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Michael Bleby

Yesterday

Initially controversial, now beloved: Adelaide Oval’s major refurbishment completed in 2014 cost some $75 million more than the official $535 million price tag.

‘Like Sydney without an Opera House’: Why people whinge about stadiums

People love to complain about new stadiums. The cost, the noise, the politics. Until kick-off, when all is forgiven.

Architect Luigi Rosselli at one of the four terrace houses which he designed and are being built using cross laminated timber. The terraces will be rented out.

This architect is building for himself – at a quarter of the cost

Luigi Rosselli is the designer of one of Sydney’s most controversial homes, but for his own investment, he’s using a novel material to build on the cheap.

This Month

When sustainability costs $14,400 per square metre

We check in to an innovative, carbon-neutral apartment in the Ferrars & York building in South Melbourne.

Deeper investment pool: Mitsubishi Estate has sold down its 30 per cent stake in Sydney’s Salesforce Tower to a fund with smaller investors including Odakyu Australia.

Salesforce tower deal struck as Japanese rush for real estate

Corporate Japanese investment in property, which retreated after the 1980s, is back – but it has a new form as investors take a long-term view.

Render of the planned 21-level ARI Main Beach development, on a 1,355sqm site at 3555 Main Beach Parade in Gold Coast that Sydney developer ODUS and Metrics Credit Partners have acquired for $55.68m.

Metrics, Odus pair to develop $290m Gold Coast tower

Lower borrowing costs and more confidence about building costs is creating opportunities to tap the greater demand for housing, financier says.

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BESIX Watpac CEO Mark Baker.

Builder Watpac warns of supply chain risk from new US steel tariffs

The increased uncertainty from a choppier global environment comes at a tough time for Australian contractors, just as conditions are slowing at home.

May

Woollahra Mayor Sarah Swan is concerned about inadequate planning for transport around a key junction in Edgecliff.

This Sydney traffic junction sums up our city housing problem

Edgecliff, just east of Sydney’s CBD, shows the difficulty of councils and state governments trying to balance the demands of residents and growing populations.

Designer Jenny Ku at her Edmondson Park home.

Buyers will pay $118,000 more for energy-efficient homes

New figures show the importance of sustainability and long-term costs, not just up-front affordability, in the housing market.

A collection of 12 properties at 32-38 Wilberforce Ave & 41-55 Dover Road in eastern Sydney’s Rose Bay has come to the market with price hopes of $165 million-plus. 

12 houses, $165m: Rose Bay home owners join forces to sell mega block

New NSW policy prompts the 12 property owners in the affluent harbourside Sydney suburb to put their collective site up for sale to developers.

The three-bedroom house at 132 Pasadena Grove, Mildura, in regional Victoria.

‘Unbelievable’: $410k sale shows investors are back in this rural town

The demand is as strong as it was during the lockdown period. But unlike then, it’s focused on one key price range.

The property tax surcharge creating an opportunity for local investors

Two states, Victoria and Queensland, levy an extra tax on offshore buyers that is pushing them out of a key asset class, to the benefit of locals.

This full-floor, three-bedroom apartment at 4/55A Prince Albert Road in lower north shore Sydney’s Mosman sold for $5.3 million.

$5.3m Mosman unit sold after talks as rate cut delivers patchy results

Property buyers are weighing up the benefit of lower borrowing costs versus global economic uncertainty – and reaching different answers.

AFR, A breakfast nook located in a kitchen corner of a newly purchased luxury Sydney harbourside apartment designed by Arent&Pyke for an empty-nester couple. Supplied 12th March 2025 photo: Anson Smart

Why the kitchen in this Mosman home has a sofa

With no children at their Sydney home, an empty nest couple did not need to rush in their cooking and dining room. So they set out to make it leisurely.

Cliff life: The three-level house at 2 The Coombe, Mosman Park, in Perth’s western suburbs sold for $21.5 million.

Agent sells her own $21.5m home for a record

Real estate agents can be surprised when they get an unexpected offer – even on their family property, as just happened in Perth.

Policies in place are good, but more change is needed to boost housing supply: Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz.

The 262,000-home shortage Australia needs to fix

Lower interest rates and stable costs have improved the housing outlook, but reforms are needed to fix the undersupply.

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Victorian Treasurer Jaclyn Symes and Premier Jacinta Allan.

Ratings agencies pan Victorian budget’s lack of restraint

A $2.3 billion cost-of-living package including household energy rebates in Jaclyn Symes’ first budget will send debt to a record within four years.

The share of Victoria’s tax take from the real estate industry is rising.

Almost half Victoria’s tax take comes from property

The rise to 47 per cent of a total tax take is a distorting feature in a sector that is crucial to the state’s overall economy.

Baked-in emissions: Embodied carbon is going to become a growing concern for builders.

There’s another feasibility hurdle to new housing projects

Carbon content is going to become an increasing consideration for housing projects. In some countries, it’s already enough to prevent a building permit.

Stratford Cross in East London, one of the UK projects Lendlease is set to share with Crown Estate.

$300m deal: Lendlease to sell stake in UK assets to royal family’s Crown Estate

The joint venture will lift the ASX-listed company’s divestment total to $2.5 billion of its $2.8 billion target for this year.

Hot property: The three-bedroom house on 881 square metres in north-eastern Adelaide’s Hillcrest.

‘A wow result’: The $1.4m ‘gamble’ on a rising market

Developers are usually cold bidders, basing their limit on what they can get for a site. But this buyer showed more hope than almost 40 rivals who bowed out.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/by/michael-bleby-j67se