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John McManus recognised as LJ Hooker's top NSW/ACT salesperson

At LJ Hooker's annual awards event on the weekend, John McManus snapped up the prize for leading selling business owner in NSW and the ACT, ending Bill Malouf's 16 years in the top spot.

Victoria (Vic.)

Design

Victoria's best architecture on display at 2017 Victorian Architecture Awards

The 2017 Victorian Architecture Awards winners were announced last week, revealing a focus in the state on designing healthy and highly liveable buildings.

National

Design

GBCA appoints Frasers Property CEO, Rod Fehring as new chair

Rod Fehring says developers must embrace building practices that deliver healthy buildings.

Queensland (Qld)Brisbane

Featured Property

Reclaimed brick brings character and charm to this Norman Park executive family home

This four-bedroom executive family home in Brisbane's Norman Park, designed by Craig Webster of Monster Ideas, is for sale by auction through Simon Dean of Place Bulimba.

Western Australia (WA)

People

Tom Esze takes home the main prize, again: REIWA 2017 Auctioneering Championship

Tom Esze is this year's REIWA Auctioneering Champion. Runner up was David Vitale, and the winner of this year's rookie award was Prash Nayar.

Victoria (Vic.)Melbourne

Politics

Victoria establishes taskforce to fast-track flammable cladding probe

Architect and former premier Ted Baillieu will head up the new Victorian Cladding Taskforce, which has been established to investigate how widely flammable cladding has been used on Victorian high-rise buildings.

Victoria (Vic.)Melbourne

People

Former real estate agent Joseph Ngo pleads guilty to 163 charges

A former agent for LJ Hooker has pleaded guilty to 163 charges associated with transferring money held for clients in trust funds into an account managed by his wife.

Victoria (Vic.)Melbourne

Featured Property

A converted factory apartment in Collingwood's 'Bohemia' is for sale

A converted apartment in Collingwood's former Foy & Gibson factory, close to cafes and trams, is for sale through Sam Goddard and Simon Curtain of Abercromby's Armadale.

National New South Wales (NSW)Sydney Victoria (Vic.)Melbourne

The Economy

Weekend auctions litmus test of new first-home-buyer benefits

New stamp duty concessions in New South Wales and Victoria added some heat to otherwise wintry auction market conditions on the weekend.

National

Design

What should you do if you are concerned about flammable products in your building?

The Australian Building Codes Board has launched a new web site where you can report concerns about non-conforming building products.

Pages

News Roundup

http://www.afr.com/p/business/property/housing_boom_to_bolster_developers_YImrk057k8ThL2gJkk1oSI

Housing boom a win for developers

With record amounts of homes being approved, Australia's new housing boom is expected to boost the earnings of the country's listed residential developers. AVJennings is due to report its results today, with big developers including Stockland and Mirvac reporting later this week.

The Australian Financial Review

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/property/jpmorgan-keen-for-bigger-slice-of-australian-real-estate/story-fn9656lz-1227212368526

JP Morgan wants more Australian real estate

JP Morgan Asset Management wants more real estate platform acquisitions in Australia and the region as it expands across developed markets and builds funds under management. JP Morgan Asset Management entered the Asia Pacific in 2006 focusing on real estate in India and China.

The Australian

http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/6055-roy-morgan-unemployment-january-2015-201502060147

Unemployment rate falls in January

A Roy Morgan survey on Australia's unemployment and under-employed shows that the real unemployment rate fell to 9.8 per cent in January 2015. This compares with an official unemployment rate of 6.1 per cent in December 2014. The survey shows 2.27 million Australians are either unemployed or under-employed.

Roy Morgan Research

http://www.mortgagebusiness.com.au/breaking-news/8148-adelaide-bank-partners-with-melbourne-mortgage-manager?utm_source=Mortgage%20Business&utm_campaign=Mortgage_Business_Newsletter09_02_2015&utm_medium=email

Adelaide Bank forms new mortgage partnership

Adelaide Bank has announced a new partnership with FinancePath, a Melbourne-based mortgage manager specialising in property investment.

Mortgage Business

http://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/sydney-sellers-reaping-the-housing-price-windfall-some-making-more-than-100-profit/story-fndban6l-1227212344026

Sydney sellers made big profits last year

Sydney's price boom means many sellers in 2014 made huge resale profits even though they had owned their properties for less than five years. Fewer properties selling at a loss is a reflection of overall market conditions.

The Daily Telegraph

http://www.afrsmartinvestor.com.au/p/new-investor/rates_spell_strong_year_for_property_PASMqdrLoxTIXCav9oviHM

2015 hot for property

As other sectors languish, a buoyant housing market is its only hope in 2015 and house prices seem poised to rise by about five per cent in most capital cities this year.

AFR Smart Investor

http://www.afr.com/p/business/property/apartment_sales_could_rise_to_this_w3YJqLh1rr7R0Pec8hRh9H

Apartment sales soar

There was a 20 per cent jump in apartment sales in Australia in 2014, to a historic high of 14,293, and the Housing Industry Association predicts a higher figure in 2015.

The Australian Financial Review

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/financial-services/anz-ups-the-ante-by-cutting-rates-earlier-than-rivals/story-fn91wd6x-1227209304402

ANZ ups the ante on rivals

ANZ Bank has announced it will pass on in full the Reserve Bank of Australia's interest rate cut of 25 basis points on February 12, earlier than its main rivals Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac Banking and National Australia Bank.

The Australian