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Michael Bleby

This Month

An artist’s impression of a proposal to replace what developer Fortis calls an “ageing residential flat building” in Elizabeth Bay with high-end apartments.

Elizabeth Bay luxury tower development rejected

The Rolling Stones made a surprise appearance in a judgment backing residents in a fight with developer Fortis about housing needs.

Mirvac has signed Sumitomo Corp as a capital partner for its $830 million Highforest residential project in north-western Sydney’s West Pennant Hills.

Japanese giant in mega housing deal with Mirvac

The deal marks the next wave of Japanese investment in Australian property as trading companies seek out opportunities.

Now non-bank lending with Macquarie: Private credit and investment manager IDA has invested in Esprit de Vie’s retirement living project at Mermaid Waters in Gold Coast. 

Macquarie buys into private credit provider IDA

The investment bank is tapping the demand for development funding in Australia’s chronically undersupplied housing market.

Buyers of apartments on sites such as this 22-storey, 111 Castlereagh by Cbus project in Sydney have an easier path to make claims in case of defects.

How it just became even better to buy an apartment in NSW

A High Court ruling has made it easier for off-the-plan buyers to sue developers and builders for defects – but only if they live in the largest state.

Top floor: The two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in inner-southern Sydney’s Waterloo sold by private treaty for $1,040,000.

Vendor sells $1m apartment in ‘flooded’ market

In a building with many investors selling, an upgrading owner-occupier was also trying to offload – in a market that changed for the worse within months.

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Sailing into uncharted territory? Queensland needs to abandon past procurement models and embrace public private partnerships to deliver the Olympics infrastructure it needs, consultancy Arcadis says.

Queensland may have to tap private funds for Olympic projects

With construction cost growth outstripping Sydney and Melbourne, Brisbane 2032 might need private consortia to deliver and operate Games infrastructure.

Hitting it for six: The minimum standard of six star thermal efficiency ratings set in 2010 was upgraded to 7 stars last year.

Older, ‘cheaper’ houses hide costs that bite owners

More than 80 per cent of Australia’s houses have half the energy efficiency of the latest standards – and that’s going to make them less valuable.

The two bedroom, one bathroom, one car park unit in a building of eight at 2/38 Boundary Street in northern NSW’s Tweed Heads sold by private treaty for $850,000.

‘Shoebox’ apartment sells for $850,000 in less than a day

With supply crunched, this 41-square-metre unit sold at a rate similar to those on nearby Millionaires’ Row.

for sale sign: The Victorian government wants to sell the operating rights to its Mt Baw Baw and Lake Mountain alpine resorts. 

Why Victoria will struggle to sell Mount Baw Baw alpine resort

More than one-third of the resort’s commercial sites are vacant and it doesn’t have enough power to use them all, business owners say.

Local development in Kensington, Shemara Wikramanayake, Dan McLennan, Matt Berg, Andrew Irvine.

New tax laws no silver bullet for build-to-rent, NAB warns

Last week’s legislation halving the tax rate for foreign investors is a good start, but rival Macquarie agrees other factors also drag on projects.

Nuveen’s ANZ region head of debt Dugald Marr.

‘It’s a bit of a golden age of private credit’

Fund manager Nuveen, which has done a $400 million deal with Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, says high returns are possible – and the risks aren’t bad, either.

Going up: Large contractor earnings are increasing, but insolvencies among smaller subcontractors are also growing.

Big builders enjoy recovery as insolvencies hammer small players

Even as large contractors report stronger earnings, the loss of smaller subcontractors cuts capacity and creates risks for the whole sector.

Pointing up: New housing approvals are increasing.

Worst has passed for new home building: economists

Bad times “are starting to end” as developers now have a handle on costs and the prices they can get for apartments.

The corner house at 23 King Street, St Marys, NSW, was the most valuable of the three.

Not even the agent saw this $4.2m purchase coming

They were three separate houses, sitting in a row. The residential sites were no good for development, but that didn’t stop one buyer from purchasing them all.

November

William Dalrymple at Serai Kitchen, Melbourne.

‘India, not China, is the historic centre of the Asian world’

Scottish author William Dalrymple argues in his new book that Indian thinkers like Aryabhata and Brahmagupta should be as familiar to the West as Archimedes and Galileo.

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Avid Property Group CEO Cameron Holt.

AVJennings to go private after mega private equity bid

The takeover offer from Proprium, which is backed by the company’s board, values the major home builder at $374 million, double its market capitalisation.

Going up: The value of residential construction work increased for a third quarter in the three months to September.

Housing construction rises to a three-year high

There are some signs of a pick-up in home-building, but higher costs and a risky environment for contractors are holding back development.

Many Australian suburbs are capitalising on existing homes rather than increasing the stock of housing.

Renovations boom while new builds stall

Australia’s trade and subcontractor shortages could be eased if policies and regulations tilted resources towards new home-building.

Daniel Andrews, Jacinta Allan and Tim Pallas.

Stockdale calls for Victorian asset sell off to repay debt

Former Liberal state treasurer in the Kennett government calls on Labor to sell its remaining assets, slash regulation and reduce taxes.

Lake Mountain, the closest snow field to Melbourne, targets the day-tripper market.

Victoria to sell loss-making Baw Baw, Lake Mountain ski resorts

The two resorts closest to Melbourne have long needed subsidies to keep operating. But selling them creates dilemmas for the state’s alpine tourism market.

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