sudden, rapid surge. Is the bubble a symptom of systemic risk?
Growth in credit and foreign investors
In Sydney’s case, two potential systemic risks merit scrutiny. The first is the very rapid growth in credit being used for property investment; that is, the expansion of leverage. The second is increasing foreign investment that is reportedly flowing into the Sydney property market, purportedly from China.
These are, however, two very different risk stories. Of the two, leverage is far more pernicious. Excessive household leverage in particular walks down a well-worn path toward financial instability - as the global financial crisis amply reminded us - where it can take years for families to repair their balance sheets after a hit. “Buyer beware” is a theoretically correct construct, but not a particularly practical one should a government have to face down armies of homeowners sinking under negative equity.
Rising capital inflows hold much less risk, particularly in an Australian context. A sufficient magnitude of outflows would dampen market prices, potentially cause the Australian dollar to weaken somewhat and ultimately require some current account adjustment. One could argue that this outcome may be an upside risk for growth, not a downside one.
Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens’ comments last week in Brisbane make it clear that his focus is square on the risk of leverage. He notes pointedly that Australian households already have a high debt burden taken on in the years leading up to the 2008 financial crisis; the point of the speech was a plea was for government to shoulder the burden by getting on with a boost in useful (non-mining) infrastructure investment while cheap finance is so plentiful.
Macroprudential actions
Should Stevens’ concerns on household indebtedness move from words to action, the policy response would be to temper leverage. The most targeted and effective approach is to make borrowing more expensive through more stringent customer debt-to-income tests.
The RBA and Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) could also reduce the allowable maximum loan-to-valuation ratios (LVRs) thereby requiring higher deposits – following the example of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand – or, in a nod to recommendations in the Financial Services Inquiry, increase the Big Four banks’ risk weights on capital held against mortgage loans.
These types of measures are often called “macroprudential”– that is, regulations applied to maintain financial system stability by directly addressing perceived underlying risks. Macroprudential regulation is a term that has come back into vogue in the post-GFC world. In reality, the concepts are not new.
As Luci Ellis and Paul Woolley pointed out in an RBA paper back in 2012, a macroprudential policy stance is more a state of mind around monitoring and acting on systemic risks rather than a specific set of policy measures or tools.
Lower stamp duties, increase capital gains tax?
A second course of action would be for the federal or state government to shift market dynamics through tax incentives. Lowering stamp duties would reduce transactions costs, potentially freeing up more supply in the existing housing stock. So could shifting the pension asset test to increase the incentive to downsize from the family home once it is no longer needed. Introducing greater capital gains tax on properties sold within a short period or reducing the benefits of negative gearing would go a long way toward discouraging investor-driven acquisitions, while imposing new levies on purchases by non-residents could dampen capital inflows.
The problem with changing property-related tax policies for residents is twofold; not everyone will be happy, and the need for gradual introduction to allow for adjustment means impacts may be slow. An additional issue with trying to limit property purchases by non-residents through tax is that its target is a great unknown.
Hong Kong’s failure to deflate
As will be discussed in depth in a paper released by the Australian Centre for Financial Studies and Finsia this week, there continues to be a remarkable lack of comprehensive and reliable data on both the source and ultimate destination of foreign investment into Australia, and particularly into the residential and commercial property market. With such thin evidence as to both the total size and the source of these anecdotal flows, policymakers are shooting in the dark.
Beyond this, it cannot be guaranteed that raising borrowing costs and shifting tax incentives would deflate a perceived property bubble. Hong Kong and Singapore have both tried it, and arguably failed. In 2010, Hong Kong moved to simultaneously require a significant increase in deposits for investment properties while also adopting additional stamp duties on investment properties, with higher penalties for non-resident investors. Singapore followed suit in 2013.
The impact on Hong Kong has been negligible. Despite concerns of market disruption in 2010, property prices continued to climb and hit an all-time high last year. Singapore did see its property prices flatten in 2013, then fall by 4% in 2014.
However, there has also been a significant decline in the volume of both existing and new home sales according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority, suggesting that these measures may not have had the desired impact of increasing housing affordability or supply. And although prices have not increased, they remain high relative to Singapore household income.
Crazy indeed.
Amy Auster is Deputy Director at the Australian Centre for Financial Studies. She can be contacted <a href="https://www.australiancentre.com.au/AboutUs/Staff/AmyAuster" target="_blank">here</a>.
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Blowing bubbles: the tricky task of tackling Sydney's property market 

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From social housing to speculators. 
The first government-sold heritage terrace at Millers Point that fetched $1,911,000 just 10 months ago is back for sale.
The 1880s terrace was the first of scheduled 293 public housing properties to be sold off by Government Property NSW in August last year.
<a href="/expert-insights/buying/vacated-millers-point-four-level-terrace-fetches-1-911-000-at-private-state-government-auction">The then rundown four-bedroom heritage-listed</a> home had been vacant since early 2011 with the last public housing tenant paying $77.20 a week rent at the property which has water views over Walsh Bay.
The relisted <a href="https://sydneysothebysrealty.com/5095303/119-Kent-Street-Millers-Point" target="_blank">119 Kent Street, Millers Point </a><a href="https://sydneysothebysrealty.com/5095303/119-Kent-Street-Millers-Point" target="_blank">home</a> sits on a 109 sq m block with no parking.
The house has original fireplaces and floorboards, 3.25m high ceilings and a sandstone-walled sunlit courtyard.
It is marketed by Harriett France a Sotheby's as "recently refreshed with new kitchens and bathrooms - scope for further improvement."
Around $2.5 million is expected by the Sfeir family.
The controversial sell off, which has resulted in the relocation of public housing tenants, is tipped to set off a major gentrification in the historic suburb.
The state government <a href="https://rediscovermillerspoint.com.au" target="_blank">has created a website </a>to sell the virtues.
 
 
 
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Quick flip profits sought for 119 Kent Street, Millers Point former state government offering 

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There were 14 Sydney suburbs scoring a perfect 100 per cent auction clearance rate during the autumn selling season.
Thornleigh on the upper north shore headlined the remarkable feat with 23 sales over the three months to May 31.
In second place with 22 sales was Naremburn on the lower north shore.
Sydney's clearance rate for the autumn quarter sat at 83.3 per cent with 161 suburbs scoring auction success results above the Sydney-wide clearance rate. 
With winter auctions now underway, Thornleigh won't be on the next 100 percent list given a three bedroom weekend offering (below) was withdrawn, now for sale with offers sought above $1 million.
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<div id="Content_Content_propertyPhotos_MainImage_MainImagePlaceholder" class="img-wrapper"><a id="Content_Content_propertyPhotos_MainImage_MainPhotoLink" class="feature" href="https://www.domain.com.au/ore/Public/Gallery/Photo.aspx?adid=2011994087&amp;pic=1&amp;mode=Buy&amp;AgencyID=17346" target="ImageWindow"><img class="js-first-image" src="https://b.domainstatic.com.au/w800-h600-w1600-h1200-2011994087_1_pi_150608_045111" alt="71 beresford road thornleigh NSW 2120"></a></div>
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<div class="img-wrapper">Backing onto natural bushland with a north east to rear aspect, the elevated home was marketed as providing "an exceptional investment opportunity" with future potential for the 765sqm site. The estimated return was $600 per week according to the McGrath marketing. It was bought by a super fund at $535,000 in 2009. </div>
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<div class="img-wrapper">Nearby Cherrybrook in the Hills district was among other strong 100% performers during Autumn, according to Australian Property Monitors.</div>
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Ditto Killarney Heights on the northern beaches, North Willoughby on the lower north shore, Manly Vale on the northern beaches, Westmead and North Strathfield in the inner west and the southern suburbs' Mordale, Birrong, Kareela and Gymea South.
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There was Lalor Park in Blacktown, Wentworthville in the west.
APM Domain Group senior economist Dr Andrew Wilson most of the 14 suburbs tended to be next to much better known suburbs, but they had recently come into their own as a more affordable alternative.
The Sydney suburb with the lowest clearance rate was Middleton Grange in Sydney's west, where 46 per cent of homes sold under the autumn auction hammer.
On Saturday Sydney secured an auction clearance rate of 83.3 per cent.
 
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