Australian Property

By Leith van Onselen Westpac will face a class action in the federal court for issuing home loans that breached responsible lending rules.

By Leith van Onselen The independent report on the Opal Tower farce, which saw residents evacuated from the 34-storey structure after huge cracks were discovered, has forced the NSW Government to crackdown on shoddy high-rise construction.

Via the AFR: It says everything about the intellectual savvy and raw power of the global anti-coal lobby that it has corralled Ivan Glasenberg into a profound public concession on coal mining.

Via the AFR today: Industry sources said one of Labor’s proposals was that the lender paid the broker a flat fee regardless of the size of the loan, rather than a fee that is a percentage of the loan.

This is how one McGrathmageddon realtor summed up the property market this week: 2019 looks more promising than many would have thought.

By Leith van Onselen REA Group chief economist, Nerida Conisbee, has falsely claimed that Labor’s negative gearing policy would stop investment in homes and force-up rents: “We’ve already kind of scared property investors off.

By Leith van Onselen LF Economics has released a new report, entitled “Let the Bloodbath Begin”, which forecasts a doomsday scenario for Sydney and Melbourne housing: With many pressures mounting throughout 2019, we are confident that house price declines will accelerate in Sydney and Melbourne.

By Leith van Onselen The latest NAB survey: And the latest FIRB report for 2017-18: Both showed a collapse in foreign buyer demand, particularly from China.

Via Martin North today: We have updated our scenarios to take account of a range of new data, and the latest input from our household surveys.

By Leith van Onselen The fallout from the recent fire at the 41-storey Neo200 building on Melbourne’s Spencer Street continues, with owners of buildings covered in flammable cladding ordered to move smoke alarms closer to danger zones.

By Leith van Onselen With a near record level of apartments still under construction across Australia: Concentrated in Sydney and Melbourne: And dwelling values plummeting across the two major markets: Developers are getting increasingly desperate, throwing incentives at buyers to clear surplus stock.

By Leith van Onselen In the ultimate sign of desperation, the Morrison Government has rolled-out several real estate industry lobbyists to campaign against Labor’s negative gearing and capital gains tax (CGT)reforms.

Via UBS’s excellent George Tharenou today: The Foreign Investment Review Board released data for 17/18.

Via ANZ’s new profits release: As I noted last week, ANZ had indeed led the specufestor clamp down: It’s a great shame they’re turning that around.

Via Banking Day: Nathan Lynch of Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence The revelations about Chinese asset recovery agents operating covertly in Australia will put pressure on the Department of Home Affairs to introduce law reforms ahead of the May general election.

By Leith van Onselen A strange situation has developed across Melbourne’s housing market.

CoreLogic’s leading indices are out and they continue point to further house price weakness.

By Leith van Onselen With a near record level of apartments still under construction across Australia: Concentrated in Sydney and Melbourne: The Australian’s Alan Kohler has sounded the alarm: Deposits are typically 10 per cent.