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Property downsizing

Today

High-rise housing in Sydney’s Rhodes.

Sydney doesn’t have enough three-bedroom apartments for Boomers

Many empty-nesters are staying put in their large houses or competing with young families and professionals for modern three-bedders with lifts.

  • Swati Pandey
A downsizer super contribution can be made regardless of your total super balance.

Four tips for upsizing super with downsizer contributions

If you’re 55 or over, you may be able to make a downsizer superannuation contribution to boost your retirement savings by up to $300,000.

  • Jenneke Mills

September

The six-unit block of apartments with scope for a 10-storey building on the same site at 1199 Gold Coast Highway, Palm Beach, sold for $10 million.

The $1.5m sale that shows Gold Coast buildings and people are ageing

Housing stock is being recycled on a key part of Australia’s coastline. But sales that make sense on paper aren’t always easy to achieve.

  • Michael Bleby
Assembly Funds Management (AFM) Louis O’Loughlin, Head of Investments Tim Meurer, CIO and Tom McDonald, Founder and Director at Elka Capital.

Assembly goes into land lease with $350m fund

The fund manager tapping funds from high net worth investors and family offices is aiming for a 10-plus community portfolio with up to 2000 homes.

  • Michael Bleby

August

John Carfi.

Ingenia reveals five-year plan for settlements growth

The developer of affordable accommodation for downsizing Baby Boomers wants to focus its own capital on the core land lease business.

  • Michael Bleby
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The two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment with car park at 12/20-24 The Parade in inner-western Sydney’s Russell Lea sold at auction for $1,063,000.

The $1m apartment downsizers wouldn’t touch

It had stairs – lots of stairs – faced south and needed a ton of work. But first home buyers fought hard for it.

  • Michael Bleby
Lendi’s data showed that it took a big four bank about 20 days to discharge a mortgage.

Investor borrowing picks up to a two-year high

Vacancy rates have risen and rent growth is slowing, but Australia’s tight housing market is attracting investors, especially as confidence about interest rates grows.

  • Michael Bleby

July

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Actuaries call to include family homes above $2.1m in pension test

The Actuaries Institute suggests it’s time to slay the sacred cow that is the family home.

  • Michelle Bowes
Lifestyle Communities managing director James Kelly.

Fight over Baby Boomer housing takes toll on developer

The Melbourne-based developer and landlord faces the twin battles of a slowing market and criticism of a fee structure that other companies do not use.

  • Michael Bleby
Bernie Ramsay moved from Sydney to Woonona seeking a better lifestyle.

Why this is the ideal age to downsize

Move into a smaller home too early, and you miss out on the opportunity to put additional money into super. Leave it too late, and you might not be up to the task.

  • Michelle Bowes
Yours at an average $20,000 per square metre: Kokoda Property has received approval for its $1.5 billion Skyring Terrace project in Brisbane’s Teneriffe. 

New home approvals rise to six-month high

As two project approvals in Brisbane and Melbourne show, soaring materials and financing costs have made new projects unviable for all but the priciest homes. 

  • Michael Bleby
The three-bedroom townhouse at 3/29 Wheatleigh Street in lower north shore Sydney’s Crows Nest sold by private treaty for $2,915,000.

The unusual move that made this seller $4.8m

Most people with a large block to offload would do just that, but this vendor developed it – and made a much bigger profit in the process.

  • Michael Bleby

June

Life coach Margot Krekeler says downsizing requires significant physical, mental, and emotional effort.

The four biggest mistakes downsizers make, according to this expert

Many people overestimate how much they will have left over after downsizing, but smaller doesn’t necessarily mean cheaper.

  • Penny Wise
Affluent niche: Developments targeting the downsizer market are booming.

Apartment sales boom – in the $1 million-plus price range

Soaring materials and financing costs are making most apartment projects unviable. But there’s a niche of the development market that is booming.

  • Michael Bleby
The two-storey, four-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom house on 622 square metres at 14 Shenton Place in western suburban Perth’s Claremont sold by private treaty for $3.6 million. 

Downsizers who ‘weren’t looking’ buy $3.6m home

Competition for smaller homes in established suburbs like Claremont is so intense that many downsizers plan to build anew. But if they see something suitable, they jump at it.

  • Michael Bleby
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May

Boomers continue to cop flak from younger generations, much of it unfairly.

Baby Boomers are loving the ‘freedom’ of renter life

Typically, those who don’t own a home worry it might be detrimental to their financial future. However, more Baby Boomers are in favour of renting.

  • Katherine Doherty
Housing news from Victoria budget 2024.

Australia to fall 300,000 homes short of Albanese’s target

The housing industry welcomes official recognition that the country will fall short of its goals, but warns demand for new homes is still underestimated.

  • Michael Bleby

Why city boltholes are the next must-have for Baby Boomers

A new wave of apartment buyers could fuel stiffer competition, experts say.

  • Nila Sweeney

A housing boom is coming – for the wealthy

Investors, downsizers and upgraders will drive the next wave of residential development. First home buyers will hardly get a look in.

  • Michael Bleby

April

The 22nd-level, three-bedroom unit at 22F, 5 Bayview St, Runaway Bay in Gold Coast’s Runaway Bay sold at auction for $2.47 million.

Buyer plays up strata cost fears before $2.47m apartment purchase

A local purchaser of a Gold Coast unit used the threat of an extra $25,000 special levy hanging over the property to try to put his rivals off.

  • Michael Bleby

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/property-downsizing-1mrj