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Australia’s center-right government clung to power in a surprise victory, with voters backing its stewardship of a slowing economy for another three years and rejecting the opposition’s progressive agenda. Despite trailing in most opinion polls for years, Scott Morrison’s Liberal-National coalition closed down the gap with a relentless attack on Labor’s pledge to take tougher action on climate change and strip tax perks from wealthy Australians. For Labor leader Bill Shorten, the loss is akin to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 failure to win the U.S. presidency. “I have always believed in miracles,” Morrison, 51, told cheering supporters in Sydney, flanked by his wife and two daughters. “Tonight we’ve been delivered another one.” President Donald Trump cheered the victory by a fellow conservative, tweeting “Congratulations to Scott on a GREAT WIN!” Shorten, 52, ran on Australia’s most progressive agenda in decades, including tax cuts for low income workers, increases to the minimum wage, sweeping emissions curbs and scaling back concessions for property and stock market investors. That presented a big target for Morrison, with blanket TV ads warning Shorten was “the Bill…

Online real estate outfit Purplebricks has announced it will quit the Australian market after a tumultuous six months, and acknowledged its global expansion was “too rapid”. The Australian arm of the British-founded company will close its operations after two and a half years of attempting to crack the property market down under. Purplebricks Group chief executive Vic Darvey on Tuesday afternoon said it was a difficult decision to close the Australian business. “Unfortunately, we have been unable to make the progress in the Australian market that we’ve wanted, despite the tireless efforts of our employees,” Mr Darvey said in a statement. “This is not a decision we have taken lightly, but with market conditions becoming increasingly challenging, we do not believe that the prospective returns in Australia are enough to justify continued investment.” In a statement, the company said: “With hindsight, our rate of geographic expansion was too rapid and as a result, the quality of execution has suffered. We have also made sub-optimal decisions in allocating capital. We will learn from these errors and will not make them again.”…

When Rod Leaver was looking for a job back in Australia following a five-year stint in Singapore as chief executive of Lendlease Asia, there were a few boxes he was looking to tick. The incoming chief executive of residential and commercial real estate agency Knight Frank wanted to work for an unlisted company, he wanted to try something new outside of construction and he wanted to work somewhere with a positive work culture similar to what he had experienced at Lendlease. “I’ve never run a real estate agency before but I’m always looking for a new personal challenge. I’ve been global head of investment at Lendlease and I’ve had my own investment management businesses, so that was the last thing I wanted to do. I’ve been there, done that,” Mr Leaver told The Australian Financial Review. For Mr Leaver, Knight Frank’s major appeal was also what he believes is its competitive advantage: It is a privately owned company among the throng of publicly listed competitors. “To me that goes against the grain of real estate,” he said. “Real estate is a…

A glamorous hotel, high-end apartments and rooftop pool are on the cards for Collingwood, marking a major turnaround for a suburb once known for its drug culture. Collingwood could soon have its first major hotel, cementing a turnaround for a suburb once known for its drug culture. One of Melbourne’s most outspoken developers, Tim Gurner, is planning to build a 95-room hotel on Johnston St in the inner-northern suburb known for its street art and cafe culture. The 4.5-star hotel — to be joined by 65 high-end apartments with prices ranging from $500,000 to $4.9 million — is believed to be a first for the suburb. The $120 million project will feature a bar, rooftop pool, valet-parking and a porte-cochere entry. The suburb has come a long way since the 1990s when Smith St — around the corner from the proposed development — was known as Smack St due to the number of heroin users and dealers who frequented it. Residents in the apartments would be able to order room service from the hotel, though Mr Gurner did not confirm…

Victoria and New South Wales again share the title of the nation’s best-performing economy, with the two states each benefiting from solid population growth and strong job markets, driving retail spending and business investment. In the second consecutive quarterly survey Victoria and New South Wales share the top spot of best performing economy, amid the nation’s slowing housing sector. The report shows Victoria’s economic activity was 26.9 per cent above its decade-average output, the best result in the nation, and 1.5 percentage points ahead of New South Wales in the December quarter. “It is very, very clear New South Wales and Victoria are the best performing economies,” CommSec’s chief economist Craig James said. While the ACT’s housing strength has ensured its joint ranking in third spot with Tasmania. Australia’s capital had the second-largest annual population growth, at 1.93 per cent, behind Victoria at 2.2 per cent. The results are part of CommSec’s quarterly State of the States report which ranks Australia’s states and territories according to eight economic indicators. The report analyses the current rates of economic growth, retail spending, equipment investment, unemployment,…

RENTS are defying the national housing downturn, with Brisbane showing one of the biggest rises as it continues to buck the trend. The latest quarterly rent report from property researcher CoreLogic reveals rents increased 1 per cent around the country in the first three months of the year. Rents in the Queensland capital rose 0.8 per cent during the period to reach a median of $436 a week, which is the same as the national average. And they have jumped 1.4 per cent in the past 12 months. The report noted the past year had marked a change in direction for the Brisbane rental market, following several years of declines. Rental yields are also strong in Brisbane at 4.55 per cent, which is higher than the national average of 4.1 per cent. Quarterly rents increased in all capital cities, except Darwin. With a median rent of $582 a week, Sydney remains Australia’s most expensive city for tenants. CoreLogic senior analyst Cameron Kusher said the first quarter of the year had recorded the highest increase in weekly rents since the corresponding…

Brisbane’s new $3.6 billion casino and resort complex is about to shift from excavation to construction. The winning tender for the main construction of the resort’s podium, its Sky Deck and its hotel towers, key parts of the Queen’s Wharf development, will be announced in “four to six weeks”. Geoff Hogg is managing director Queensland of the Star Entertainment Group, the lead partner in the Destination Brisbane consortium behind the Queens Wharf project. “Somewhere in the next four to six weeks we will announce the successful tender who will start building the main core and shell of the Queen’s Wharf development,” he said. “That main contract is all the core concrete and [building] shell.” Other tenders would follow, primarily for the internal fit-outs. Ongoing excavation for the resort’s foundations, underground car park, demolition of older buildings and river supports started in early 2017. That phase was almost complete, Mr Hogg said. The Executive Building, the Neville Bonner Building and other government-owned buildings along George and William streets have been demolished. “They are getting close to finishing the hole in the…

The concept of property investing is quite simple, however, the actual process can sometimes be complex. This is why we surround ourselves with knowledgeable individuals – to learn from their experience. When investing in property, go for the tried and true strategies rather than something new and shiny. The following three property investing strategies have been proven to deliver great results time and again. Both new and seasoned property investors use these strategies time and again to build their portfolios. 1. Long-Term Capital Growth Slow and steady wins the race. Cash flow is a great (and necessary) part of building a portfolio, but the true wealth creator is capital growth. Investing with a long-term outlook works best. Remember: Property investing is not a get rich quick scheme. If someone tells you it is, they’re being less than honest with you. Now sure, sometimes the market will deliver some great returns very quickly – but overall, you need to remember that time is your best friend when investing in property. 2. Positive Cash Flow Cash flow is the fuel that feeds…

Homes in highly walkable neighbourhoods are more likely to hold their value than those in less pedestrian-friendly areas, a new report has found. The effect holds during a rising market and also during the current slowdown, a paper from Melbourne buyers’ advocacy Secret Agent found. Sought-after inner suburbs such as Carlton, Fitzroy, Collingwood and Brunswick were among the most walkable in Melbourne, even allowing residents to walk to the CBD, Secret Agent researcher and report author Jodie Walker said. “Some [buyers] want to be close to work, they’re sick of driving on congested roads so they want to be able to walk to work,” Ms Walker told Domain. “If they’ve got kids, maybe they want to be walking distance to their school.” The report compared prices per square metre for select Melbourne suburbs, dividing locations into walkable and less walkable regions. On average, price growth increased by 0.9 per cent in walkable zones compared to less walkable zones, over the 12 months to February this year, the paper found. It follows an earlier study by the agency that found a…

The newest addition to Perth’s skyline will feature automatic windows that can read wind conditions and calculate when to close themselves. Developers of the Towers at Elizabeth Quay say it’s never-before seen technology. The 275 apartment Towers, which sits next to the Ritz Carlton, are weeks away from opening. “We didn’t want to do external balconies, Perth’s a windy city and Elizabeth Quay’s a windy location,” Dan Sweet, State Manager of Far East Consortium, said. “So we said we wanted to put the balcony behind glass.” The windows are motorised and automatically respond to high winds, a feature that is designed and built specifically for the building. A built-in weather station on the roof means that if weather conditions change after residents leave home the windows will automatically close themselves. Mr Sweet said it’s one of the apartment block’s many selling points. “Leave, go out for dinner and if there is rainfall, storms or high wind that window will automatically shut for them while they’re out,” he said. Perth property prices have dived 17.8 per cent in almost five years,…

Melbourne is adding 327 people a day as it draws residents from around the globe and around the state with new figures revealing the city’s population swelling and on track to overtake Sydney within a decade. Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed the Greater Melbourne area added 119,421 residents through 2017-18, taking the city’s total population to a record 5 million. It’s the fourth successive year in which Melbourne has added more than 100,000 residents although last year’s result was slightly down on the 125,424 who swelled the city in 2016-17. Melbourne reached 4.5 million residents in mid-2016 and has now added more than 460,000 people in three years. Over the same period, Sydney added 300,000 residents. Based on current growth rates, Melbourne will overtake Sydney as the nation’s most populous city in 2026. The last time Melbourne was larger than Sydney was early last century. Of Melbourne’s total population increase through the year, 65 per cent of it was due to overseas migration. One of those to make the move to Melbourne is SriHarsha Malempati, 23, who arrived in the city…

The Victorian and federal governments have officially signed off on the long-awaited Melbourne Airport Rail Link (MARL) project this week. Prime minister Scott Morrison and Victorian premier Daniel Andrews announced some of their strategic objectives that would be going into the $10 billion project which has already received a $5 billion investment from the federal government in last year’s budget. A heads of agreement document was signed – this outlines strategic objectives for the project, as well as information sharing and governance arrangements that go along with this kind of partnership. A team will soon be assigned to set the next stages of planning and initial construction. The aim is for the new airport link to be integrated with the existing rail network, the new Metro Tunnel and the previously announced Suburban Rail Loop. There is also the goal of getting it ready for fast-rail travel. The project is estimated to cost between $8 and $13 billion and will take about nine years. Thankfully, we won’t have to wait that long for it to begin – construction is due to…