Qualitas Breaks Records as Residential ‘Green Shoots’ Bloom

Investment manager Qualitas reported strong growth and a sunny outlook pinned on the rebounding residential sector this week, while Westfield owner Scentre Group signalled its intention to dive further into the residential sector.

As reporting season continues, retirement and lifestyle community developer and operator Ingenia celebrated an acquisitive year and one in which its land lease community growth continued. 

Elsewhere, Centuria Industrial REIT hailed continuing tailwinds in the industrial sector.

Qualitas 

Records were broken at alternative real estate investment manager Qualitas in its latest half-year results, emphasising the residential sector’s rebound. 

Qualitas told the ASX that it had deployed a record $2.4 billion in private credit over the six months to December 2024, up 34 per cent on the corresponding period in its 2024 year, tracking well after $4.2 billion in full-year deployment in its 2024 year.

It said there were “green shoots” in the Australian residential sector and financiers would be the first to benefit. 

Revenue for funds under management was up 19 per cent on the corresponding half year, to $30.8 million.

▲ Gurner and Qualitas completed the 297-apartment Beach House last year.

Eighty per cent of Qualitas funds under management is in commercial real estate private credit, a “fast growing segment”, it said, due to low correlation to other geographies and generating “superior returns with less fund leverage”.

Qualitas co-founder Andrew Schwartz said that Australia’s commercial real estate private credit market was in its early stages and well-positioned to further grow “given strong residential tailwinds and access to attractive risk-adjusted returns”.

“Our FY25 year-to-date pipeline and closed transactions as at January 2025 have reached $3.8 billion, up 12 per cent on the same period last year,” Schwartz said.

“We believe that we are at the start of the next residential development cycle and as economic indicators improve in anticipation of rate cuts later this year, we believe we are potentially entering a highly conducive deployment environment. 

“As one of the largest commercial real estate alternative financiers, our business will be one of the first to benefit from it.” 

Ingenia

Ingenia Communities said it had seen a material increase in home settlements as well as lifestyle rental and holidays businesses delivering growth. 

It reported revenues of $256.9 million, up 21 per cent on the corresponding previous half year. It delivered statutory profits of $87.6 million. 

In the half year, 258 home settlements were secured, up 4 per cent on the same period in its previous financial year. 

Landlease homes were also an area of success for the company, according to Ingenia chief executive John Carfi. 

“We have good momentum across the business with 258 new land lease homes settled, high occupancy across residential communities and holiday occupancy up on the previous corresponding period,” he said. 

Development activity is accelerating, he said, and Ingenia acquired two sites in Queensland, including an $8.6 million site with approval for 286 homes, as well as finalising development at its Chambers Pines and Seachange and Coomera communities. 

Centuria Industrial REIT

Centuria’s industrial real estate investment trust is continuing to harness “persistent industry tailwinds driven by demand for urban infill industrial facilities against a backdrop of limited supply”.

Funds from operations for the half-year to December 2024 reached $56.6 million, up slightly on the $54.1 million of the same period the previous year.

▲ Centuria Industrial REIT’s Southside Industrial Estate in Victoria.

With 87 assets, across which the average weighted average lease expiry of 7.3 years, it also “benefits” from a 12 per cent portfolio weighting to data centres, valued at $456 million. 

It reported $60 million of development commencements during the period, and emphasised its exposure to “outperforming” urban infill locations, of which 87 per cent of its portfolio falls in this category, according to CIP fund manager and head of listed funds Grant Nichols.

“Australian industrial markets continue to exhibit the lowest industrial vacancy rates among comparable established international markets,” Nichols said.

Scentre Group

Westfield shopping centre owner Scentre Group chief executive Elliott Rusanow told the ASX that it had been a difficult year after the deadly attack at Westfield Bondi last year. 

But retail continued to grow, with revenues for its full year increasing 5.1 per cent to $2.6 billion. 

Visitor numbers increased to 526 million, up from 14 million. 

Retailers achieved record sales of $29 billion, up $544 million than in 2023, and occupancy rates increased to 99.6 per cent, up from 99.2 per cent the year before. 

Scentre said it was progressing its $4-billion pipeline of future development opportunities, focusing on repurposing spaces. 

▲ Scentre Group has 42 Westfield centres—37 in Australia, five in New Zealand.

It completed works at Westfield Tea Tree Plaza in Adelaide and Westfield Mt Gravatt in Brisbane. It also commenced projects at Southland in Melbourne and Burwood in Sydney. 

Work also began on the staged development of Westfield Bondi in Sydney, and its development at Westfield Sydney and commercial and residential tower at the corner of Market and Castlereagh streets, a strategy it wants to continue, according to Rusanow.  

“We have the potential to make a significant contribution to housing supply at our locations across Australia and New Zealand,” Rusanow said.

“We are focused on how we can create substantial long-term growth for the group by adding density to our large and uniquely located strategic landholdings.”