The new <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/yarraville-green-42-stephen-street-yarraville-vic-3013">Yarraville Green</a> development in Melbourne's inner west is showing that landscaping can be just as influential as architecture, with buyers responding strongly to the garden-first approach adopted from the outset by developer Excelon Projects and the project's design team.

Excelon appointed Six Degrees Architects and landscape architects SBLA to work collaboratively on the development, with a brief to create "a sustainable, design-led building with a focus on community."

That approach has resonated with buyers. According to Next Chapter Director Tom Hirini, who is leading the sales campaign, the landscaped communal garden has become one of the project's defining features, alongside its boutique scale and European-inspired cluster housing concept.

Local downsizers, right-sizers and established families already living in Yarraville and surrounding suburbs have accounted for the majority of purchasers.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=144913 project_image_fid=297740]

Yarraville Green will comprise 53 homes, including apartments and townhomes, arranged around the shared central garden to maximise connections to the landscaped open space. Parking has been moved underground, allowing the ground plane to be dedicated to greenery, pedestrian movement and communal spaces.

The landscape extends well beyond passive planting. Productive garden beds, a pergola, communal gathering spaces, garden sheds and a pet wash have all been integrated into the masterplan, creating spaces designed to encourage everyday interaction between residents.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=144913 project_image_fid=297741]

The interiors continue Excelon's focus on craftsmanship, incorporating bespoke elements by Melbourne artisans including leadlight detailing by Adadaz, hand-turned timber hardware by Auburn Woodturning and blown-glass lighting by Ruth Allen.

Sustainability has also been embedded throughout the project, with Yarraville Green targeting an average 7-star NatHERS energy rating through passive design principles, rooftop solar servicing common areas and rainwater harvesting for landscape irrigation.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=144913 project_image_fid=297735]

Construction continues to progress at Yarraville Green, with structural works well underway and framing works approaching completion under builder Balmain &amp; Co. The project remains on track for completion in mid-2027.

Apartments at Yarraville Green are currently priced from $625,000, while townhomes start from $1.4 million.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=144913]

Joel Robinson

Garden-led design drives buyer demand at Yarraville Green

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

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

The enormity of delivering a true skyscraper in Australia's new development market is often overlooked.

It has taken the best part of a decade since plans for Chevron One were first unveiled, but the 41-storey tower is now complete, with residents collecting their keys and moving into what has become one of the Gold Coast's most recognisable new landmarks.

Rising 127 metres above Chevron Island, Chevron One stands almost twice as high as any other building on the island. Its scale places it alongside the trio of towers at Jewel, arguably the last truly significant addition to the central Gold Coast skyline when they were completed around six years ago.

While there are several developments underway around a similar height to Chevron One, they are more concentrated within clusters of the highest towers in the city. The fact Chevron One sits within a developing precinct, looking back at the other high-rise developments in Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach, makes it a different proposition altogether. It will certainly become a reference point on the Gold Coast skyline.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=6515 project_image_fid=68833]

Developer Bensons Property Group is behind the 41-storey tower, which has 229 apartments, along with an exhaustive list of resident amenity spread across what is the largest development site ever assembled on Chevron Island.

The tower has been the talk of the town for years, says Ray White Projects Gold Coast agent Caitlin Rosenboom, who is selling the remaining apartments.

"People have been watching Chevron One go up for years," Rosenboom says, adding that many prospective buyers have been surprised by the scale of the views once they step inside.

"It's only when they walk through a completed apartment that they truly understand the position of the building," Rosenboom says.

"The views are jaw-dropping. Whether you're looking east over the ocean, across Surfers Paradise, along the river systems or out to the hinterland, every level offers something different but equally impressive."

[smartcode_project:default project_id=6515 project_image_fid=360215]

One of Chevron One's defining advantages is its location on the eastern side of Chevron Island on Stanhill Drive, a position which protects the views forever.

"There's only one row of houses between Chevron One and the water, and the height restrictions along the river means views from Chevron One can never be built out,"&nbsp;Rosenboom says.

While new apartment developments continue to emerge across the Gold Coast, Rosenboom says opportunities to secure a completed apartment with this level of outlook are becoming increasingly rare.

"The size of the site is something that would be incredibly difficult to replicate today," she says.

"That's allowed Chevron One to deliver the sort of amenity, open space and resident facilities that very few projects can offer. There are not many completed apartment buildings on the Gold Coast right now that can compete with the combination of scale, quality and amenity."

[smartcode_project:default project_id=6515 project_image_fid=68839]

There's around 2,000 sqm of amenity solely for the use of residents of Chevron One. Club One features a uniquely shaped swimming pool that mirrors the footprint of the building itself, set within a extensively landscaped gardens. There's also an indoor pool and spa, a fully equipped gym with a Pilates room, a yoga garden, a bookable private dining area and lounge that can host up to 30 people, and a 24-hour concierge service.

As for the buyers, Rosenboom is fielding enquiry from everywhere: Sydneysiders and Melburnians looking at the new and off-the-plan market following the changes in the Federal Budget, as well as those looking to relocate, through to South East Queenslanders seeking either a permanent home or a weekender bolthole.

"The Gold Coast lifestyle continues to resonate with people relocating from the southern states, and when they see the views and the quality of what's been delivered at Chevron One, it becomes very easy for them to understand the appeal," Rosenboom says.

A diverse mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments remain available, with each offering "something a little different", be it the orientation and views, configuration, or level, to suit a wide variety of buyers.

The remaining apartments are ready to inspect in person, by appointment.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=6515]

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

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

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

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

Elevated amenity anchors daily life at Aeris, Melrose Park

Government

<html><body>
Jill Garner has been appointed as Victoria's new government architect, set to have a major role in assessing major development and infrastructure projects across Victoria. 
Ms Garner, the associate Victorian Government architect since 2010, replaces Geoffrey London, who stepped down last year after two three-year terms.
Prior to working for the state government, Ms Garner was at an architecture firm she co-founded, <a href="https://garnerdavis.com.au/" target="_blank">Garner Davis Architects</a>.
She has also taught design, architectural history and contemporary theory at Melbourne University and RMIT. 
Garner Davis Architects is a St Kilda based architecture studio, established by Jill Garner and Lindsay Davis in 1990.
"I am also happy to announce today that the Office of the Victorian Government Architect's Design Review Panel will be given a stronger role in the development of our city, and will be charged with independently assessing new significant development applications in the central city," the Planning Minister Richard Wynne said.
"Their assessment will be made publicly available."
</body></html>

jchancellor-FAypfDUnLy

Jill Garner appointed Victoria's government architect

<html><body>
The ACT government has appointed Ray White Commercial to market the Kingston Arts Precinct, an urban renewal project in Canberra’s oldest suburb.
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the project offered developers the opportunity to transform the four-hectare area around the Canberra Glassworks into a arts and creative hub.
The 40,295 square metre site would include about 22,000 square metres of commercial space, 7,000 square metres of arts amenity, apartments and public space.
A master plan for the Kingston Foreshore was approved last year, and an independent feasibility study into the arts hub came out in June.
Ray White Commercial Canberra director Andrew Smith expects developers - local, national and international - to express interest. 
“The staging of the project will be proposed by developers in their tenders, but the public realm and arts deliverables are expected to be delivered in the first stages,” he said.
Expressions of interest have been sought by early December and the preferred developer is expected to be announced in mid-2016.
“It will be a place where artists, cultural organizations and creative businesses make, teach, exhibit, perform and sell their work,” Barr said.
“The area is already home to leading arts organisations the Canberra Glassworks and Megalo Print Studio + Gallery, and the Old Bus Depot markets.
"We expect others will relocate to the precinct."
</body></html>

j.ballantyne1990-6AQqhLzZaK

Ray White to market Canberra's Kingston Arts Precinct

<html><body>
Consumers have been told they will receive greater protection when purchasing a property, after a bill aimed at strengthening the law against underquoting passed the NSW Parliament this week.
Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation Victor Dominello said the reform fulfilled a NSW Government election commitment.
NSW Fair Trading and REINSW are working in partnership to prepare real estate agents for the new laws, which take effect on 1 January 2016, with information sessions already underway.
“The NSW Government committed to overhauling the current laws to crackdown on the practice of real estate underquoting – and we have delivered,” he said.
“Underquoting is illegal and misleads potential buyers looking for their dream home.”
The amendments to the Property Stock and Business Agents Act 2002 include:
·         Agents will be required to provide evidence of their estimated selling price to the vendor and this estimate must be stated in the agency agreement;
·         When marketing a property an agent must only use the estimated selling price provided in the agency agreement;
·         Estimated selling price can be a single figure or a price range. If a price range is used, the highest price must not be more than 10% higher than the lowest price;
·         Advertisements and representations that say “offers over” or “offers above” or any similar statement will be prohibited;
·         Agents will be required to keep a register of prices quoted on a property whether these are provided to the vendor or prospective purchasers.
In addition to the existing penalty of $22,000, agents found guilty of underquoting will now be liable to forfeiture of any commission or fees from the sale.
“There have been no successful prosecutions related to underquoting made under this Act in 13 years, so this reform is long overdue,” Mr Dominello said.
</body></html>

Property underquoting bill passes NSW Parliament

<html><body><div class="page" title="Page 1">
<div class="layoutArea">
<div class="column">
Developers who are councillors should not be allowed to vote on any planning instrument that they could benefit from. 
It is important that the approval of planning changes that could affect property values are not undertaken by councillors who could be perceived to gain from those changes. This means that any councillor with a pecuniary interest in a property in the local government area should not vote on development applications or on the rezoning of precincts affecting that property.
If a councillor is involved in development, or owns land that could change in value, or could gain an increase in their own land value by opposing more housing supply, then that councillor should not be able to vote on any change to the planning rules.
The Urban Taskforce believes that it is preferable that full time developers do not become councillors as they will be perceived to be involved in increasing the value of land they may own.
There should also be stronger controls on the role of councillors elected to council on an anti-growth platform as they are clearly concerned to maximise the value of existing properties by stopping more supply. Their pecuniary interest is less direct but it would be best for them to not vote on development applications or rezoning of precincts.
If all those who are conflicted on planning issues are excluded from voting it is likely that a quorum of voters may not be achieved. The answer should be to move to a fully independent process of approval of planning issues by Independent Hearing and Assessment Panels (IHAPs) or for the proposed Greater Sydney Commission to take over this role. IHAPS are used successfully in many areas and would negate any real or perceived conflict of interest and result in a clear, transparent decision making process. 
It will be better for Metropolitan Sydney to move planning away from the competing interests of factions in local government to an independent process run by experts.
 
Chris Johnson is chief executive officer of property development industry group Urban Taskforce and can be contacted <a href="https://www.urbantaskforce.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=97&amp;Itemid=126#.Vdaart55dFI" target="_blank">here</a>.
</div>
</div>
</div></body></html>

cjohnson-8xfqfuuCSq

Councillors should not vote on plans they can benefit from: Urban Taskforce

<html><body>
At a time where it would seemingly be an unfortunate game of “free-for-all” in the real estate and property arena that has negative-compounding effects on the public, the question remains; what institution or governing body, should take centre stage and curve the unethical practices of many agents, by adopting and implementing higher standards in new-training curriculums, before issuing licenses? 
Will it be the Real Estate Institute NSW (REINSW) or should Fair Trading and NSW Government offices alone handle the accreditations and certifications? Perhaps it should only be handled by specialists groups that are privately owned. Bodies that are licensed and empowered by the respective State Government.
No matter what the right or wrong answer may be, one thing is clear: it is presently a free-for-all in training provided to upcoming would-be real estate agents, as it is in the same agent’s behavior in and on their field of practice. It appears the answer is not closer today than it was yesterday. 
The reason for this article continues to center around current practices followed by real estate agents. Behavior that stems from practices adopted by agents in falsely presenting property to market and to bait consumers. Also further alarming discoveries of property not being properly represented. I have heard of property that has sold for 10 percent it’s true worth under a “forced legal auction [campaign]” and this being one of many that warrants further investigation and an article of its own. 
Staying true to this article and not being tempted to discuss our findings about these forced auctions, as I’m sure they will also make a great piece to read later on over another coffee; allow me to briefly discuss the anomalies around our industry’s state of affairs when it comes to training.  
The Real Estate Institute’s role
Admittedly, very little is known about the level and standard of training provided by REINSW. The actual course is not dissimilar to any other certification or licensing course found outside its walls. 
One thing for sure is that there is a common thread occurring, as most of the recipients of allegations and accusations labeled at agents for bad and unethical behavior, are actually members of the REINSW themselves. So the question is, how many have been trained and licensed through the REINSW's classrooms?
Yet, it is the voice of the REINSW that mainly calls on reform and changes to education but it appears in their eyes this will work, only if they are in control of the course curriculum and standards. 
I find it difficult to see how organizations with so much to offer as a lobby group, want to corner the market in so called implementing “ethical-training” measures but only as they see it. I won’t even venture into notions of parliamentary representation as a political party which has come from my friends in office at the REINSW.
My question to REINSW is simple. What other industry organisations and lobby groups train and license the work force they represent? 
The NSW Government
It is no secret and we all understand that our NSW Government Institutions are sadly under-resourced and therefore unable to maintain what I thought was once a well-controlled and monitored training and licensing unit. 
It’s not to say they don’t provide the service through TAFE courses. Again sadly, with privatization, options that are more readily accessed are available and the latter being the path of least resistance to many wanting to enter the industry. It is a no brainer to guess, where the wannabe real estate agents obtain their accreditations from.
The Private Sector
Most of the private Training Facilitators I know are both ethical and provide rigid and structured programs. I say most but despondently not all. 
Sadly, I feel it is in this lack of oversight by the government that some private institutions run what may well be questionable programs and courses to license an individual to sell and manage, the most valuable assets people have. 
However, this oversight cannot be blamed entirely on the current system, again how can governing bodies run proper audits when they are understaffed? 
What I am aware off is this: an audit is conducted on a private facilitator once every 5 years.  Please do tell me how this does not dissuade operators from implementing free-for-all training programs with very little accountability? 
I do not have the answer to what is the ideal solution but: if the real estate institute wants to rule the nest in providing training, again I say clean out your own house before preaching to the masses. If the Private Training Facilitators is the answer, then the governing bodies should implement auditing measures that are less susceptible to low rate training practices. Finally, if the government is to resume control, perhaps it’s also time the Federal Government got involved and laid down the law. Legal requirements with more stringent penalties and levels of accountability and all, before licensing individuals to deal with major assets.  
EDWIN ALMEIDA is licensee in charge of <a href="https://www.just-think.com.au/" target="_blank">Just Think Real Estate</a>.<a href="https://www.just-thin.com.au/"> </a>
He is also the creator of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/JustThinkProperty" target="_blank">Oz Real Estate.TV</a> and a presenter for <a href="https://propertyinvestingvault.com/" target="_blank">propertyinvestingvault.com</a>.
</body></html>

ealmedia-arK4DBYLjS

Curbing the free-for-all mentality of the real estate industry: Edwin Almeida

<html><body>
From social housing to successful property speculators. 
The first government-sold heritage terrace at Millers Point that fetched $1,911,000 just 10 months ago has been sold for around $650,000 more.
The 1880s terrace was the first of scheduled 293 public housing properties to be sold off by Government Property NSW in August last year.
In between some very ordinary renovations were undertaken, with some argy-bargy with council who were rightfully concerned to ensure the best for the precinct.
<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 resold <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 was marketed by Harriett France a Sotheby's as "recently refreshed with new kitchens and bathrooms - scope for further improvement."
Around $2.5 million was expected by the Sfeir family, but with the sale price withheld from publication.
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.
</body></html>

Millers Point speculator profits from initial government sell-off

<html><body>
Commercial estate agents Burgess Rawson have cleared $47 million in one afternoon of property sales, with the highest being a $5,920,000 NSW Government sale in Hornsby with a yield of 1.89%.
The highest figure paid for a non-government client was for an Aldi supermarket in Dural, with a $4,600,00 sale representing a yield of 5.92%.
<a href="/images/2015/07/01/240615.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a>
<img src="/images/2015/07/01/240615.jpg" alt="">
</body></html>

mick.cee-iDmgDDAmu8

Commercial agents Burgess Rawson clear $47m in one afternoon 

<html><body>
Back in my distant and naive past, I regarded Time Magazine as a quality publication. It had the aura of authority and integrity in the presentation of global news. Until one day it published an article on a subject I knew well. I was appalled at the inaccuracies and the sensationalism.
It was the worst kind of tabloid journalism in a publication with pretensions to quality. I could never again see the magazine in the same light, because I began to wonder about the authenticity of its information on other subjects.
I’ve just had a similar experience with GetUp. I’ve admired the achievements of the GetUp movement as an expression of people power and I’ve supported many of its campaigns, particularly those related to environment. My support of some of these campaigns was based on the assumption that the arguments they presented were anchored in facts.
That all changed this week when GetUp launched a campaign against negative gearing. I received the GetUp email letter asking for my support and could scarcely believe what I was reading. It was a dishonest and emotive rant littered with falsehoods and unsubstantiated claims.
Sadly, it was based on the kind of misinformation that is rife in real estate media. The people who wrote it are either unethical or incompetent - probably a mix of both.
Everything the organisers of this movement tell me on any subject henceforth will be tainted by the suspicion the information has been distorted or fabricated.
Because that is certainly the case with the “information” presented on negative gearing.
The people who wrote the GetUp statement smelled the blood of Joe Hockey following his alleged gaffe about housing affordability. I say “alleged” because there is nothing in Hockey’s statements (that the key to affording a home is a good job that pays well and enhances your chances of getting a loan) that justifies the media hysteria that followed. Further proof that a rational debate on any subject is beyond the scope of Australian media.
The GetUp statement began with the claim that there are “millions of frustrated first home buyers priced out of a skyrocketing housing market”.
This is plain wrong and easy to disprove. Australia has 8.6 million households, of which 6 million are home-owners and much of the rest (according to the research) are renters by choice. The research shows that 25% of all current residential sales are to first-time buyers, which means around 120,000 households bought their first property in the past 12 months. The two affordability indexes published quarterly indicate affordability overall is strong and, if you remove Sydney from the equation, the best it’s been in 12 years.
It’s impossible on those numbers to substantiate the claim that there are “millions of frustrated first-home buyers” across Australia.
The claim about “a skyrocketing housing market” is patently absurd, given that only one of the eight capital cities has a boom market. Of 16 major markets (eight cities, each with a house market and a unit market), based on the latest annual price data, six are going backwards (prices decreasing), seven have price growth below 3.5% and only one has double-digit growth. One big growth market out of 16 does not, by any definition, constitute a skyrocketing property market.
This suggests the campaign is based on two false premises: that we have a skyrocketing market and that there are millions trying to buy who can’t.
And the GetUp argument goes downhill from there.
It takes a further leap of imagination in claiming that negative gearing is “one of the root causes” of the alleged affordability problem. This, like all the sweeping statements in the GetUp letter, is not supported by any factual evidence.
An 18-month federal parliamentary inquiry was unable to produce any evidence that negative gearing had any bearing on the cost of housing for first-home buyers. The final report said they suspected it might, but couldn’t provide any definitive evidence that it did. After 18 months of inquiry, which included four time extensions.
Then there’s this statement: “Negative gearing forces everyday Aussie home buyers to compete with investors armed with generous tax breaks looking to buy their second or third property. It reduces home ownership and locks many out of the housing market, increasing the gap between the haves and have-nots.”
The claim that investors are commonly buying second or third investment properties is contradicted by ATO data showing that three-quarters of investors own only one property. The statement also assumes that all property investors are negatively-geared, whereas the ATO evidence shows that 640,000 Australians own investment property but don’t claim negative-gearing deductions. I’m one of them.
It further claims: “A massive $4.2B in negative gearing tax breaks per year go to the top 10% of income earners.” That is another lie. There are many different figures bandied about in terms of how much is claimed in negative gearing benefits - the Green have quoted two different figures this week, $2.9 billion and $4.2 billion, but to suggest it all goes to the biggest income earners is, once again, clearly false. The ATO data shows that most Australians who own an investment property earn less than $100,000.
The GetUp statement also lies when it claims: “There's consensus among housing experts and economists that negative gearing is one policy area driving unaffordable housing in Australia.” No such consensus exists, nor anything remotely like it. In my reading of media, those who see a link between negative gearing and housing affordability are very much in the minority, albeit a very noisy one populated by people from the lunatic fringe, like dodgy forecaster Saul Eslake.
Beyond the inaccuracies and sweeping political statements, the GetUp campaign is based on the notion that eliminating negative gearing will somehow make housing cheaper. The process by which that would occur is not explained - possibly because it makes no sense.
There is also the furphy that increasing housing supply will somehow, again miraculously, bring down the cost of housing. There’s evidence that a massive oversupply will cause prices to fall but how we convince large numbers of developers and builders to be willing to lose money to create such a scenario is not explained. There’s no evidence that an orderly increase in supply, which is what we’ve had in Australia for three years now, will lower prices.
There’s also this statement: “The thing about bubbles is that they eventually burst. If we don't take some heat out of the property market now, we could see a crash that would devastate homeowners and investors alike – with dire implications for the Australian economy.” 
Well, actually, no. Media has been writing about alleged bubbles in our property markets – constantly - for the past 15 years but there has been no property crash - which suggests those bubble claims were false. What we have seen throughout history is that boom markets eventually stop growing and prices level out. But we have never seen a crash, not in the history of this nation.
Finally we have this statement: “It’s high time we saw Government leadership to make housing more affordable for all Australians.” But eliminating negative gearing simply won’t achieve it. The tax benefits of a small number of people are not the problem, if indeed there is one.
GetUp has been an interesting experiment in ordinary people using modern media resources to lobby for worthy causes. But they’ve crossed the line with this dishonest and misguided anti-investor campaign and I wonder how many people, like me, will withdraw their support.
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 is presenting a free webinar with Property Observer editor at large Jonathan Chancellor on Tuesday June 16 at 12.30pm titled on why research is the key to successful property investing in 2015. Sign up here.
</body></html>

terryryder-YECXbqmri2

Present arguments anchored in facts: Terry Ryder

<html><body>
<h1 class="entry-title grid-eight instapaper_title"> </h1>
GUEST OBSERVER
The plaudits for Joan Kirner, who died on Monday, highlighted her achievements as a teacher, education activist, feminist and politician. It is also worth noting her pivotal role in the development of <a href="https://www.landcareonline.com.au/">landcare in Australia</a>.
Joan Kirner’s first ministerial role was as Victoria’s Minister for Conservation, Forests and Lands in the Labor government under <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cain_%28junior%29">John Cain</a> from 1985-88. She was a very effective minister, working very hard, travelling tirelessly, seemingly remembering the name of every public servant and community volunteer she ever met. She brought in the <a href="https://www.depi.vic.gov.au/environment-and-wildlife/threatened-species-and-communities/flora-and-fauna-guarantee-act-1988">Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act</a>, delivering Victoria’s first effective controls on land clearing.
<div class="grid-twelve grid-last content-wrapper">
<div class="grid-twelve instapaper_body">
<div class="content entry-content">
<div class="body grid-eight">
However in the views of many, including me, Joan Kirner’s most enduring legacy will be Australia’s landcare movement, beginning in Victoria and spreading nationally.
I worked as the first National Landcare Facilitator from April 1989 to August 1992. This coincided with Joan Kirner’s time as Victorian Premier, and from meetings with her during that time and in conferences and airport lounges since, I know she was extremely proud of her landcare legacy.
<h2>The birth of landcare</h2>
In 1985, Kirner’s new department of Conservation, Forests and Lands brought together five separate agencies (the Forests Commission, National Parks, Fisheries and Wildlife, Lands, and the Soil Conservation Authority) that had apparently overlapping roles but very different institutional cultures and a track record of collaboration that was patchy at best.
It required considerable strategic nous and political skill to get this new department working cohesively, and Kirner proved to be a good fit as minister.
The new department needed to work across private and public lands to tackle issues at a large scale (such as erosion, salinity, pests and weeds), and they needed to involve the community.
From prior experience in soil conservation, senior officials knew that individual landholders and local communities need to “own the problem” and be involved in designing and implementing solutions in order to ensure lasting environmental improvement. Joan Kirner understood this implicitly, possibly from her long grassroots community experience with State School mothers’ clubs.
Senior soil conservation staff designed a new program in late 1985 to support voluntary neighbourhood groups to tackle land degradation problems, that they proposed to call Total Land Care. When the Minister saw the acronym, she stated that she definitely did not want to be known as “the Minister for TLC!”. So it became Land Care, soon shortened to LandCare.
The pioneering Victorian <a href="https://www.landcarevic.net.au/" target="_blank">LandCare</a> program was born, and the first LandCare group was launched at Winjallok near St Arnaud on 25 November 1986.
Crucially, Joan Kirner understood from the outset that the new program needed to have bipartisan support, and that this was most likely if it was seen to be led and owned by the farming community, working with conservationists. Joan Kirner invited Heather Mitchell, then President of the <a href="https://www.vff.org.au/" target="_blank">Victorian Farmers’ Federation</a> to co-Chair the program. This formidable duo emphasised the partnership at the heart of LandCare.
<img src="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/83778/width668/image-20150603-2340-ynlm8o.jpg" alt="">
</div>
<div class="body grid-eight">
Community-based catchment planning through LandCare: Andrew Campbell
The number of LandCare groups grew rapidly, building on the network of Farm Tree Groups and soil conservation groups across the state, and the innovative community education work in schools pioneered through the Victorian Salinity Program. Within five years, LandCare involved more than one third of farming families — an extraordinary achievement on a relatively modest budget.
<h2>Landcare goes national</h2>
Joan Kirner was quick to promote the Victorian program as a model for the nation, recommending it to Peter Cook, then Minister for Resources in the Labor government under Bob Hawke.
Around this time another unlikely but extremely strategic alliance was forming, between Rick Farley of the National Farmers' Federation and Phillip Toyne of the Australian Conservation Foundation.
I was asked by Toyne and Farley to work with Jane Elix of the ACF and Philip Eliason of the NFF on a proposal for a national initiative based on the Victorian model of facilitating partnerships between farmers and conservationists.
In late 1988, the ACF and NFF jointly proposed to Prime Minister Bob Hawke a A$340m, ten-year program for a Decade of Landcare. This represented a radical boost in Commonwealth funding - the then National Soil Conservation Program was about A$1m per year.
Bob Hawke agreed with alacrity, and the new national program was launched at the junction of the Murray and Darling rivers in July 1989. Crucially, both Labor and Coalition ministers stood on the podium, emphasising the bipartisan thread that began with Joan Kirner and Heather Mitchell and extended through Farley and Toyne.
As it had done in Victoria, the new program took off nationally, and in the 25 years since the Australian landcare model has spread to more than 20 <a href="https://theconversation.com/www.worldagroforestry.org/downloads/Publications/PDFS/B16017.pdf">other countries</a>. Landcare is an unsung Australian export success story - a great example of soft diplomacy.
 
<img src="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/83779/width668/image-20150603-2316-c43yfc.jpg" alt="">
</div>
<div class="body grid-eight">
Landcare tree planting, Molonglo Catchment Group: Andrew Campbell
Forging bipartisanship
From this distance, those early days of landcare seem both inevitable and extraordinary.
It seems common sense now that farmers need to work together to tackle problems that cross farm boundaries, that planting trees on farms and protecting creeks and rivers is good farming practice, and that looking after the land for future generations is in the interests of the whole community, so it is fair that the whole community contribute to this effort — even better if such help can be practical as well as financial.
But this was not so obvious in the mid 1980s. Joan Kirner instinctively “got” landcare from the outset. She understood its community base and the dynamics of voluntarism.
She reached out. She understood the political potency of bipartisanship and unlikely alliances — she and Heather Mitchell were more than twice as powerful working together than either could be working from within their own political tribe.
She understood the importance of community ownership of problems, and empowerment to develop and implement solutions. She took the long view. Given the right information and support, she trusted grassroots community groups to do the right thing on the ground.
Against this backdrop, today’s politics seem depressingly partisan, glib, austere and myopic.
Government programs tend to be prescriptive and paternalistic, rather than imaginative, catalytic and empowering. Government agencies (more closely coupled with Ministerial offices than ever) seem allergic to risk, wedded to incremental tweaking of the status quo and fearful of anything transformative.
After years of cuts, redundancies and “efficiency dividends”, too many agencies lack sufficient technical expertise to be intelligent purchasers or to take well-considered risks in developing innovative new programs with a clear eye on the long-term public interest.
Perhaps landcare has simply been lucky over the last 30 years to have grown under the wise political stewardship of people such as Joan Kirner and Heather Mitchell among many others, matched at a grassroots level by countless community leaders across the continent.
But I’d like to think that when wise leaders design policies that deliberately make space for people at lower levels to innovate, to own their own agenda and to grow, then great things happen and lasting benefits can be delivered.
Andrew Campbell is Director, Research Institute for Environment and Livelihoods at Charles Darwin University. He can be contacted <a href="https://riel.cdu.edu.au/people/profile/prof-andrew-campbell" target="_blank">here</a>.
<h4>DISCLOSURE STATEMENT</h4>
Andrew Campbell does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.
If you’re interested in reading more on landcare, see the following titles:
Campbell, Andrew (1994) <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236627393_Landcare_communities_shaping_the_land_and_the_future" target="_blank">Landcare: communities shaping the land and the future</a>. Allen &amp; Unwin, Sydney. ISBN 1863735550
Catacutan, Delia, Constance Neely, Mary Johnson, Horrie Poussard and Rob Youl (Eds) (2009) <a href="https://www.worldagroforestry.org/downloads/Publications/PDFS/B16017.pdf" target="_blank">Landcare: local action-global progress</a>. World Agroforestry Centre, Nairobi. ISBN 9789290592457
Youl, Rob (Ed) (2006) Landcare in Victoria. Rob Youl, South Melbourne. ISBN 0977524000
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</body></html>

po-LsXgBTHBmX

Joan Kirner united farmers, legacy remains

<html><body>
When Australia’s head cashier Joe Hockey proudly announced that he had nailed an illegal foreign purchase with the $39.000 million sale of Villa del Mare or Villa del Nightmare as I prefer to call it he would not have realised he had opened the largest can of worms in Australian property history. Mark my words this is a now a major election issue that must be intelligently resolved given what is actually happening now is unprecedented and will cost a party an election if it continues to go unchecked and ignored.
I have said for many years now that the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) is right up there in terms of the most hopeless departments in Canberra. As was the case with Villa del Mare you don’t need to contact FIRB all you need to do is just buy it and if investigated once the divestment order is issued just phone a friend (as was the case with Villa del Mare) and transfer the property into an Australian residents name – which is totally legal and requires no further questions. 
This now opens the flood gates for all illegal purchases to follow suit as this is the legal precedent thanks to this approved divestment order. We can also expect criminals from all over the world will be eyeing Australian real estate as a wonderful vehicle to wash the proceeds of crime. What we have now is a person on unemployment benefits can appear as the owner on say a twenty plus million dollar home due entirely to the many legal loopholes. 
When we look back on federal governments in action we note that they only act quickly on three things – terrorism, natural disasters and wars. When you look at what’s happening to Australian property you could say that today it has a bit of all three in its DNA. 
The burning question is how do you fix this to ensure that the loopholes are closed once and for all? Well that’s easy as I have always been mystified as to why federal governments are so backwards and lazy in keeping records on Australian property. 
All that needs to be done is when a property exchanges the lawyer or conveyancer immediately after exchange logs onto the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) website under Australian Property Register (password protected of course) and provides the name(s) of the purchaser, their address, who acted for them, the address of the property and wait for it – their tax file number. Then the ATO can wash this data as well as providing the information to the FIRB for review. 
If you have a divestment order and the owner phones a friend to transfer the property into their name in order to hold onto the property. Then Joe Hockey should immediately get rid of his stupid $5,000 fee on a foreign purchase and replace it with an annual Federal Property Holding Tax at 1.75% of the calculated land value. In the case of Villa del Mare that would be a $525,000 annual tax – so get the foreign buyers to assist Australia in getting its budget back to surplus faster.
But sadly it’s just not that simple given from July 1 the Abbott government is set to release its Premium Invest Visa (PIV), which is for sale at $15 million. Once an applicant has completed their PIV and handed over the required $15.000 you are rewarded with permanent residency in less than twelve months. The PIV replaces the SIV (Significant Investor Visa) which required $5.000 million investment over a four year term to then get permanent residency. You could be excused for asking oneself just who exactly does the SIV and PIV benefit? But I’m sure you already know the answer to that. 
In the meantime the House of Representatives Economics Committee has announced a “new” inquiry into home ownership. I find that simply fascinating given none of them would actually know what exactly they are looking for. The Chair of the Committee, John “Love ‘n Deuce” Alexander, said that ‘home ownership is an issue that lies at the core of the Australian dream and represents the largest investment that most taxpayers will make during their lifetime.
The importance of this issue throughout our nation makes it worthy of a detailed inquiry.’ Well isn’t that riveting? Submissions to the inquiry are requested by 26 June 2015, and the proposed reporting date is 03 December 2015. 
Oh I get it the Abbott government will release its action plan just before the next election. See I told you foreign ownership is an election issue. 
I wonder what will happen when I email them this blog titled ‘My Submission’.
MOSMAN – 2088
• Number of houses on the market this time last year – 102
• Number of houses on the market last week – 57
• Number of houses on the market this week – 57
• Number of apartments on the market this time last year – 72
• Number of apartments on the market last week – 50
• Number of apartments on the market this week – 49
CREMORNE – 2090
• Number of houses on the market this time last year – 7
• Number of houses on the market last week – 3
• Number of houses on the market this week – 4
• Number of apartments on the market this time last year – 27
• Number of apartments on the market last week – 13
• Number of apartments on the market this week – 10
NEUTRAL BAY – 2089
• Number of houses on the market this time last year – 7
• Number of houses on the market last week – 3
• Number of houses on the market this week – 3
• Number of apartments on the market this time last year– 48
• Number of apartments on the market last week – 31
• Number of apartments on the market this week – 27
</body></html>

Government

Editor's Picks

Have something to contribute?

Developments

New apartments

New townhouses

News

Government

Editor's Picks

Receive the latest news stories to your inbox

Have something to contribute?

Developments

New apartments

New townhouses

News