21-09-2015, 09:41 PM
21-09-2015, 10:55 PM
- Sep 21 2015 at 5:40 PM
- Updated Sep 21 2015 at 8:29 PM
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[img=620x0]http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/j/r/l/2/x/image.related.afrArticleLead.620x350.gjrhdm.png/1442831365153.jpg[/img]Emotional bidding for land in Sydney's south west
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by Su-Lin Tan
The Australian dream of owning a house is well and truly alive despite escalating prices.
In an outdoor marquee at home builder Sekisui House's master-planned estate, "The Hermitage", on Sunday – 53 kilometres southwest of Sydney – husbands and wives, fathers and sons and young families raised their auction paddles in an emotional bid for land.
Parents split their duties with one bidding and the other entertaining their children at a nearby playground as they joined the feverish mob at Sekisui's first land auction.
Buyers snapped up 27 of the 31 lots in the The Hermitage's Hardy's Rise Parkside release. The lots, sized from 407 to 604 square metres, sold between $400,000 to $600,000.
"Even though it's only land for about $500,000 I'm getting a four-bedroom house with better view... it's already $800,000 for a two-bedroom apartment in Sydney ... would you rather look at a building or at a park?" Aaron Tindall, 25, who bought a lot, said.
Mr Tindall and his girlfriend who already lived in the area were happy with their purchase saying their only concern was the lack of public transport.
But not everyone thought the auction was a good deal.
Local resident in nearby Narellan, Ian Parale, who had his three-bedroom home – similar in size to those on auction recently – valued at just over $600,000, was shocked at the prices.
"Paying $500,000 just for land, that's very expensive," he said.
The Hermitage is close to the "boutique" township of Gledswood Village and has 300 homes.
In one of many firsts, buyers on Sunday also signed e-contracts instead of paper documents.
22-09-2015, 07:13 PM
(21-09-2015, 09:41 PM)greengiraffe Wrote: [ -> ]time is ripe for correction...Wah if only buy lotteries oso so accurate...
make no mistake it is not a crash...
- Sep 22 2015 at 6:40 PM
- Updated 1 hr ago
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[img=620x0]http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/j/q/e/r/m/image.related.afrArticleLead.620x350.gjs7l6.png/1442913645015.jpg[/img]Whether there will be a "bloodbath" this Super Saturday, it will depend on the suburb. Cole Bennetts
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by Su-Lin Tan
Falling auction clearance rates may be spooking the Sydney and Melbourne markets as the first big spring Saturday approaches but experts say buyers and sellers should "take things into perspective".
Leading valuer Herron Todd White said while rates are falling there are also more properties on the market this year compared to last year. Suburbs, which do not usually go to auction, have had lower clearance rates and could be skewing the overall city clearance.
"Places in southwest Sydney, Canterbury, Bankstown have record numbers going to auction this time compared to last year. In Blacktown and Bankstown there are many people looking to capitalise on the supply and demand issue," Herron Todd White's Sydney residential director Kim Quick said.
Sydney's western suburbs of Lidcome, Blacktown and Revesby recorded some of the lowest clearance rates last week below 60 per cent. Smithfield was at 50 per cent, Hurstville at 46 per cent and Greystanes at 30 per cent.
Castle Hill and Baulkham Hills were around the 60 per cent mark.
Ms Quick said the cost of auctions normally deter sellers in these areas, but they are jumping on the auction bandwagon this time around.
"We also see a lot of activity in the Hills which has the combination of the Northwest rail link and the sale of amalgamated blocks on the back of rising land value," she said.
"Vendor expectations are becoming unrealisitic … some people are getting mixed up with old and new … there are properties [that] will go to auction when 12 months ago they [would]never get to an auction."
Domain Group's senior economist also agreed some of the lower clearance suburbs could be skewing the overall clearance rate but said he has seen softening even in the top suburbs.
"The consistency of the lower clearance rates is hard to ignore," he said.
"It's a coincidence that we are seeing lower investor numbers but all the suburbs are recording lower clearance rates. In May we were touching 90 per cent. Now a low 80 is a top performer."
There are also more properties being sold this spring versus last year.
About 1000 properties are due to go on the market this weekend.
Expected September auction listings in Sydney are higher at 4858 and Melbourne at 4933 compared to last year's 3223 and 3262 respectively, according to Corelogic RP Data.
Whether there will be a "bloodbath" this Super Saturday, will depend on the suburb.
"It will be very location specific. Properties in areas where buyers and sellers are both educated and who know the competition are will be fine," Ms Quick said.
"It also depends how many units do go up in one suburb. Overall, we are not seeing any slowdown in mortgages when we do our valuations."
Dr Wilson said 70 to 80 per cent are still good rates for spring.
"It is when you get to below 70 per cent then it's really a buyer's market."
26-09-2015, 08:10 AM
Sydney buyer exodus ‘will boost regional areas’ and state capitals
Turi Condon
[Image: turi_condon.png]
Property Editor
Sydney
[Image: 300264-490e53b4-631a-11e5-a028-21ee00f9abb4.jpg]
‘People for the last 30 or 40 years have said Sydney is too expensive and Sydney is going to collapse, and it never has,’ says John McGrath. Picture: James Croucher. Source: News Corp Australia
[b]Sydney’s inner and middle suburbs have become too expensive for 90 per cent of Australians, prompting a likely exodus to other more affordable cities and towns, property identity John McGrath says.[/b]
In NSW, centres within a two-hour drive of Sydney, including Woolongong, Newcastle and the central coast, would benefit as buyers sought refuge from Sydney’s surging prices, as would lesser known parts of the city, and cheaper interstate capitals such as Melbourne and Brisbane, he said.
“It will unlock a lot of other areas Sydney people hadn’t thought about,” Mr McGrath told The Weekend Australian ahead of releasing his 2015 market report.
Sydney was 80-90 per cent through the current upswing and, although there would some further price growth, it was tempering and a small correction was possible, he said.
“I don’t subscribe to the (housing) bubble theory. People for the last 30 or 40 years have said Sydney is too expensive and Sydney is going to collapse, and it never has.”
Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
Providing interest rates and unemployment are kept in check, he expects a soft landing from what the report describes as “the most spectacular, long-running boom” in Sydney’s history.
The change in prime minister and leadership team would help boost confidence, in turn supporting property markets, Mr McGrath said. “No doubt there are economic headwinds, but it is about confidence. Introducing a leadership team that inspires the country will have a halo effect on the economy.”
The report noted that households in inner Sydney needed to earn about $270,000 a year to repay home loans, with the near city increasingly like New York’s Manhattan, the exclusive domain of high-income earners.
Mr McGrath, whose real estate agency has 70 offices and who has been a regular on reality TV including Shark Tank, expects Sydney’s housing prices to rise 5-8 per cent this financial year, with Melbourne’s values matching pace.
Brisbane and the Gold Coast would pull ahead with 10 per cent- plus price growth while Adelaide and Hobart would see a 2-3 per cent rise and in Canberra and Darwin housing prices would be flat.
Perth, challenged by the mining downturn, was too hard to call, he said.
The report includes Mr McGrath’s top five suburbs picks in four capitals, with inner city The Rocks No 1 in Sydney; the once industrial Murarrie topping Brisbane; Murrumbeena/Hughesdale/McKinnon near Chadstone tipped for Melbourne; and the relatively new suburb of Crace heading the Canberra list. Southeast Queensland’s market would improve, underpinned by interstate migration, providing jobs were available, he said.
Mr McGrath said the group had seen “a slight pullback” in local and mainland Chinese buyers, but it was not a withdrawal, as China moves to limit funds flowing out of the country.
Inquiry levels from Chinese buyers had fallen 5-10 per cent but “the China story is not over by any stretch of the imagination”.
- THE AUSTRALIAN
- SEPTEMBER 26, 2015 12:00AM
Turi Condon
[Image: turi_condon.png]
Property Editor
Sydney
[Image: 300264-490e53b4-631a-11e5-a028-21ee00f9abb4.jpg]
‘People for the last 30 or 40 years have said Sydney is too expensive and Sydney is going to collapse, and it never has,’ says John McGrath. Picture: James Croucher. Source: News Corp Australia
[b]Sydney’s inner and middle suburbs have become too expensive for 90 per cent of Australians, prompting a likely exodus to other more affordable cities and towns, property identity John McGrath says.[/b]
In NSW, centres within a two-hour drive of Sydney, including Woolongong, Newcastle and the central coast, would benefit as buyers sought refuge from Sydney’s surging prices, as would lesser known parts of the city, and cheaper interstate capitals such as Melbourne and Brisbane, he said.
“It will unlock a lot of other areas Sydney people hadn’t thought about,” Mr McGrath told The Weekend Australian ahead of releasing his 2015 market report.
Sydney was 80-90 per cent through the current upswing and, although there would some further price growth, it was tempering and a small correction was possible, he said.
“I don’t subscribe to the (housing) bubble theory. People for the last 30 or 40 years have said Sydney is too expensive and Sydney is going to collapse, and it never has.”
Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
Providing interest rates and unemployment are kept in check, he expects a soft landing from what the report describes as “the most spectacular, long-running boom” in Sydney’s history.
The change in prime minister and leadership team would help boost confidence, in turn supporting property markets, Mr McGrath said. “No doubt there are economic headwinds, but it is about confidence. Introducing a leadership team that inspires the country will have a halo effect on the economy.”
The report noted that households in inner Sydney needed to earn about $270,000 a year to repay home loans, with the near city increasingly like New York’s Manhattan, the exclusive domain of high-income earners.
Mr McGrath, whose real estate agency has 70 offices and who has been a regular on reality TV including Shark Tank, expects Sydney’s housing prices to rise 5-8 per cent this financial year, with Melbourne’s values matching pace.
Brisbane and the Gold Coast would pull ahead with 10 per cent- plus price growth while Adelaide and Hobart would see a 2-3 per cent rise and in Canberra and Darwin housing prices would be flat.
Perth, challenged by the mining downturn, was too hard to call, he said.
The report includes Mr McGrath’s top five suburbs picks in four capitals, with inner city The Rocks No 1 in Sydney; the once industrial Murarrie topping Brisbane; Murrumbeena/Hughesdale/McKinnon near Chadstone tipped for Melbourne; and the relatively new suburb of Crace heading the Canberra list. Southeast Queensland’s market would improve, underpinned by interstate migration, providing jobs were available, he said.
Mr McGrath said the group had seen “a slight pullback” in local and mainland Chinese buyers, but it was not a withdrawal, as China moves to limit funds flowing out of the country.
Inquiry levels from Chinese buyers had fallen 5-10 per cent but “the China story is not over by any stretch of the imagination”.
26-09-2015, 08:14 AM
Coast to country, Byron on the boil as Chinese discover hinterland
Lisa Allen
[Image: lisa_allen.png]
Property & Tourism Reporter
Sydney
[Image: 321696-9181ad70-631b-11e5-a028-21ee00f9abb4.jpg]
Belongil Beach at Byron Bay. ‘Everything from low to high-priced houses are selling,’ says agent Graham Dunn.Source: News Corp Australia
[b]Mainland Chinese investors are discovering Byron Bay’s scenic hinterland for real estate investment, but closer to the heart of the iconic township on the NSW north coast some big-ticket properties are still on the market.[/b]
Melbourne businessman Mark Rowsthorn’s Wategos mansion has been up for sale since January, but the chief executive of the McAleese trucking group is refusing to budge on his $8.5 million asking price for the 39 Marine Parade house.
“There have been a number of inspections, but no one has put a formal bid in at this stage,” said Mr Rowsthorn yesterday. “This is the busiest time of the year in Byron and I think the market is reasonably buoyant. One of the agents told me there is Chinese interest in the hinterland.”
Sydney businessman Terry Agnew is selling his 80ha development site on Ewingsdale Road, which is slated for a residential project.
Mr Agnew paid $7.7m for the site, but he has development approval for residential housing of up to 450 dwellings.
Other high-priced properties hitting the Byron market include a beachfront shack owned by Macquarie banker Ross Noye and Brisbane-based property investor Jonathan King. “We have homes between Brisbane and the Gold Coast; we’re not using (Belongil), it’s magnificent and it is time for someone else to enjoy,” said Mr King who has co-owned the property for eight years.
The 4 Childe Street house is on the market with an asking price of up to $4.5m through Byron Bay Property Sales principal Graham Dunn.
Mr Dunn said that the Byron Bay housing market was at its strongest since 2006.
“Everything from low to high-priced houses are selling,” he said.
“We have one house open for inspection at 244 Broken Head Road, Suffolk Park, with an asking price of $975,000.
“There are six groups queuing to view it and they have just 30 minutes (open viewing time) because it is popular as a holiday house rental.”
- THE AUSTRALIAN
- SEPTEMBER 26, 2015 12:00AM
Lisa Allen
[Image: lisa_allen.png]
Property & Tourism Reporter
Sydney
[Image: 321696-9181ad70-631b-11e5-a028-21ee00f9abb4.jpg]
Belongil Beach at Byron Bay. ‘Everything from low to high-priced houses are selling,’ says agent Graham Dunn.Source: News Corp Australia
[b]Mainland Chinese investors are discovering Byron Bay’s scenic hinterland for real estate investment, but closer to the heart of the iconic township on the NSW north coast some big-ticket properties are still on the market.[/b]
Melbourne businessman Mark Rowsthorn’s Wategos mansion has been up for sale since January, but the chief executive of the McAleese trucking group is refusing to budge on his $8.5 million asking price for the 39 Marine Parade house.
“There have been a number of inspections, but no one has put a formal bid in at this stage,” said Mr Rowsthorn yesterday. “This is the busiest time of the year in Byron and I think the market is reasonably buoyant. One of the agents told me there is Chinese interest in the hinterland.”
Sydney businessman Terry Agnew is selling his 80ha development site on Ewingsdale Road, which is slated for a residential project.
Mr Agnew paid $7.7m for the site, but he has development approval for residential housing of up to 450 dwellings.
Other high-priced properties hitting the Byron market include a beachfront shack owned by Macquarie banker Ross Noye and Brisbane-based property investor Jonathan King. “We have homes between Brisbane and the Gold Coast; we’re not using (Belongil), it’s magnificent and it is time for someone else to enjoy,” said Mr King who has co-owned the property for eight years.
The 4 Childe Street house is on the market with an asking price of up to $4.5m through Byron Bay Property Sales principal Graham Dunn.
Mr Dunn said that the Byron Bay housing market was at its strongest since 2006.
“Everything from low to high-priced houses are selling,” he said.
“We have one house open for inspection at 244 Broken Head Road, Suffolk Park, with an asking price of $975,000.
“There are six groups queuing to view it and they have just 30 minutes (open viewing time) because it is popular as a holiday house rental.”
30-09-2015, 07:41 AM
Home owners combine properties for $66m sale to developer
Samantha Hutchinson
[Image: sam_hutchinson.png]
Property Writer
[Image: 658154-208d465c-6685-11e5-80b2-c23ead0b75ad.jpg]
The nine modest houses in St Leonards were sold as a development site for $66 million Source: Supplied
[b]Nine homeowners on a sleepy street on Sydney’s north shore have earned an average of $7.3 million — five times their homes’ value — selling their homes in one line to a Hong Kong developer intent on building apartments.[/b]
The line of modest workers cottages on Holdsworth and Canberra Avenues in St Leonards sold for more than $66m and is likely to be reborn as apartment blocks more than 10 storeys tall.
In a plan more than 18 months in the making, residents at the bottom end of the Camphor Laurel- lined street banded together to form a total parcel of almost 5700sq m, which offered the potential for more than 200 apartments within a five-minute walk of a major train station.
More than 100 developers across Australia and Asia responded to the campaign, which comes at a time when persistent demand for apartments is prompting developers to look with fresh eyes at homes in the suburbs close to transport for potential “superlots”.
“We see a large proportion of next year’s pipeline being made of similar ‘mum and dad’ house consolidations ... much of the ready-zoned land (has) now sold,” said JLL director Sam Brewer, who marketed the site with colleague Ben Hunter.
“While there has been a lot of talk around residents consolidating to sell, this is one of the first real examples of such a large unconditional transaction.”
The sale comes at the end of frantic two years in which demand for off-the-plan apartments in a city starved of supply has seen large-scale developers sell more than $200m of property in a single weekend.
While developers including Mirvac, Meriton and Lend Lease have been vocal about their reluctance to enter into heated bidding wars for development sites, other developers, particularly from Hong Kong, are showing no signs of slowing.
“The reality is that we’re running out of sites where people want to live, and it’s becoming something the development industry is focusing very closely on,” Urban Taskforce chief executive Chris Johnson said. “And prices like this just show it’s getting harder and harder to get inner-city sites.”
While lower clearance rates during the past month have sparked some fears markets are about to collapse, and banks have released a series of red zones where they will restrict lending, project marketers and developers are reporting stable sales volumes and higher levels of inquiry.
“We’ve been through a very buoyant period, and still we’ve got strong inquiry rates and we’re selling just as many apartments now as we were 12 months ago,” CBRE director David Milton said.
“There’s more stock on the market, and that’s prompting people to take longer to make a decision, but at the end of the day they are still coming back to the make the purchase.”
Homeowners in St Leonards declined to comment to the The Australian yesterday, with one resident conceding they were wary that publicity of the high sale price could bring unwanted attention or requests for financial help.
Other residents were more forthcoming.
“Well, our side of the street is higher,” said an elderly gentleman who had agreed to sell as part of a line of 11 homes on the higher side of the street.
“It seems like they got a good price, but we’ve been told there’s a lot of interest out there. Maybe our side will go even higher.” Indeed, sales in the area are attracting steeper and steeper sales prices.
Additional reporting: Turi Condon
- THE AUSTRALIAN
- SEPTEMBER 30, 2015 12:00AM
Samantha Hutchinson
[Image: sam_hutchinson.png]
Property Writer
[Image: 658154-208d465c-6685-11e5-80b2-c23ead0b75ad.jpg]
The nine modest houses in St Leonards were sold as a development site for $66 million Source: Supplied
[b]Nine homeowners on a sleepy street on Sydney’s north shore have earned an average of $7.3 million — five times their homes’ value — selling their homes in one line to a Hong Kong developer intent on building apartments.[/b]
The line of modest workers cottages on Holdsworth and Canberra Avenues in St Leonards sold for more than $66m and is likely to be reborn as apartment blocks more than 10 storeys tall.
In a plan more than 18 months in the making, residents at the bottom end of the Camphor Laurel- lined street banded together to form a total parcel of almost 5700sq m, which offered the potential for more than 200 apartments within a five-minute walk of a major train station.
More than 100 developers across Australia and Asia responded to the campaign, which comes at a time when persistent demand for apartments is prompting developers to look with fresh eyes at homes in the suburbs close to transport for potential “superlots”.
“We see a large proportion of next year’s pipeline being made of similar ‘mum and dad’ house consolidations ... much of the ready-zoned land (has) now sold,” said JLL director Sam Brewer, who marketed the site with colleague Ben Hunter.
“While there has been a lot of talk around residents consolidating to sell, this is one of the first real examples of such a large unconditional transaction.”
The sale comes at the end of frantic two years in which demand for off-the-plan apartments in a city starved of supply has seen large-scale developers sell more than $200m of property in a single weekend.
While developers including Mirvac, Meriton and Lend Lease have been vocal about their reluctance to enter into heated bidding wars for development sites, other developers, particularly from Hong Kong, are showing no signs of slowing.
“The reality is that we’re running out of sites where people want to live, and it’s becoming something the development industry is focusing very closely on,” Urban Taskforce chief executive Chris Johnson said. “And prices like this just show it’s getting harder and harder to get inner-city sites.”
While lower clearance rates during the past month have sparked some fears markets are about to collapse, and banks have released a series of red zones where they will restrict lending, project marketers and developers are reporting stable sales volumes and higher levels of inquiry.
“We’ve been through a very buoyant period, and still we’ve got strong inquiry rates and we’re selling just as many apartments now as we were 12 months ago,” CBRE director David Milton said.
“There’s more stock on the market, and that’s prompting people to take longer to make a decision, but at the end of the day they are still coming back to the make the purchase.”
Homeowners in St Leonards declined to comment to the The Australian yesterday, with one resident conceding they were wary that publicity of the high sale price could bring unwanted attention or requests for financial help.
Other residents were more forthcoming.
“Well, our side of the street is higher,” said an elderly gentleman who had agreed to sell as part of a line of 11 homes on the higher side of the street.
“It seems like they got a good price, but we’ve been told there’s a lot of interest out there. Maybe our side will go even higher.” Indeed, sales in the area are attracting steeper and steeper sales prices.
Additional reporting: Turi Condon
30-09-2015, 11:26 PM
- Sep 30 2015 at 5:50 PM
- Updated Sep 30 2015 at 6:03 PM
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NaN of
[img=620x0]http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/j/y/2/d/p/image.related.afrArticleLead.620x350.gjy2fn.png/1443600226254.jpg[/img]The fast food chain has a development application in progress with the Parramatta City Council to spend $8 million on 355-375 Church Street to create a new two-level McDonald's restaurant and a development site with a permit for 76 dwellings. Keith Srakocic
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by Su-Lin Tan
The biggest name in fast food, McDonalds is taking advantage of the fastest growing sector in housing development.
In Parramatta which is earmarked as Sydney's second CBD and where major developers like Meriton, Crown Group and Ecoworld are flocking to take a slice of the housing market, the fast food chain is refurbishing one of its restaurants and turning residual land on the site into a mixed use development opportunity.
The fast food chain has a development application in progress with the Parramatta City Council to spend $8 million on 355-375 Church Street to create a new two-level McDonald's restaurant and a development site with a permit for 76 dwellings and ground floor retail.
McDonald's will sub-divide the site on the corner of the Church Street and Victoria Road which it has owned for 25 years into two Torrens title allotments.
"The DA for this site - including the plans for subdivision - is currently before council. As we are still working with council on approval we haven't progressed to assessing interest in the proposed mixed use site," a McDonald's spokesman said.
He also said McDonald's does not have any other similar projects in other parts of the country.
In early September, McDonald's also told council it has no plans to build apartments on the second lot of the site as it is not a "residential developer".
Large retailer operators are considering the opportunity to cash in on residual land and turning them into housing sites on the back of strong housing demand in Australia.
Supermarket giant Woolworths has built a mixed use retail and residential complex in Melbourne's Highett.
The development has a 4000-sq m Woolworths supermarket with 17 speciality retailers at ground level and 130 residential dwellings above the retail section.
"Woolworths Highett in Victoria is a great example of a new modern shopping centre integrated with a high quality apartment development," a Woolworths spokesperson said.
Building materials retailer, Bunnings put up for sale a portfolio of residual land adjoining nine trading Bunnings Warehouses mostly on the eastern seaboard with agents, Stonebridge Property Group in 2012.
While most of the nine parcels were not suitable for housing, Bunnings is not opposed to turning land into residential projects.
"We're always looking to innovate through different store formats so that we can bring the Bunnings offer to more communities across Australia and New Zealand."
"Mixed use developments are likely to be something that we explore in the future," Bunnings general manager of property Andrew Marks said.
06-10-2015, 07:48 AM
- Oct 5 2015 at 4:48 PM
- Updated Oct 5 2015 at 6:18 PM
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NaN of
[img=620x0]http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/i/m/c/g/7/image.related.afrArticleLead.620x350.gk18og.png/1444029531380.jpg[/img]Sydney is one of the most affordable global cities for start-up businesses, says a new report. Michele Mossop
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by Larry Schlesinger
With its steep rents and high cost of living, Sydney may appear expensive to Australians.
But when compared with other global cities such as New York, London and Hong Kong, Australia's most prosperous city is one of the most affordable, with the best-value proposition for start-ups, a new report says.
The report by real estate group Savills, set against the backdrop of the rising digital economy and greater workforce mobility, ranked Sydney third on the list of least expensive global city to live and work in, with only Mumbai and Shanghai (cities with arguably inferior living standards and less appealing lifestyles), less expensive.
Its report, 12 Cities – The Rise of the Digital City, calculated the average cost to set up a small executive team in Sydney (comprising one middle-aged expat chief executive , one senior expat director, a locally-employed director and four-locally employed admin staff) at US$53,000 ($75,000) per person, with 20 per cent going towards office costs and the remainder on housing rents.
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By comparison, it would cost the same executive team more than double in office and housing rents to set up the same businesses in iconic employment hubs such as New York, London and Hong Kong.
Savills Australia head of research Tony Crabb said people working in the digital economy were attracted to places such as London and New York, but the costs were often "almost too much to bear".
"These people could run more profitable businesses if they chose to work and live somewhere like Sydney where the costs are half, provided the opportunities are equal," Mr Crabb said.
IMPACT OF FALLING DOLLAR
The fall in the Australian dollar has also made Sydney more affordable for those businesses earning US dollars – but Mr Crabb said most small or start-up businesses did not repatriate their earnings.
On a second measure of affordability – rental costs compared with city productivity – the report ranked Sydney first out of the 12 cities with average office and residential rental costs accounting for just 70 per cent of local gross domestic product per capita, ahead of US digital economy giants such as Los Angeles (80 per cent) and San Francisco (100 per cent).
In New York, average rental costs per person exceeded productivity by 150 per cent, in London by 200 per cent and in Hong Kong by 300 per cent.
Mumbai was the most expensive global market on this measure, with per-head accommodation costing five times GDP.
"This may not be a perfect measure of real estate affordability, but it gives a good indication of which cities may be fully rented if GDP does not rise and those which have greatest ability to absorb rising total accommodation costs, whether through office or residential rent increases," said Yolande Barnes, director of Savills world research.
06-10-2015, 11:05 PM
- Oct 6 2015 at 5:39 PM
- Updated Oct 6 2015 at 6:43 PM
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NaN of
[img=620x0]http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/k/2/k/x/g/image.related.afrArticleLead.620x350.gk2781.png/1444117416468.jpg[/img]The sandstone home Cleverton, at 21 Ferdinand Street, Hunter's Hill, was built about 1876, has six bedrooms and was sold for $6.6 million.
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by Su-Lin Tan
Chinese property buyers are steering away from their usual stomping grounds of Sydney's eastern suburbs and the lower north shore, to the former home of Hollywood actress, Cate Blanchett, Hunter's Hill.
Chinese owners and buyers traded three top-end mansions in the inner- Sydney, harbourfront suburb for a total of nearly $20 million in recent weeks.
A Chinese commercial property businessman with business interests in Shanghai bought 51 Augustine Street, Hunter's Hill, from the Panzarino family for $5 million.
The four-bedroom, sandstone mansion with a swimming pool, is listed in his wife's name, Bai Yun Niu.
"I have had this high net worth client for three years and he has looked at about 10 waterfront properties in the area but didn't like them," marketing agent, House 18's Michael Zhu said.
"He bought this house with no water views in 24 hours. It is a new record for the west Hunter's Hill area."
PRE-AUCTION SALE
Local residents, Chui King Lam and Manuel Konveng Chung have also sold their waterfront residence "Ahlan", formerly owned by former Labor MP Eddie Obeid and his wife Judith, for $6.88 million before its auction.
The home at 33 Wybalena Road with a waterfront jetty was sold to a Chinese buyer.
The 1200-square-metre property has views of the Parramatta River to the Gladesville Bridge, high ceilings and an oversized granite kitchen.
Chinese owners Fred Geng and Juanjuan Zhao also sold their sandstone home at 21 Ferdinand Street for $6.6 million before upgrading to a new home worth over $20 million in the eastern suburb of Rose Bay.
The home known as the "Cleverton" was built about 1876 and has six bedrooms. Mr Zhu marketed the home with Ward Partners' Matthew Ward.
All three sales have been cleared by the Foreign Investment Review Board, Mr Zhu said.
Property agents said the solid value in Hunter's Hill cannot be "unlocked" because no one is selling.
Savills' luxury property agent Adam Ross who was involved in the sale of Cate Blanchett's house "Bulwarra" for $20 million, said he has had offers between $20 million and $30 million for homes of the same quality.
11-10-2015, 12:52 PM
http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/austral...t-makeover
Sale of prime state properties to fund plan set to draw interest from region, especially S'pore
Jonathan Pearlman For The Sunday Times In Sydney
The Australian state of New South Wales plans to sell prime state properties occupied by a series of privately operated hotels in the centre of Sydney to pay for an overhaul of the iconic Circular Quay, the city's historic wharves district.
The sale, largely welcomed by Sydneysiders as a way to spruce up Circular Quay, is expected to attract interest from across the region, particularly from Singapore investors, who are among the biggest buyers of Australia's commercial property.
The properties for sale, worth a total of about A$200 million (S$204 million), include those occupied by the Shangri-La and Four Seasons in the central business district and the Novotel and Mercure hotels at Darling Harbour.
Singaporeans last year invested more than investors from any other country in Australian commercial property, about A$4.8 billion, according to data provided to The Straits Times by Colliers International. The investment included A$2 billion on office space, A$1.5 billion on industrial property and A$743 million on hotels.
The New South Wales government wants to use the sale funds for a makeover of Circular Quay to begin by 2019, with plans for multi-storey ferry terminals and a shopping centre.
Sale of prime state properties to fund plan set to draw interest from region, especially S'pore
Jonathan Pearlman For The Sunday Times In Sydney
The Australian state of New South Wales plans to sell prime state properties occupied by a series of privately operated hotels in the centre of Sydney to pay for an overhaul of the iconic Circular Quay, the city's historic wharves district.
The sale, largely welcomed by Sydneysiders as a way to spruce up Circular Quay, is expected to attract interest from across the region, particularly from Singapore investors, who are among the biggest buyers of Australia's commercial property.
The properties for sale, worth a total of about A$200 million (S$204 million), include those occupied by the Shangri-La and Four Seasons in the central business district and the Novotel and Mercure hotels at Darling Harbour.
Singaporeans last year invested more than investors from any other country in Australian commercial property, about A$4.8 billion, according to data provided to The Straits Times by Colliers International. The investment included A$2 billion on office space, A$1.5 billion on industrial property and A$743 million on hotels.
The New South Wales government wants to use the sale funds for a makeover of Circular Quay to begin by 2019, with plans for multi-storey ferry terminals and a shopping centre.