Real Estate

Aussie development firm, Charter Hall Group announced that it has reached a flex partnership with Hub Australia at its $1.5 billion state-of-the-art 555 Collins Street precinct in Melbourne. One of Australia's leading flexible workspace providers, Hub Australia will open a new site called 555 Collins Exchange by Hub, while also delivering its Hub Building Hospitality service to help manage building amenity across three levels including a business centre, boardrooms, meeting rooms, and project space. All levels will be equipped with the latest technology.

Charter Hall Group (Charter Hall or the Group) announced that it has secured a major 10-year pre-commitment lease with global technology firm, Ericsson, at its $1.5 billion state-of-the-art precinct at 555 Collins Street in Melbourne. Ericsson joins Amazon, Aware Super, Allianz Australia, and Connective at 555 Collins Street, which reached practical completion in June. Now over 70% pre-committed, only the top five sky-rise floors of the building remain.

New data from personal finance marketplace and advice company Compare Club reveals that the number of homeowners who are struggling to refinance due to serviceability issues has doubled from 15% to 30% in less than six months. Also, the number of refinancing enquiries from Australian mortgage holders with a loan-to-value (LVR) ratio of 90% or more, which makes refinancing hard or impossible, is at its highest level since interest rates began to rise. 

Rising interest rates are impacting everything and consumers are tightening their belts. This is evident in the custom home building market as building costs further rise. The Association of Professional Builders (APB), a leading business coaching service for custom home builders, with over 650 members in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, offered best practices for homebuilders to consider, following the State of the Nation’s Housing 2023 Report. 

Whether you live in a heritage home or a new build, home is usually where the heart is and research data released by Canstar’s 2023 Insurer of the Year has revealed where in Australia our oldest homes are situated. Ten years of Budget Direct’s home insurance quote data shows that New South Wales (NSW) has the greatest share of old homes with 42.30%.

Prominent Sydney property developer Central Element (CE) and joint venture partner Develotek are set to launch their first project in the Inner West as development application (DA) approval is granted for the esteemed 2C – 2D Wolseley Street site in Drummoyne. Consisting of 12 three and four-bedroom waterfront residences with unparalleled views, the development, which is named Bianca, is expected to set a quality benchmark for the area.

The Fannie Mae Home Price Index predicted that national home prices would decline by 4.2% in 2023 and by 2.3% in 2024. Contrary, demand for housing exceeded market expectations as a result of baby boomers aging and staying put and Gen-Xers looking to buy at low rates. To keep up with this demand, home builders are working to add the needed housing supply.

The federal govt’s $2bn Social Housing Accelerator program recently announced by the Prime Minister to deliver thousands of social homes across Australia, is welcome news but it needs to include components for 3D printed properties and other modern construction methods. It makes sense to introduce 3D printed housing as this will help implement a social housing program to deliver more affordable housing in record time.

Due to the severe national housing crisis, families have been advised to look to short-term rental (STR) and Airbnb accommodation, and now another entire industry is becoming negatively affected. Owning and managing a short-term rental is a completely different business model to that of long-term property rentals, and are serving a different need.

With a lifelong love of interior design, one could say that I started her career off on the wrong foot. After spending several years in salons as a hairdresser, I finally decided to throw in the towel and follow my passion. Soon, I obtained qualifications; and in 2016, with just $2000, began an interior design firm. Today the firm is turning over seven figures and growing YoY.