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Scott Hutchinson has just returned to Australia from Burning Man—the annual event that brings tens of thousands of people to Nevada’s Black Rock Desert for a week of “community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance”.Hutchinson first flew to the week-long desert festival in 2010.&nbsp;&nbsp;He hasn’t missed one since.“Yeah, mate, it’s just my thing. I love it,” he said. “This year was too good to be true … don’t believe all that other stuff.”The “other stuff” to which he refers was the almost 13mm of rain which fell on the impromptu desert city in what is normally the driest of the United States.&nbsp;While thousands reportedly got stuck in mud as they tried to leave, like Hutchinson, most saw it as part of the experience. And in any case, as chairman of Queensland’s biggest building company, privately owned Hutchinson Builders, he is used to watching weather forecasts.And was pleased to learn upon his return that Australia, and particularly the eastern seaboard, is officially in for a long, hot summer.The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) had finally declared an El Nino event—one of two climate patterns that generally determine whether Australia will have a hot or a wet summer, and whether there’s more risk of bushfires, floods and droughts.El Nino, according to the BoM, is part of a natural cycle known as the El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and is associated with many months of sustained warming.Other than a shift in temperature extremes, El Nino brings less rain, an increased risk of frost, less tropical cyclones, decreased alpine snow depths, and an increased fire danger in south-east Australia.Gloomy as that prediction is, Hutchinson welcomes it—in February this year he called for just that.“We need a recession and a drought and things will get back to normal … and I reckon we might get both,” he told&nbsp; <a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/scott-hutchinson-builders-formworkers-2023-predictions" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/scott-hutchinson-builders-formworkers-2023-predictions">The Urban Developer’s Phil Bartsch.</a><div id="3JkZvINeTDaB99fU2dLlRB"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/3rEB5u6Q4rVabGVJAiHn5B/4aa173ca6e615433a456a974f84d6fc8/1.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/3rEB5u6Q4rVabGVJAiHn5B/4aa173ca6e615433a456a974f84d6fc8/1.jpg"></picture><div>▲ The rain of La Nina had a greater impact than Covid, says Scott Hutchinson. </div></div>At that time he and other builders had just come out of the other ENSO weather event—La Nina—which brings cooler temperatures, more tropical cyclones and increased rainfall.“The rain in La Nina was actually worse than Covid,” says Hutchinson. “It was just crippling, we could never get a swing along. It was just horrible.”In fact, quantity surveyor Matt Hemming, of Mitchell Brandtman says he recalls one project where they lost 100 days due to La Nina’s wet weather.“That’s something that really impacted the market through the Covid delay times,” he said.&nbsp;&nbsp;“When we were going through all those issues and material price rises, to then get the weather delays … when a builder gets only time and no cost for that, so that’s a huge impact.“If they’re forecasting less rain in the foreseeable future, well, that can’t be a bad thing from a build point of view, but it obviously creates a lot of problems elsewhere.”One of those problems will be rising temperatures.Under Enterprise Bargaining Agreements (EBAs) struck by the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) its 100,000-plus members will stop work and leave a site when the temperature reaches 35C.In Queensland and the Northern Territory, construction workers can also leave a site if the temperature reaches 29C alongside humidity of 75 per cent.The CFMEU says the temperature should be measured at the BoM weather station nearest the work site.Barry Laycock, a director with cost management and quantity surveyors Slattery, says El Nino should improve productivity, as long as “we don't go over the CFMEU’s threshold for being heated off.”<div id="svVySMkbMb4htMGZF5r3i"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/4ezGiytRLhemvTEGqlE6CD/91efc91fbeb74507399908ce249b999d/3.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/4ezGiytRLhemvTEGqlE6CD/91efc91fbeb74507399908ce249b999d/3.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Slattery director Barry Laycock says dry weather is no bad thing. </div></div>“In theory you won't get as many lost days from wet weather,” Laycock says.“So as long as it stays below that threshold, but we get dry weather, then it should assist builders’ program.”Hutchinson agrees.While as chairman he no longer runs the company, the challenges of the past 30 months have meant he continues to work five days a week.&nbsp;&nbsp;And back from Burning Man, he’s been touring the company’s building sites.He reminded his staff El Nino was back, and dry weather was in their future. They reminded him he’d now have to watch the temperature.&nbsp;“The problem is, of course, it’s hard to get them back to work once you’ve stopped them, and we’ve got so much work at the moment, it’s crazy.“All our subcontractors have gone broke, so we’ve gone down into the trades doing them.”<h2>Homeowner warranty insurance skyrockets</h2>Insolvencies in the sector, for whatever reason, are creating their own problems.CoreLogic construction cost estimation manager John Bennett has watched the cost of homeowners’ warranty insurance policies—the type that protect consumers against a builder failing to complete a job—rise by up 40 per cent in the past 12 months.“It’s my opinion, what’s happened is because we’ve seen a lot of builders go under in the past six months, 12 months, etc, those flow-on costs will be hitting the insurance companies about now, and they’re setting themselves up for the next 12 months,” he said.This July was the world’s hottest month on record with wildfires raging throughout southern Europe and temperatures soaring globally, prompting UN secretary general António Guterres to declare: “The era of global warming has ended and the era of global boiling has arrived.”<div id="1DWwVdxkRRtaWf5zH5WEim"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/lflnBVyqPZgaVZgwlYu54/01d95c2d536deb56b070fdb3cd62c0f7/4.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/lflnBVyqPZgaVZgwlYu54/01d95c2d536deb56b070fdb3cd62c0f7/4.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Resilient Building Council chief executive Kate Cotter. </div></div>The Urban Land Institute (ULI)—a global organisation of 44,000 real estate and urban development professionals—says the modern built environment is a clear contributor to extreme heat.But in a report titled&nbsp;<a href="https://knowledge.uli.org/en/reports/research-reports/2019/scorched-extreme-heat-and-real-estate-in-asia-pacific-en" data-mce-href="https://knowledge.uli.org/en/reports/research-reports/2019/scorched-extreme-heat-and-real-estate-in-asia-pacific-en">Scorched: Extreme Heat and Real Estate in Asia Pacific</a>, ULI argues the sector can also be part of the solution, particularly in cities where there are opportunities to adopt mitigation strategies that directly reduce temperatures.Resilient Building Council chief executive Kate Cotter agrees, saying there is the potential to help improve&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/bushfires-climate-change-cities-planning" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/bushfires-climate-change-cities-planning">the resilience of our communities</a>—and save lives and properties.“Australia is exposed to increasing extreme weather and disasters, yet less than 10 per cent of our houses are resilient to local risk,” Cotter told&nbsp;The Urban Developer.“The reality is we need to build better, and we can.”&nbsp;For now, Australia’s construction industry is looking forward to drier conditions, with Hutchinson warning it will mean construction times are likely to tighten.“At the moment because we’re all used to wet weather, and also post Covid and the boom, construction times have all blown out. But clients and everybody else understands that.“As soon it’s dry, and after about 12 months of everybody expecting it to be dry, you’ll find clients will demand tighter build times.“But that’s human nature and has nothing to do with El Nino.”<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: start;" data-mce-style="margin: 0cm; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: start;"> <hr> You are currently experiencing The Urban Developer Plus (TUD+), our premium membership for property professionals. <a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/membership-plans" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/membership-plans">Click here to learn more.</a><div id="2GhuueZl01Zwo2aFfjNVi2"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/12UMq5eMSEOh0QxJVBYaDt/d7507cf4ceb1365cc9ce7eaff84d06cc/tud___banner.jpg" alt="TUD + Banner" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/12UMq5eMSEOh0QxJVBYaDt/d7507cf4ceb1365cc9ce7eaff84d06cc/tud___banner.jpg"></picture></div>

After epic rain delays to construction last summer, the industry says the big dry may be what it needs, but not everyone agrees…

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An $18.3-million affordable build-to-rent project has been completed in Melbourne’s north-east.The property, 260 Bell Street, was designed by Plus Architecture and built by Manresa Constructions for not-for-profit housing provider Unison Housing.The six-storey building comprises 42 apartments and is 9.5km from Melbourne’s CBD.The apartment designs incorporate practical kitchens, bedrooms with built-in robes and temperature control, alongside balconies and secure underground parking.Comprising mostly two-bedroom apartments, the development “will provide safe and secure homes for families who are on the highest priority category of the Victorian Housing Register,” a spokesperson said.Homes Victoria, in partnership with Unison Housing, funded the project as part of the $5.3-billion Big Housing Build, which aims to provide more social and affordable housing to people in need across metropolitan and regional Victoria.Unison will develop, manage and maintain the new building, with Unison’s Place Management team working with local services to ensure that residents are linked with support for a sustainable tenancy.<div id="5EvcjePXbPerGsEiEHCZPP"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/7sKiX4H64TQhENJvx2rv3l/b92586e5818ccbcac495795c2bf9ff28/1.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/7sKiX4H64TQhENJvx2rv3l/b92586e5818ccbcac495795c2bf9ff28/1.jpg"></picture><div>▲ The project was funded as part of the $5.3-billion Big Housing Build. </div></div>Located at the northern end of Bell Street at Heidelberg Heights, the development is in the heart of the Victorian government’s regeneration plans for the area, including completed upgrades to local infrastructure.Plus Architecture principal Jessica Liew said 260 Bell Street had been designed to reflect and complement the surrounding natural landscape.“Through incorporating large setbacks to the north and employing staggered terracing, the building’s curved sculptural form establishes an original and refined design language that creates a harmonious relationship with the neighbouring structures,” she said.“The elegant and organic shapes follow the natural flow of the land and the building nestles into the rich topography of the raised site. Curved lines, expressed edges and wide balconies contribute to its inviting atmosphere.”Unison Housing chief executive James King said increasing the provision of safe and affordable social housing such as the Bell Street property provided more families with housing options.“For 42 families, this development represents an opportunity for a new start to life. It is a place where people can be comfortable, live with dignity, stay well, raise their family, make memories and connect and support each other within a community,” he said.<div id="5ginCZRKQR1u4Xg5ipgl3V"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/5zwRZsjwHq7mSDhKdOkMta/ca91cc046e9b16fcbc2c880c6f82539f/2.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/5zwRZsjwHq7mSDhKdOkMta/ca91cc046e9b16fcbc2c880c6f82539f/2.jpg"></picture><div>▲ The Bell Street project is among a raft of affordable housing solutions rising in the city. </div></div>Affordable build-to-rent is on the rise and certain to be boosted by the <a data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/victoria-housing-statement-supply-planning-home-crisis" href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/victoria-housing-statement-supply-planning-home-crisis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Victorian government roadmap</a> to end the housing crisis announced this week.A <a data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/affordable-build-to-rent-kensington-melbourne-assemble-construction-started" href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/affordable-build-to-rent-kensington-melbourne-assemble-construction-started" target="_blank" rel="noopener">build-to-rent project at Kensington</a> being developed by Assemble and Super Housing Partnerships is one of five projects in Melbourne to increase affordable housing in the city now under way.It is the first project in specialist affordable housing fund manager Super Housing Partnerships’ pipeline through the High Impact Fund I, which is worth $750 million.&nbsp;The Kensington project will comprise 362 mixed-tenure homes including affordable, social, market-rate and specialist disability housing, and the site at Kensington, 4km north-west of the CBD, is near public transport and major hospitals.<div><div data-zephrid="regular-article-main"><div id="normal-article">Other projects in the pipeline include a four-building, 446-apartment project at 30 St Georges Road, 32-36 Oakover Road and 17-49 Showers Street at Preston with office tenancies, a supermarket and retail outlets.&nbsp;There is also a nine-storey building with 180 apartments at 512A Sydney Road at Coburg that will be integrated with the existing Kevin Heinz Grow community garden and heritage buildings.&nbsp;A five-building, 332-apartment project at 209-211 Carinish Road, Clayton, and a 325-apartment project at 240-246 East Boundary Road, East Bentleigh, are the other two projects in the pipeline.&nbsp;</div></div></div>

An $18.3-million affordable build-to-rent has been completed in Melbourne’s north-east.

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Constrained supply and long-term leases are proving appetising for investors looking for yield diversification in the life sciences market.&nbsp;The life sciences asset class has suffered a bit of an identity crisis, straddling office, healthcare and industrial.&nbsp;But the specialised market segment, driven by the ongoing demand for purpose-built facilities that serve <a data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/life-science-investors-boom-1bn" href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/life-science-investors-boom-1bn" target="_blank" rel="noopener">life sciences industry participants, is maturing</a>.&nbsp;Colliers associate director for healthcare and retirement living valuation and advisory services David Mugenyi said there had been a notable surge in occupier demand.&nbsp;“There has also been increased interest from institutional funds looking to invest in Life Sciences property assets, thanks to state and federal govenrment policies, which aim to reduce Australia’s reliance on the global supply chain for pharmaceuticals and vaccines,” Mugenyi said.“The availability of purpose-built life science facilities in the market remains limited, creating a gap between demand from occupiers and the ability of landlords to provide suitable space.&nbsp;“Given constrained supply and attractive long-term leases typically exceeding 10 years, life science assets come with an appealing yield profile ranging from 4.75 per cent to 5.5 per cent.”<div id="1sa7l2K3L5fnQuuk7B98DQ"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/1JR4awtn7jz9LU99mSYj6U/8490e2525e6bdf7f48b1cb7f4f44ed98/Gold_Coast_Life_Sciences_Centre__1_.jpg" alt="Outside the proposed Gold Coast Life Sciences Centre at Southport." data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/1JR4awtn7jz9LU99mSYj6U/8490e2525e6bdf7f48b1cb7f4f44ed98/Gold_Coast_Life_Sciences_Centre__1_.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Lumina at the Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct at Southport. </div></div> Colliers director Ash Dean said Melbourne’s Ferntree Business Park at Notting Hill and near the Monash Business Park precinct continued to lure the biomedical industry.&nbsp;“Over the last few years we have seen a significant rise in enquiry from biomedical and life sciences occupiers seeking space in the Monash precinct,” Dean said. &nbsp;The Gray Puksand-designed Ferntree Business Park is a new-generation business park that has created a lifestyle precinct through clever planning and design.According AusBiotech, the number of life sciences organisations has increased 60 per cent from 2017 to 2022 and significant government investment has accelerated this further.&nbsp;And a recent Knight Frank report has ranked the life sciences asset class fourth for capital allocation in the next 18 months.&nbsp;Life sciences continues to boom as the industry’s revenue is forecast to grow to $10 billion in the next five years and it’s all green lights for property investors.<a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/life-sciences-lure-investors-to-35bn-market" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/life-sciences-lure-investors-to-35bn-market">Superannuation funds and offshore capital are diving into the life sciences property sector,</a> according to a report commissioned by Colliers and Harrison Street this year, while developers compete for prized land close to medical precincts.&nbsp;

Constrained supply and long-term leases are proving to be appetising for investors looking for yield diversification in the life sciences market.

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It’s official—Sydney’s property market is overvalued.&nbsp;According to the UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index of 2023, the housing bubbles are deflating—real house prices fell by 5 per cent on average.But the NSW capital remains far too expensive compared to its inhabitants’ incomes. The city chalked up 16th in the ranking of residential property markets across 25 cities around the world.&nbsp;The reality for aspiring homeowners now is that affordability is at its worst.&nbsp;AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said the widening gap between house prices and incomes was to blame.&nbsp;“At its core, housing affordability is determined by home prices, income levels and interest rates,” Oliver said.&nbsp;“Whichever way you cut it, housing affordability has deteriorated massively in recent decades.”According to the 2023 Demographia Affordability Survey, the median multiple of house prices to income for major cities is 8.2 times in Australia, compared to 5 times in the UK.In Sydney it’s 13.3 times the income.&nbsp;And there is more pain in the wings, according to Oliver, who said that mortgage interest payments as a share of household income would rise to record levels once the current interest rates fully washed through.&nbsp;The UBS analysis found that a skilled service worker had to work seven years in order to <a data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/sydney-luxury-market-heats-up-double-bay-ode" href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/sydney-luxury-market-heats-up-double-bay-ode" target="_blank" rel="noopener">be able to afford to buy a 60sq m apartment near Sydney’s city centre</a>.&nbsp;According to UBS, bubbles are linked to decoupling of prices from local incomes and rents, and imbalances in the real economy, including excessive lending and construction activity.&nbsp;Two cities, Zurich and Tokyo, remain in the bubble-risk category, down from nine cities in the previous year’s results.&nbsp;UBS reports that the Sydney housing market has been “very volatile” in recent years, moving in and out of the bubble risk category.&nbsp;The Reserve Bank of Australia’s aggressive rate hikes have more recently triggered a new sharp price correction. Inflation-adjusted prices are back to 2018 levels, according to UBS.Sydney is ranked 16th in the Global Real Estate Bubble Index for this year, with about a third of global cities falling in the fair-value category, with the remainder either overvalued or within the risk zone.&nbsp;“After a brief period of weakness between 2018 and 2019, prices surged by almost 25 per cent cumulatively across 2020 and 2021,” the report said.&nbsp;“Amid robust rental growth and lower household leverage, imbalances have declined sharply. The market is classified at the lower end of the overvalued territory.”

Sydney's overheated market continues to run out of step with its inhabitants' incomes who are paying 13.3 times their income to afford a median-priced home...

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Twenty years after he first acquired it, a Sydney businessman is selling a rare 8000-square-metre-plus office site on the banks of the Yarra River in Melbourne’s popular inner-eastern fringe.Industry commentators say the island site at Cremorne—with four street frontages and commanding views of the Melbourne cityscape—will fetch $80 million to $100 million.The former textiles warehouse, which sits on 8320sq m at 167-169 Cremorne Street, houses ASX-listed essential services providers Ventia.An international expressions-of-interest campaign is being handled by global commercial real estate and investment managers JLL, who described Cremorne as “the country’s most proven development precinct”.Head of capital markets Josh Rutman told The Urban Developer&nbsp;it was rare to see a site of this size come to market in that neighbourhood.“Most of the sites in Cremorne are around 500 to 1000 square metres,” he said. “This is at least eight times the size, and there’s very, very few that have traded over 5000sq m in the past couple of decades.“It’s got four street frontages, it’s got scale, so it allows you to do a number of different development outcomes, it’s got an existing building on it which is still of very good quality and it’s generating income from an ASX-listed tenant.”<div id="6SR1cfnXfSNCfE1EIByJvp"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/4o3A5z1qvJD5lwF3QnluJy/8202892f5bdf86f0e647546fb58f48b0/Cremorne_Sale_Mid__800x500_.jpg" alt="an aerial photo of the former textiles warehouse, which sits on 8320sq m and has street frontages on all four sides." data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/4o3A5z1qvJD5lwF3QnluJy/8202892f5bdf86f0e647546fb58f48b0/Cremorne_Sale_Mid__800x500_.jpg"></picture><div>▲ The former textiles warehouse on 8320sq m has street frontages on all four sides. </div>However, Rutman said, the real value was in the future potential of the site. </div>“And the fact that you’ve got holding income from a reliable tenant is a really handy, because as you know these developments can take years,” he said. “To have an income producing property, from a financing perspective, is a very good thing.”Online records show the site—bounded by Cremorne, Bent and Dover streets as well as the CityLink Freeway—last changed hands in June of 2003 for $8.2 million.Cremorne— just 3km from the centre of Melbourne—is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/60-cremorne-street-seek-development-construction-melbourne" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/60-cremorne-street-seek-development-construction-melbourne">one of the city’s most sought-after commercial addresses</a>&nbsp;and is home to national corporations including Seek, Tesla, Carsales, REA Group, Domain, Reece and MYOB.JLL research shows tenant demand in Yarra City Council has continued to lead the office recovery nationally after recording two consecutive years of the highest net absorption figures.JLL head of office institutional sales Paul Kempton said they continued to field requests for scalable projects at Cremorne.<div id="2U7fr9KoHuZa9lqPwrr8EN"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/7xbaEuUH6YsZIXMyzvW8gi/5c0a7b075b07e5a70d0ab16b9c521f1b/Cremorne_Sale_2_Mid_.jpg" alt="A photograph of the Carsales headquarters—one of a number of national corporations which count Cremorne as their home." data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/7xbaEuUH6YsZIXMyzvW8gi/5c0a7b075b07e5a70d0ab16b9c521f1b/Cremorne_Sale_2_Mid_.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Cremorne is home to a number of national corporations, including Seek, Tesla, REA Group, Domain and Carsales.</div><div> </div></div>“Until about five or six years ago they didn’t actually have a lot of new stock in the Cremorne market and the existing stock had been in place for a long period of time,” Kempton said.“Originally, that growth was tenant-led and that gave the developers confidence to build new stock because they understood the merits of doing that. Some of these were even built speculatively.”Kempton said those buildings were now effectively full and achieving high rental income.“So not only is the depth of tenants growing but the stock has been growing with it to keep demand. This is one of the better performing fringe office markets in Australia.”He said that although suburbs such as South Melbourne, Carlton and Collingwood would always be good fringe office markets they were restricted in how much stock they could accommodate.“Whereas Cremorne can actually accommodate a much larger scale of stock,” he said. “It’s up to 400,000sq m now but can probably go up to a million square metres, to be honest, over the next 10 to 15 years.“And it will all be tenant-demand lead because the land’s there.”

Twenty years after he first acquired it, a Sydney businessman is selling a rare 8000-sq-m-plus office site on the banks of the Yarra River in Melbourne’s popular inner eastern fringe.

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The Victorian government says it will build 800,000 homes over the next decade as it unveiled its roadmap to solve the state’s housing crisis.The Andrews Labor government’s Housing Statement—The Decade Ahead 2024-2034—was aimed at boosting housing supply and affordability in Victoria, it said.The government labelled it “the biggest shake-up to planning and housing reform in generations”.“We’re the fastest-growing state in Australia, with our population set to hit 10.3 million by 2051,” a spokesperson said.“To ease the housing pressure Victorians are facing, we need to build 2.24 million homes in that time, including a target of 425,600 across regional and rural Victoria.”The housing statement sets “a bold target” to build 800,000 homes across the state over the next 10 years, delivered through an Affordability Partnership with the housing industry.The government said the statement focused on five areas to tackle the root of the problem—housing supply. They are:<ol start="1" type="1"><li>Reforming Victoria’s planning system, clearing the backlog of planning permits, giving builders, buyers and renovators certainty about how long approvals will take—and a clear pathway to resolve issues quickly if those timeframes aren’t met.</li><li>Unlocking new spaces to stop urban sprawl, building more homes closer to where people have the transport, roads, hospitals and schools they need and delivering vital, basic community infrastructure.</li><li>Protecting renters’ rights by closing loopholes that drive up the cost of living for renters, giving tenants more certainty over their leases, living standards and finances, and resolving disputes faster to keep them out of VCAT.</li><li>Rapidly accelerating the rollout of social and affordable homes across Victoria and launching a renewal project across Melbourne’s 44 highrise social housing towers.</li><li>Delivering a long-term plan to guide how the state grows in the decades ahead and reviewing the Planning and Environment Act 1987 to build a planning system “that works with Victorians—not against them”.</li></ol><div id="7oT2WrmhYnMofM2Ov10s3r"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/4BNBkb1YU4ae2sSrHo0pbp/09bec0a47f83df666579576de5123f57/Mid_article_resizes__73_.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/4BNBkb1YU4ae2sSrHo0pbp/09bec0a47f83df666579576de5123f57/Mid_article_resizes__73_.jpg"></picture><div>▲ The Housing Statement aims to add 800,000 homes to the state during the coming decade. </div></div>The government said that in recognition of the joint effort needed to ease the housing pressure Victorians face, it had on Wednesday signed the&nbsp;Affordability Partnership&nbsp;with the Property Council of Australia, Master Builders Victoria, the Urban Development Institute of Australia, the Housing Industry&nbsp;Association and Super Housing Partnerships.“As part of the partnership, the government will foster the conditions needed to stimulate investment and build high-quality homes faster in the places where Victorians want to live—and the industry will build more housing for the Victorians who need it most,” a spokesperson said.“At the same time, we’ll give certainty to the sector and Victorians alike by building the infrastructure our growing state needs and continuing to invest in training for the skills our economy needs, too.“The work being facilitated as part of this housing statement will support 16,000 jobs across Victoria.”Premier Daniel Andrews said that “the status quo is not an option, and admiring the problem will only make it worse”.“Unless we take bold and decisive action now, Victorians will be paying the price for generations to come.“Whether you’re buying your first place, upsizing or downsizing as life changes or renting, the work we’re doing will mean there’ll be a place you can afford and that you can call home.”<div id="4ju4nmToCsORB9S33woH6d"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/kfgMfA06F6HCDUe3rHjFZ/7c31098d21e21384d6baebaa459eed8f/Mid_article_resizes__72_.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/kfgMfA06F6HCDUe3rHjFZ/7c31098d21e21384d6baebaa459eed8f/Mid_article_resizes__72_.jpg"></picture><div>▲ PCA Victoria executive director Cath Evans. </div></div>Property Council Victorian executive director Cath Evans said the housing statement was a positive step for Victoria that provided a clear policy pathway for the delivery of much-needed housing for Victorians.“This ambitious and comprehensive plan will enable our industry to activate all types of housing, providing choice to Victorians while also enabling delivery of the volume of new homes that the market needs in order to address the affordability crisis,” she said.“As announced, the expansion of the Development Facilitation Program will supercharge the delivery of housing in Victoria, getting more houses into the market and more Victorians into homes more quickly.“Tying affordable housing requirements to eligibility for the program will enable the private sector to mobilise and deliver affordable housing outcomes for a broad cross-section of the community.”As part of the announcement, the Victorian government committed to the establishment of a Department of Transport and Planning unit to prioritise the clearing of planning backlogs with local government and other approval authorities.“The property council has identified around 35,000 homes stuck in the planning pipeline, homes that could be housing Victorians and placing downward pressure on affordability,” Evans said.“Efforts to clear this backlog and get shovels in the ground are essential to getting new supply into the market as quickly as possible.”

The Victorian government has unveiled its roadmap to solve the state’s housing crisis—and planning and supply are firmly in its sights….

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Industrial and logistics developer and manager Logos Property Group is looking to offload a 20-ha purpose-built, industrial estate in Melbourne’s west.Logos put an option on the site at 435-503 Mt Atkinson Road, about 25km west of Melbourne’s centre, in a joint-venture deal with the global building materials giant James Hardie Industries in February last year.Online records show the land, which is part of the Troups Road Logistics Estate, changed hands for $103.7 million.Logos undertook extensive infrastructure work, while James Hardie—the world’s biggest maker of fibre cement products—secured development approval for a 100,000-square-metre production facility.However, brokers say James Hardie’s focus has moved away from Melbourne and towards Sydney and Brisbane, and it will now not progress with the development.Global commercial real estate and investment managers JLL value the turnkey package around $250 million.JLL’s director of industrial and logistics capital markets Joel Scully said potential buyers would be able to collaborate on the design and development of turnkey facilities.“Onshore and offshore capital groups are actively seeking opportunities to secure prime grade assets in major markets with the ability to realise strong growth in the rental market,” Scully said.Industrial and logistic&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/cbre-jll-logistics-industrial-rent-rises-accelerate" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/cbre-jll-logistics-industrial-rent-rises-accelerate">rents have continued to rise across Australia</a>, according to data from CBRE, underpinned by extremely low vacancy rates.“Major occupiers are also seeking opportunities to own their facilities rather than rent to create certainty of occupancy costs which are expected to continue to increase over the medium term,” he said.<div id="51j2Ui95P4NeIlb2I65xXs"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2ARKUKl01O6xZTyEvgYKsW/0febdb9ec19a6f095039357d0fd3feed/Logos_Industrial_Mid__.jpg" alt="An aerial photo showing the Truganina site, which JLL says has already seen considerable infrastructure work. " data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2ARKUKl01O6xZTyEvgYKsW/0febdb9ec19a6f095039357d0fd3feed/Logos_Industrial_Mid__.jpg"></picture><div>▲ JLL says considerable infrastructure work has already been undertaken on the Truganina site.</div><div> </div></div>The site—with a potential gross lettable area of about 125,000sq m— has good access to Melbourne’s arterial road network, including the Western Freeway and the M80 Metropolitan Ring Road, and is surrounded by several big industrial and logistics players.JLL head of logistics and industrial capital markets Ben Hegerty said there had been at least 15 groups who had shown interest in the week the property had been listed.Those had included occupiers, institutional groups and data centres.“AI (Artificial Intelligence) computing takes up somewhere between four and eight times more search engine power than doing a normal search through, say, Google,” Hegerty said.“All of the providers are now looking to the AI clients, such as chat GPT and other groups who provide AI-powered paid-prescription arrangements … they’re trying to get those style of users in.“You’re going to see really big, generic data centres that can just churn through heaps of power. And you’ll see them in the outer metropolitan areas, near power nodes.“So something like this, where 20ha 12 months ago might have been too big for a data centre operator…well, now they’re saying 20ha, that might be worth looking at.”The registration-of-interest campaign closes on October 4.

Industrial and logistics developer and manager Logos Property Group is looking to off-load a 20-ha purpose-built, industrial estate in Melbourne’s west.

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Rent values rose for the 35th consecutive month nationally in July.However, monthly rent growth has eased during the past four months. In regional Australia, rent value growth has been slowing since April last year, and rents are close to flattening out (albeit at high levels).Slowing rent growth is expected to be one of the key housing market trends next year, for several reasons.Firstly, the cash rate is expected to fall, which could increase investment and first home buyer activity.Secondly, income growth is expected to slow, which might prompt a change in housing preferences.Lastly, stretched rental affordability could see movements to more affordable areas, and base effects mean there will be a limit to how high growth can go. These factors are unpacked in more detail below.1. Rents move with interest rates, and interest rates could be on the way down next yearAnnual growth in rent values and interest rates move together over time. Figure 1 shows rolling annual growth in the CoreLogic rent value index against the RBA cash rate target.RBA cash rate target and rent growth<div id="2V0wHOSHAXinrW2LlCRI6E"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/3jDih8RoLRpgX1AN7NCIkn/642aab70d3ee4803310a8c314f204bc0/rba_cash_rate.png" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/3jDih8RoLRpgX1AN7NCIkn/642aab70d3ee4803310a8c314f204bc0/rba_cash_rate.png"></picture><div>▲ Source: CoreLogic </div></div>In 2024, each of the major banks is now forecasting a decline in the cash rate. A reduction in interest rates could increase demand from housing investors, and increased investment purchases add to rental supply, which may serve to lower rent growth.Expectations that the RBA will be done with rate hikes in 2023 may even be contributing to an early recovery in investment activity. Figure 2 shows the rise in new investment loans secured since the start of the year. Investment loans are offsetting the rate at which new investment listings are being added to the market.Number of investor housing loans secured versus properties listed<div id="7COqyVVkvvXQpLZhyPGHeg"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/3i5PdSAkF86qAOpDeCznvO/8bc051a5d8e37a7d3014ccf10f1b2537/Screen_Shot_2023-08-29_at_11.01.28_am.png" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/3i5PdSAkF86qAOpDeCznvO/8bc051a5d8e37a7d3014ccf10f1b2537/Screen_Shot_2023-08-29_at_11.01.28_am.png"></picture><div>▲ Source: CoreLogic </div></div>2. Softer income growth could lead to a change in housing preferencesHousehold income growth shifted higher through the pandemic. Initially income growth was supported by the largest peacetime fiscal stimulus package on record, and later, tight labour market conditions supported wages growth. ABS measures of total gross household income in the national accounts has averaged 1.4 per cent per quarter since the start of the pandemic, almost double the growth rate in the five years prior (0.8 per cent).Income growth is likely one of several factors that contributed to the break-up of share-houses through the pandemic. People could afford leases on more spacious properties, which has contributed to lower stock levels as households spread out across the dwelling market.However, income growth could be another metric that slows next year. Monetary policy is taking effect in reducing demand in the economy, the unemployment rate rose to 3.7 per cent through July, and annual growth in the WPI slowed to 3.63 per cent in the latest print.As income growth slows, renting households may look to adjust their housing situation, and re-form share houses.In regional Australia, the average household size has returned to pre-pandemic levels, and is starting to rise across the combined capital cities. &nbsp;3. Rental affordability is becoming stretchedHigh growth in rent values has seen an increase in the share of income required to service new rents, which was estimated to be 30.8 per cent nationally at March 2023 (the highest level since June 2014). CoreLogic’s measure of rents have increased 29.3 per cent since a low in August 2020, or the equivalent of a rise in median weekly rents of $134.Rent value growth is likely to slow because of base effects alone, but renters also tend to be on lower incomes, which means there could be a ceiling on how high rents can go before tenants adjust their housing preferences. As noted in the previous section, this can look like more share-housing.It could also be showing up in internal migration patterns. In the 12 months to June last year, ABS data showed more affordable rental markets like Logan—Beaudesert and Ipswich with the first and third highest volume of net internal migration across the country.This overtook the Gold Coast, which had the highest net internal migration in the previous year. Such internal movements could ease demand in the most expensive rental markets, bringing down growth in the national rents.Most markets now seeing a slowdown in growth, some rent fallsFigure 3 shows rolling annual growth in house and unit markets across the capital cities. Most rental markets are now seeing growth flatten out, or moving lower. Canberra rents are firmly in decline, and Hobart house rents look as though they will soon follow.Annual change in house and unit rents<div id="01fsq9Qh69pVQDRjOXCDsL"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/30kMHZ18FiHPOnl4anV7Ds/1f00bc56546c9efdbcb413b05211ac01/Picture_1.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/30kMHZ18FiHPOnl4anV7Ds/1f00bc56546c9efdbcb413b05211ac01/Picture_1.jpg"></picture><div>▲ From right: House rents and units. Source: Corelogic </div></div>Rent values also fell in the 12 months to July across a handful of SA4 markets, including the South East of Tasmania (down 4.5 per cent), the Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven (down 3.8 per cent), and the Capital Region of NSW (down 1.3 per cent).Just because rent growth slows, doesn’t mean we should lose sight of reformImportantly, although we are likely to see a further slowdown in the pace of rent increases, rental affordability challenges are likely to persist.&nbsp;On top of cyclical factors driving a slowdown in rent growth, more can be done to ease rental values and make renting better.The recent national cabinet proposals for housing are a great start. The ambitious goal of 1.2 million well-located homes to be built in the next five years would help to bring rents down.Minimum standards around the quality of rentals is also a positive step for improving the nature of the tenure.The provision of more social and affordable housing can also help to protect lower income households from the extreme fluctuations in rental values seen in the past few years.

CoreLogic’s Eliza Owens says the slowing of rents will continue into next year—here’s why…

The Southport CBD still may be—as one local property pundit puts it—the “sleeping giant of the Gold Coast market”.But if all had gone to plan during the past decade it would already be wide awake.In October, it will be 10 years since the Queensland government declared the Southport CBD and its surrounds a Priority Development Area.Covering almost 200ha, the PDA was meant to establish Southport as the city’s “definitive centre for commerce” and be the catalyst for billions of dollars in projects through the cutting of red tape and fast-tracking of development approvals.“This will be the ‘decade of Southport’,” a local politician enthused at the time.And for a while it was a prophecy that seemed like it just may unfold.CBRE Gold Coast senior director Tania Moore concedes even she had high hopes to start with.“Significant delays through the town planning process were an obstacle for new business to come here,” she says. “And people were excited the PDA was going to be the catalyst for things to happen, whether that was residential or commercial development.”<div id="5h1OYzax8cduupU46IMTmu"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/7zF3rL3jLzkvmgJLz8CQ7r/8b6565c14a88d87b086a18b6f22a0971/2.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/7zF3rL3jLzkvmgJLz8CQ7r/8b6565c14a88d87b086a18b6f22a0971/2.jpg"></picture><div>▲ A decade on, the Southport PDA has delivered precious little. </div></div>Within 12 months of the PDA’s introduction, 29 development applications with a combined end value of at least $2 billion were filed with the Gold Coast City Council.But few of the projects have been realised—and many of them likely never will be.Instead of being a driving force for development, the PDA created the means for an opportunistic play to use the new planning instrument—and its unlimited building height—to gain maximised approvals for large-scale mixed-use developments and then capitalise on the uplift in property values by on-selling the sites.“Some sites have traded, some haven’t … but realistically, no one has actually delivered on any of those DAs,” Moore says. “You can put like a gazillion apartments on some of them but no one’s ever probably going to build them.“It was all about flicking them to someone else to deliver.”Meanwhile, she says, land values have been pushed up so high—from $1000 or less per square metre pre-PDA to more than $2500 per square metre— that “it is no longer feasible to build an office building on land in Southport”.The only major commercial addition has been Queen Street Village with some retail and medical space on the former Gold Coast Hospital site.“Highest and best use is for residential at current land values … it’s not creating a commercial hub. It just doesn’t work,” Moore says.In fact, the Southport CBD office market—now second in overall space to Robina-Varsity Lakes—has reduced in size by 12,352sq m since the PDA was declared, as older-style buildings have been removed from its stock.Moore says, however, with most of its office assets more than 30 years old, Southport is the only precinct on the Gold Coast—one of the nation’s tightest office markets with 6.3 per cent vacancy—where there is potential for growth.“But currently it just doesn’t make sense financially ... and a lot of&nbsp; those owners are not spending much money on their buildings because they see them as future development sites ”As well, with a number of landowners sitting on large empty undeveloped sites throughout Southport, history is repeating itself on the Gold Coast. Down the road about 4km, abandoned so-called development “bomb sites” have been a blight on the Surfers Paradise landscape since the mid-1980s.Rider Levett Bucknall Gold Coast director Jim Krebs says the other challenge with Southport is “trying to define exactly what that CBD looks like”.“The Gold Coast has evolved from a more village-based scheme and it has continued to have fragmented areas of mixed use, commercial and residential.“So, it's really about trying to find what that identity is and leveraging that combination of uses to help create a vibrancy,” Krebs says.“The intent of creating a CBD is a challenge when you've got competing land interests. On the Gold Coast, residential generally still wins out as the highest and best use and it makes commercial harder to stack up.<div id="6PwMoxFVL04684DVqANmjd"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2Dh1zhdzMFNHYtCu7Cbq0a/53f8237546453b55992d4f40ec5be662/1.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2Dh1zhdzMFNHYtCu7Cbq0a/53f8237546453b55992d4f40ec5be662/1.jpg"></picture><div>▲ The PDA may have had the opposite effect of its aims, says councillor Brooke Patterson. </div></div>“The Gold Coast has evolved from a more village-based scheme and it has continued to have fragmented areas of mixed use, commercial and residential.“So, it's really about trying to find what that identity is and leveraging that combination of uses to help create a vibrancy,” Krebs says.“The intent of creating a CBD is a challenge when you've got competing land interests. On the Gold Coast, residential generally still wins out as the highest and best use and it makes commercial harder to stack up.“Certainly, Southport is a much stronger and more vibrant place than it was a decade ago. The PDA has probably enabled some projects to happen in a more streamlined way than would have otherwise been possible.“But whether it has achieved the original intent that's probably questionable.”Southport councillor Brooke Patterson says the PDA so far has failed to deliver on its promise.“It’s devastating what has not happened in Southport during the past 10 years,” she says. “It’s a really extraordinary opportunity lost.“In fact, [the PDA] has actually possibly done the opposite of what was intended … it incentivised landbanking.“And government can take the blame for that as much as anyone. There was good intent but they hadn’t actually just worked through what needed to happen to incentivise the right kind of [development] behaviour.”Patterson says her focus is now on the next 10 years with a review of the Southport PDA under way that will sharpen its ability to deliver on the original intent of creating “a dynamic and unique CBD with a high-quality urban environment”.The revised PDA will be “much more rigorous and much tighter”, she says, with height limits potentially being reduced in some of its four precincts “so that it incentivises [development] behviour where we want it”.Crucial to its success will be “gamechanger commitments” to key landholdings such as the long-dormant 1.5ha former Star of the Sea College site on Marine Parade. It was acquired in 2014 by Garuda GC—the Australian arm of China’s Huixin Real Estate Group—which had plans for a multi-tower residential and retail project.“Those sites need to change hands and for someone to come and make a real commitment to do something quite spectacular,” Patterson says.Emerging as a beacon of hope for the rise of the Southport CBD is the ambitious $400-million Park Lane “vertical neighbourhood” comprising two slender supertowers—a 100-storey apartment building and a 60-storey office building.It is earmarked for a vacant 1245sq m site next to the Southport bowls and tennis clubs, and would deliver 193 apartments to be home to 580 people and 12,693sq m of office space to accommodate 500 workers.<div id="7eTVa9hkbr9bRs71tfovmO"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/1SAKYcu0Q0EVWRqyDQoYLk/99cfada6938c876bd44f20156a5fb537/7.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/1SAKYcu0Q0EVWRqyDQoYLk/99cfada6938c876bd44f20156a5fb537/7.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Renders of the proposed Park Lane development that includes a 100-storey super-tower. </div></div>Last week, the developers behind the proposal—a Melbourne consortium, including property group Baracon and funds manager Payton Group—were on the Gold Coast indicating they are pushing ahead with their plans after an access issue relating to adjoining state-owned land was resolved.“They are committed,”&nbsp; Patterson says. “They’ve got the money and they are serious.“And because it’s a very sensitive build—it’ll be a huge tower on a tiny block and something the Gold Coast really hasn’t seen before—they’ve just had so many issues to get to the starting line.“The biggest hurdle for them now is will they get the tick from the council.“But once people see a group like that come in and commit, it just shifts the way everybody sees the Southport CBD ... one or two of those and it’s going to be an a-ha moment.”As well, Patterson says, the touted future relocation and centralisation of the Gold Coast City Council Chambers from Bundall to the Southport CBD is also still on the table.By the end of 2024, a recommendation on the long-term strategic plan for staff accommodation will be brought before the council. The redevelopment of the Mal Burke Carpark, opposite the Southport Courthouse, into a local “tower of power” is one of the favoured options.&nbsp;“We’ve got 4000 staff, so that will be another gamechanger for Southport,” she says. <div id="4XqWkVYvZgZA0Mo7d7xge"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/1fATfCU2eWZnyOTwo50Ytu/3b42c0dfe5c3bc4f8f9d58d98c877796/6.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/1fATfCU2eWZnyOTwo50Ytu/3b42c0dfe5c3bc4f8f9d58d98c877796/6.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Meriton Sundale at Southport—one of the few major projects during the time of the PDA. </div></div>Southport development and business identity John Howe agrees.And he adds despite the challenge of “swathes” of land in Southport being under private ownership and controlled by overseas interests, there are also “massive amounts of government and council land, which could be utilised for the big flavours of the month—build-to-rent and student accommodation”.“What it needs is for the council and the state government to get together, consolidate their sites and put together a big masterplan for the area,” says Howe, who heads up engineering advisory and project delivery firm iEDM.&nbsp;“And the bones of that have started now with the review of the PDA.“But we just need to focus on putting some economic drivers into the area.“The Southport PDA was a great idea ... but the PDA we got wasn’t the PDA we wanted. It morphed into a planning instrument, which wasn’t required for Southport as you can basically build whatever density you want to and you always have been able to.“So the PDA that’s required needs more of an economic development impetus to spur development on … not just getting approvals through quickly. Developers want surety and they want to know the proper economic outcomes to develop a property.”Nonetheless, Howe says even with its faults, the original PDA declared back on October 4, 2013 was “not a negative”.“Yeah, people have got some pretty wild plans going for big buildings and things like that …“But, I mean, you’ve got unlimited height, unlimited density, you’ve got a light rail system, you’re next to hospitals, next to major schools and next to the water. Come on, it’s not hard really when you think about it.” <hr> You are currently experiencing The Urban Developer Plus (TUD+), our premium membership for property professionals. <a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/membership-plans" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/membership-plans">Click here to learn more.</a><div id="2GhuueZl01Zwo2aFfjNVi2"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/12UMq5eMSEOh0QxJVBYaDt/d7507cf4ceb1365cc9ce7eaff84d06cc/tud___banner.jpg" alt="TUD + Banner" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/12UMq5eMSEOh0QxJVBYaDt/d7507cf4ceb1365cc9ce7eaff84d06cc/tud___banner.jpg"></picture></div>

A decade after it was identified as a Priority Development Area, Southport hasn’t hit the heights predicted. That may be about to change…

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Australia’s two biggest capital cities have recorded the greatest number of new property listings for a decade as winter ended on a high across the nation.According to the PropTrack Listings Report August 2023, a monthly report analysing new and total listings on realestate.com.au, property markets experienced a busier-than-usual end to winter, with the volume of new properties hitting the market up on the same time last year.Nationally, new listings were up 20.5 per cent month-on-month in August and 4.1 per cent higher than August 2022.&nbsp;Activity in Sydney and Melbourne led the surge, with both recording their busiest end to winter in more than a decade—up 18.4 per cent and 20.8 per cent respectively compared to last year.New listings in the combined capital cities were up 8 per cent year-on-year, led by the strong activity in Sydney and Melbourne.Regional area activity ramped up ahead of spring but, unlike the combined capital cities, recorded a slower pace of activity this year than last at -2.2 per cent.The busier month of new listings meant the total number of properties listed for sale across Australia increased in August, up 5.7 per cent month-on-month.&nbsp;That helped <a data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/sqm-listings-august-2023" href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/sqm-listings-august-2023" target="_blank">lift choice for buyers marginally above where it stood a year ago</a>, with the total number of properties listed for sale in August up 0.5 per cent year-on-year.PropTrack senior economist and report author Angus Moore said that after a quieter first half of 2023, property market activity appeared to be picking up in Sydney and Melbourne, with both markets busier-than-typical in August.“Activity in many other capitals has also increased but remains subdued compared to a year ago,” he said.&nbsp;“Activity is likely to continue increasing over the spring selling season, reaching the typical peak in October and November.“Selling conditions and home prices have also improved compared to late 2022. Home prices nationally have continued to recover, posting their eighth consecutive month of growth in August.”National listings, August 2023 (Year-on-year, Month-on-month)<div id="LO7xB79mKKTxRyLX9UGll"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2D6PpRC9gpXOPNzy89QjTb/5d71ce90211d8c5032fd9dbab3ff329f/Mid_article_resizes__70_.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2D6PpRC9gpXOPNzy89QjTb/5d71ce90211d8c5032fd9dbab3ff329f/Mid_article_resizes__70_.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Year-on-year, month-on-month. Source: PropTrack </div></div>Home prices nationally were now just 0.8 per cent below the March 2022 peak, Moore said.“Auction clearance rates remained solid through winter and have improved from the levels recorded in late 2022,” he said.“The cash rate has remained steady at 4.1 per cent for three consecutive months.“While there may still be further interest rate increases, markets are pricing in only a small probability of that occurring. Inflation appears to be heading back towards target at a pace consistent with the Reserve Bank’s expectations.”Moore said looking further ahead, the fundamentals of housing demand remained strong.“Unemployment remains very low by historic standards, though it has edged higher recently,” he said.“Rental markets remain extremely tight across much of the country and rents are growing quickly amid strong demand and limited rental availability.“International migration and population growth are forecast to remain strong, which will further add to housing demand.”

Listings in Sydney and Melbourne reached a record as winter ended on a high across the nation…

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Three hotels, 8000 homes, a casino, a 310-berth marina, three shopping centres, parkland and a “modern monument” are all planned for the largest development in Greek history.The Ellinikon is being touted as “Europe’s first smart-city” and representing a new chapter for Athens through the urban regeneration of the airport and coastline.The 6.2-million-square-metre mega-project is predicted to attract a million tourists per year and generate €14 billion in incremental state revenues.LAMDA Development SA is behind the project and paid €300 million to the Greek state plus submitted a letter of guarantee of €347 million for the site in 2021.<div id="6NihYEo4vD4My4vN6RhKpB"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/1LmvVi8BE2Y3pYxGFiu4jJ/820fc1f5f27135997c00a671b9554c4c/DBOX_LAMDA_The-Ellinikon_Masterp.jpeg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/1LmvVi8BE2Y3pYxGFiu4jJ/820fc1f5f27135997c00a671b9554c4c/DBOX_LAMDA_The-Ellinikon_Masterp.jpeg"></picture><div>▲ An aerial concept image of The Ellinikon, the largest development proposed in Greek history. </div></div>The developer is expecting to take five years to complete the first phase of the project “either on its own or through partnerships-joint ventures with third-party investors”.TEMES Group has signed on for the joint development of two of the luxury hotels and residential buildings, while Brook Lane Capital has a framework agreement to develop a mixed-use tower in the commercial hub of the precinct.&nbsp;The majority stake of LAMDA Development is held by the Latsis Group.The Ellinikon would contribute about 2.5 per cent of Greece’s GDP and is in the Athenian Riviera, south-east of the city, between the Aegean Sea and Mount Hymettus.It would also provide the “world’s largest” coastal park and athletic precinct, spanning two million square metres with 50km of walkways and cycling paths.&nbsp;<div id="carousel-root" data-reactroot=""><image-carousel-remove-button><div class="rm-carousel-wrapper"><button id="rm-carousel" class="rm-carousel-btn">Delete</button></div></image-carousel-remove-button><div class="slider-wrap"><image-carousel><div class="slider-el"><img style="height: 100%;" title="The-Ellinikon-Commercial-Hub.jpeg" src="http://images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2FYLQtOtHKXpvLVXyRV42U/ab8714125696ed97d12687a88e5d3fb7/The-Ellinikon-Commercial-Hub.jpeg" data-mce-src="http://images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2FYLQtOtHKXpvLVXyRV42U/ab8714125696ed97d12687a88e5d3fb7/The-Ellinikon-Commercial-Hub.jpeg" data-mce-style="height: 100%;"></div><div class="slider-el"><img style="height: 100%;" title="athens1.jpeg" src="http://images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/1s9e62GqsudmfamqOVrnNI/b142f54bd37130e354b9992676f4f45d/athens1.jpeg" data-mce-src="http://images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/1s9e62GqsudmfamqOVrnNI/b142f54bd37130e354b9992676f4f45d/athens1.jpeg" data-mce-style="height: 100%;"></div><div class="slider-el"><img style="height: 100%;" title="dbox_fp_mrt_tower-hero-dusk610C4.jpeg" src="http://images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/679HUyPWu0nxveTzIKE8Ik/1dfc3dc2e3ff2250ada9c15e1de20549/dbox_fp_mrt_tower-hero-dusk610C4.jpeg" data-mce-src="http://images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/679HUyPWu0nxveTzIKE8Ik/1dfc3dc2e3ff2250ada9c15e1de20549/dbox_fp_mrt_tower-hero-dusk610C4.jpeg" data-mce-style="height: 100%;"></div></image-carousel></div></div> Among the amenities planned for the city that hosted the first modern Olympics are 20 tennis courts, six training halls, three Olympic pools, six soccer pitches, six track and field venues, a rehabilitation facility and a variety of indoor courts.An airplane hangar would be transformed into a cultural centre spanning 4800sq m and to be designated as a modern Monument by the Greek Ministry of Culture.The tech-powered, 15-minute smart city would also be a sustainable region, doubling Athen’s greenspace per capita.&nbsp;<div id="carousel-root" data-reactroot=""><image-carousel-remove-button><div class="rm-carousel-wrapper"><button id="rm-carousel" class="rm-carousel-btn">Delete</button></div></image-carousel-remove-button><div class="slider-wrap"><image-carousel><div class="slider-el"><img style="height: 100%;" title="Coastal-Front2.jpeg" src="http://images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/mY04t96V1GkNKL0c7u4EA/045b8da6c92966f3de3c0da5d2bc4ae8/Coastal-Front2.jpeg" data-mce-src="http://images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/mY04t96V1GkNKL0c7u4EA/045b8da6c92966f3de3c0da5d2bc4ae8/Coastal-Front2.jpeg" data-mce-style="height: 100%;"></div><div class="slider-el"><img style="height: 100%;" title="Riviera-Galleria2.jpeg" src="http://images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/Jx1hgpMv7sYxaxklGoY8t/ec482b60e1e30cd8b14a3f791992dc17/Riviera-Galleria2.jpeg" data-mce-src="http://images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/Jx1hgpMv7sYxaxklGoY8t/ec482b60e1e30cd8b14a3f791992dc17/Riviera-Galleria2.jpeg" data-mce-style="height: 100%;"></div><div class="slider-el"><img style="height: 100%;" title="Riviera-Tower.jpeg" src="http://images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/3oxPcrNPXxZf97OnzJxTyX/975a2ed1dcad213a35981fd8b16c9c67/Riviera-Tower.jpeg" data-mce-src="http://images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/3oxPcrNPXxZf97OnzJxTyX/975a2ed1dcad213a35981fd8b16c9c67/Riviera-Tower.jpeg" data-mce-style="height: 100%;"></div><div class="slider-el"><img style="height: 100%;" title="Ellinikon-Residential-Units3.jpeg" src="http://images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/43mtcAe5oTeUUlCE22TSg1/709abadaadb0c9c3baddccdc6eda09a7/Ellinikon-Residential-Units3.jpeg" data-mce-src="http://images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/43mtcAe5oTeUUlCE22TSg1/709abadaadb0c9c3baddccdc6eda09a7/Ellinikon-Residential-Units3.jpeg" data-mce-style="height: 100%;"></div></image-carousel></div></div> Also planned are advanced anti-flooding measures and an underground wastewater treatment facility to combat future climate conditions.Architecture firms Kengo Kuma and Associates, Foster and Partners, Aedas, Sasaki and Doxiadis Associates have signed on to the project.Other international companies involved include AFRY, smart solutions; ARUP and Buro Happold, engineering; Hard Rock, hospitality; Hills International, consulting; Intrakat and Bouygues, and joint-venture construction management; as well as Jacobs Engineering Group and Mace Group.<span class="mce-preview-object mce-object-iframe" contenteditable="false" data-mce-object="iframe" data-mce-p-allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-p-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RmwIap4zwMU?si=t1VD08Iv6briKVRe"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RmwIap4zwMU?si=t1VD08Iv6briKVRe" width="560" height="314" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RmwIap4zwMU?si=t1VD08Iv6briKVRe"></iframe>

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One of beleaguered developer Toplace Group’s sites, in Sydney’s Hills District, has come to market.The 4.3ha site at Box Hill, about 48km north-west of the Sydney CBD, has approval for a a 22,843sq m shopping centre and 660 apartments.Sydney developer Jean Nassif’s Toplace Group went into voluntary administration earlier this year, sparked by the developer’s building arm going into voluntary administration at the start of July in the wake of its licence being suspended, which was followed by more than 64 subsidiaries going under.In July, administrators DVT Group said it was investigating assets and liabilities “well in excess of $1 billion”.“The voluntary administration of Toplace may well be among one of the largest property administrations in Australia,” a spokesperson said at the time.Receivers and managers Joseph Hansell and David McGrath, with their NSW real estate solutions lead Glen Smith of FTI Consulting, are now selling the site.CBRE’s James Douglas, Ben Wicks and Alex Mirzaian, with Knight Frank’s Mark Litwin, Graeme Russell and Chris Maher, are conducting the on-market campaign.The site at 29-31 Terry Road “provides a rare opportunity to secure a full line supermarket development opportunity with a complementary residential component” a spokesperson said.The site also “benefits from a lease commitment from leading ASX-listed supermarket operator Coles Group, with strong tenant and leasing interest having also been shown across the project’s speciality component”.<div id="2d6556gdNt9epPaNlYWv2q"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/1Y0BbCimDNGr0AwGSlINoW/21f794eebc2e431916360d471eba78b4/2.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/1Y0BbCimDNGr0AwGSlINoW/21f794eebc2e431916360d471eba78b4/2.jpg"></picture><div>▲ A render of the shopping centre approved for the site at Box Hill. Main image: The centre and Jean Nassif. </div></div>CBRE’s Wicks said the listing was expected to generate significant interest from traditional retail and mixed-use investors, supported by the site’s rapidly growing trade area.“The residential market in north-west Sydney continues to demonstrate consistent growth in value, primarily driven by robust demand, reduced supply and investor activity being experienced within the macro market,” Wicks said.Knight Frank’s Maher said town centre opportunities in Sydney growth centres are increasingly hard to acquire, “particularly those that integrate the kind of residential development capable at 29-31 Terry Road”.Box Hill is a major growth area for Sydney’s north-west and is forecast to contribute about 12 per cent of the homes needed within Sydney over the next 20 years, accommodating some 90,000 new homes and a population of up to 250,000 people. In March, Nassif put <a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/toplace-director-s-mascot-site-on-the-block-amid-court-battle" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/toplace-director-s-mascot-site-on-the-block-amid-court-battle">his 1.64ha site near Sydney Airport</a> up for sale.Nassif was granted a permit for a 96-room hotel and 444 serviced apartments across the agglomerated site and the agents said it was a develop or hold asset in a strongly contested area that he reportedly acquired for $32 million from Dexus in 2015, later buying a site at Mascot to create the holding.

A site in Sydney’s north-west held by Toplace Group is for sale as the fall-out from its voluntary administration continues…

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