The Real Estate Conversation

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When is the right time to refinance?

Bill Tsouvalas, CEO of Savvy Finance, says borrowers should wait until they have built up at least 20% equity in their home before refinancing.

New South Wales (NSW)Sydney

Design

Danish architects 3XN to redesign Sydney Fish Market

Sydney Fish Markets will be redeisgned by Danish architects 3XN Architects, who are also designing Quay Quarter Tower.

South Australia (SA)Adelaide

People

Get to know Vanessa Grant, sales partner with Toop&Toop

Vanessa Grant, sales partner with Toop&Toop, says "service is my mantra".

New South Wales (NSW)Sydney

Featured Property

Join the Palm Beach A-list in a home with self-contained apartment

A newly built home in Sydney's Palm Beach with ocean views and within an easy stroll of the beach is for sale for $5.5 million through David Edwards of LJ Hooker Palm Beach.

Sydney records world's strongest office rental growth: JLL

Sydney recorded office rental growth of 28.9% in the year to March, the strongest rate of growth in the world according to the JLL Global Office Index.

National

Construction

Questions remain about non-conforming building products in Australia: HIA

Kristin Brookfield of the HIA spoke to SCHWARTZWILLIAMS about the continued availability of non-conforming building products in Australia, and what to do if you are concerned about them being used in your building.

Winter chill hits auction clearance rates

Auction clearance rates continue to soften, with CoreLogic's preliminary clearance rate coming in at 69.1% last week, and the final result for the previous week hitting 66.7%, the lowest rate for the year.

Queensland (Qld)Sunshine Coast

Featured Property

Every day's a holiday in this Noosa home inspired by Asian resort design

One of Chris Clout's perfectly crafted, high-luxury designs, this Noosa home is on the market for $3.85 million through Adrian Reed and Darren Neal of Dowling & Neylan Real Estate Noosaville.

International

People

Twenty-six-year-old Ned Allison is New Zealand's top auctioneer

Ned Allison from Harcourts Grenadier, Christchurch, is the winner of the 2017 REINZ National Real Estate Auctioneering Championships.

National

People

Get to know 'thought leader' Douglas Driscoll, CEO of Starr Partners

Douglas Driscoll, CEO and owner of boutique agency Starr Partners, says he is living the dream.

Pages

News Roundup

http://www.afr.com/p/business/property/stockland_mooted_as_potential_bidder_Y9AyVTMNfmSWwh2Nch88FK

Stockland could make a play for Novion

Credit Suisse believes that Stockland could make a cash and scrip offer for Novion Property Group, blocking the latter's proposed merger with Federation Centres. A combined Novion-Federation Centres would boast a retail property portfolio worth $22 billion, while Stockland owns some $5.7 billion worth of retail assets.

The Australian Financial Review

http://www.afr.com/p/business/companies/leighton_holdings_delivers_project_ZMiljrBzgb6bhslc3sl88M

Leighton Holdings delivers big profit

Australian construction group Leighton Holdings has posted a net profit of $A676.5m for the 2014 calendar year, which is 33 per cent higher than previously. The group expects its net profit for 2015 to be within the range of $450 million and $520 million.

The Australian Financial Review

http://www.mortgagebusiness.com.au/breaking-news/8157-cba-flexes-its-tech-muscles?utm_source=Mortgage%20Business&utm_campaign=Mortgage_Business_Newsletter12_02_2015&utm_medium=email

CBA flexes tech muscle

Australia’s biggest bank emphasised technology and digital platforms are a key point of difference when it announced its half-yearly profit results yesterday.The lender posted a statutory NPAT of $4.5 billion, up 8 per cent, and a cash NPAT of $4.6 billion – also up 8 per cent, in the six months to 31 December 2014.

Mortgage Business

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/wall-street-journal/dubais-real-estate-moguls-bet-on-another-property-boom/story-fnay3ubk-1227216461238

Another boom for Dubai?

Dubai’s real estate moguls are betting on another property boom. Many property magnates are back building weird, wonderful and some say wildly over-ambitious projects in another go-go era for the city.

The Australian

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/feb/11/tsb-10-year-fixed-rate-mortgage

Mortgage deal to attract first home owners

An English bank is offering a 10-year fixed-rate mortgage aimed at customers who have only 5% of the purchase price to put down as a deposit. The lender said borrowers would be able to lock in to a rate of 5.69% until 2025 at a loan to value of up to 95% of their property’s price. It is the only 10-year fix at that level in the UK.

The Guardian

http://www.businessinsider.com.au/13-real-estate-tips-from-zillow-ceo-spencer-rascoff-2015-2

Real Estate by the book

U.S. real-estate website Zillow has been collecting information about the residential real estate market for a decade, and has taken what it’s learned and put it into a book with advice on buying and selling homes. It's called “Zillow Talk: The New Rules of Real Estate” by Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff and chief economist Stan Humphries.

Business Insider Australia

http://www.afr.com/p/business/companies/stockland_first_half_profit_rises_xgI6HcX0ydrA67iItuO6WN

Housing boom a win for Stockland

Australia's biggest diversified property group, Stockland, said its first-half underlying profit rose 8.5 per cent to $290 million from $267 million in the year-earlier period. "Our residential business was a standout performer in the first half, with substantially increased sales across a number of the markets in which we operate," said managing director Mark Steinert.

The Australian Financial Review

http://www.smh.com.au/business/property/housing-boom-tipped-to-get-bubbly-as-mortgage-rates-fall-20150210-13aftd.html

House prices rise

Economists are talking of a Sydney housing bubble as mortgage rates fall to all-time lows and Australian Bureau of Statistics data released yesterday showed house prices in Australia's capital cities continued to rise in the December 2014 quarter. Sydney prices rose another 3.4 per cent, while Brisbane and Melbourne recorded 1.4 per cent and 1.3 per cent growth respectively.

The Sydney Morning Herald