Real Estate

Trends and updates on property markets, including residential and commercial sectors.

Real Estate
Australian office funds post first gains since 2022
Office tower funds have had their first positive quarterly returns in over two years, following a pandemic-era increase in hybrid working. According to the MSCI/Mercer Australia Core Wholesale Monthly Property Fund Index, office funds holding more than $34 billion in assets saw a total return of 1.1 per cent total return for the first quarter of 2025. This is the first time since 2022 that those funds have had a positive return, following a lengthy stretch of struggling office tower values, some of which fell by as much as 30 per cent. Some of Australia's biggest property fund managers, such as Charter Hall, Dexus, GPT, super fund manager ISPT and Investa, hold CBD office towers in unlisted vehicles. The MSCI/Mercer index tracks 15 funds with more than A$95 billion of commercial real estate combined, recording positive capital growth of 0.1%, marking the first increase since Q3 2022. "The rebound is here,” MSCI’s Benjamin Martin-Henry said. “But everything is liable to change quickly given the current geopolitical circumstances we find ourselves in. But it certainly does appear to be very positive news for the office sector, which obviously hasn’t happened for quite some time.”
Real Estate
US new home sales surge in March amid lower rates
Sales of new single-family homes in the United States rose sharply in March 2025, as homebuyers took advantage of a temporary dip in mortgage rates. However, ongoing concerns about economic growth and rising construction costs continue to cast a shadow over the housing market’s recovery. According to data released jointly by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, new home sales reached a seasonally-adjusted 724,000 in March. This marks the highest level since September 2024 and a 7.4% increase from the revised February figure of 674,000. Year-on-year, sales rose 6.0% from the 683,000 units recorded in March 2024. New home sales, which represent around 14% of all U.S. home transactions, are recorded at the point of contract signing. March’s gain was largely driven by robust activity in the South and Midwest, while sales fell in the Northeast and West. Despite the stronger figures, affordability remains a concern. The median price of a new home declined 7.5% year-on-year to $403,600 in March, with most sales occurring below the $500,000 mark. The uptick in demand coincided with a drop in mortgage rates. The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage eased to 6.65% in March from
Real Estate
Easter auction activity drops to yearly lows: CoreLogic
Auction activity across Australia's capital cities dropped significantly over the Easter long weekend, with just 652 homes going under the hammer - a stark fall from the 3,066 auctions recorded the week prior, according to data from CoreLogic. This year’s Easter auction numbers were also notably weaker compared to 2024, when 901 homes were listed during the same holiday period. While a decline in auction activity is typical during Easter, the subdued figures highlight a slower property market this year. The preliminary clearance rate across the combined capitals fell to 64.7%, the lowest recorded so far in 2025, excluding January’s traditionally volatile figures. This marks a slight dip from the previous week’s 64.8%, which was later revised down to 59.9%. Sydney led in terms of auction volume, with 358 properties listed, down from 414 at the same time last year. The city’s preliminary clearance rate rose modestly to 67.9%, up from 65.5% the previous week, although it remained below 70% for the fifth consecutive week. In Melbourne, 153 homes went to auction, compared to 283 during Easter 2024. The city’s clearance rate fell sharply to 61.1%, marking its weakest preliminary result since September 2024. Among
Real Estate
Housing, rental prices rise across the country: studies
Combined capital house prices increased for the ninth quarter in a row, marking the longest stretch of continuous growth since 2012-15. Alongside the price jump, Domain’s report for the March quarter revealed that Adelaide has joined the $1 million club for median housing prices. Adelaide’s median house price grew $11,119 to $1,000,202, joining Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra in having a seven-figure median. This milestone comes during the federal election campaign, where both Prime Minister Albanese and Opposition leader Peter Dutton are trying to win over the first home buyer demographic. According to an insight report from REA Group, the median rental price for Perth has jumped to $700. This is a 7.1% jump from a year ago and is the biggest growth among Australia’s capital cities. This has caused Perth to go from the most affordable city to rent into the second most expensive in just five years. "Perth is now the second most expensive, behind only Sydney, and what we've seen is that there's been very strong population growth across Perth, but the rate at which we've been building homes is nowhere near keeping up with that,” REA Group Senior Economist Anne Flaherty said. Related contentAfter a $525k
Real Estate
Half of rental properties sold within two years: AHURI
Half of all rental properties in Australia are sold within two years, according to a report by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI). The average investment period is almost four years, however. About 22% of landlords sell after just one year. “Landlords who are ill-positioned to retain their rental investments for long can disrupt the supply of private rental housing, with potentially negative impacts on tenant affordability and security,” said Curtin University’s Ranjodh Singh, the report’s lead author. “The research confirms some conventional wisdoms about who we might expect to be a landlord in Australia, but it also has some less intuitive findings.” According to the report, about 28% of landlords continue to provide a rental property for at least 20 years. Those who buy or keep their rental properties for longer tend to be aged in their late 40s to early 50s, earn a higher-than-average income, and own a home. Landlords likely to sell their rental properties tend to be preparing for retirement, unemployed, lower-income, or under the age of 35. While those aged 25-34 are more likely to buy a rental property than other age groups, they are also more likely to sell quickly. Programs that c

Real Estate
Australian office vacancy rates highest since the 90s
New data from the Property Council has confirmed that office vacancies in major Australian cities still remain high. Nationally, the office CBD vacancy rate rose slightly in the second half of 2024 to 13.7%, as supply additions continued to outpace demand and marks the highest vacancy rate since the mid-1990s. Over the same period, the national suburban vacancy rate stayed stable at an elevated 17.2%. Across Australian cities, CBD vacancy rates ranged from 10.2% in Brisbane and Canberra, to the highest in Melbourne at 18%. Melbourne had substantial withdrawals contributing to negative net additions, but while overall the PCA data tracked as anticipated, Melbourne CBD vacancy rate predictions actually came in lower than forecast and higher than expected in Brisbane.Credit: Oxford EconomicsAdelaide seemed to be on the up, recording the largest decline in the total vacancy rate during H2 2024, down to 16.4%, followed by Perth at 15.1%. Heading to the suburbs, Chatswood, Brisbane Fringe, Southbank and Macquarie Park saw falls in their total vacancy rate, while Crows Nest & St Leonards, St Kilda Road, Parramatta and North Sydney saw increases. When it came to supply, the Sydney CBD saw a notable addition of 123,000 sq
Real Estate
Azzet's guide to flipping residential property for profit
Given the sorry state of the share market, Australians may want to revisit property as the go-to asset class for potentially getting rich faster. What’s attracting investors away from highly volatile shares to property is the lure of solid price gains and steady investment yields. So much so, that annual investment lending growth in residential property is already moving at its fastest pace since 2022. One silver lining embedded within global tariff woes is the expectation that interest rate cuts could now be accelerated. Nationwide residential property prices are up 3.4% over the last 12 months. Consensus forecasts for the residential market at the start of 2025 were for prices to increase 4% with yields (before expenses) running between 3% and 6%.Buying on specLured in by the expectation of lower rates, a faltering share market and get-rich-quick do-it yourself renovation shows, growing numbers of investors are making highly leveraged one-way bets on property. Residential property bubbles typically occur when participants who typically dwell at the margins are pulled into the market as prices spiral higher. They’re typically less experienced, have shorter time horizons and are more highly geared. These
Real Estate
Park Hyatt Melbourne acquired by Shayher Group
Park Hyatt Hotel in Melbourne is close to being acquired for just under $200 million, marking the largest commercial deal in the city in 12 months. The hotel is being sought after by Shayher Group, part of giant Taiwanese apartment developer Par Jar Group, as it looks to expand its Australian hospitality portfolio which already boasts the Brisbane hotel, W, a 32-level five-star 312-room hotel in the heart of the city. Approximately $200 million is the asking price for the Park Hyatt, which hit the market six months ago but the deal, which was orchestrated by JLL Hotels & Hospitality managing director Peter Harper, is yet to exchange. Shayher would be buying it from a Chinese group, Fu Wah International, which has hotels across the Asia Pacific region, including the five-star Park Hyatt in Auckland, New Zealand, and bought the Park Hyatt Melbourne hotel for about $140 million around 10 years ago. This comes as Melbourne's hotel market continues to face an uphill battle, according to the recently released Dransfield Hotel Futures Report. “There is … still several years in Melbourne’s recovery arc,” the report said, estimating it would take another two years to complete it's current supply wave, described as “significa
Real Estate
Sydney set to have its biggest auction week in 3 years
The number of homes scheduled for auction this week has jumped across all capital cities, with Sydney set to have its busiest auction week in three years. Across all capital cities, there are 23.4% more homes up for auction compared to last week and 51.4% more than the same week the previous year, with a total of 2,995 homes, according to CoreLogic research. The surge across the capitals is typical for the lead up to easter, with 3,519 homes for auction the week prior to Easter last year. As for Sydney, there are 1,344 homes up for auction this week, which is its busiest auction since the week prior to Easter 2022, when 1,490 homes went under the hammer. It’s also a 49.7% increase from last week. In Melbourne, there are 1,231 homes scheduled for this week, up from 1,142 last week and 892 the same time last year. The only capital city to see a drop in auctions is Brisbane, with 136 homes set to go up for auction this week compared to 168 last week. Auction volumes are expected to drop after the Easter long weekend, with around 620 auctions scheduled across all the capital cities.