Real Estate

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

Real Estate
Brisbane's property sector booms ahead of 2032 Games
Queensland has been found to be “emerging as a standout economic performer” following the continued rise in interstate migration and infrastructure spending. This was found by the new Unlocking Queensland’s Potential Report, which expects real estate to boom as the population grows ahead of the 2032 Brisbane Games. “Brisbane’s commercial property sector is offering a rare combination of stability, scale and growth,” the US real estate services company, JLL, said in a statement. According to the JLL report, Brisbane’s CBD office vacancy rates were the least volatile in the country over the last decade, driven by a 12% increase in whitecollar jobs. The capital city also has the lowest price correction of any major city for commercial property between 2022 and 2024. JLL economist, Ronak Bhimjiani, said the Queensland economy has demonstrated “remarkable resilience” since 2021 and the real estate services company analysts suggest the outlook remains positive. “The state’s strategic diversification across sustainability, technology, advanced manufacturing and healthcare is expected to sustain growth over the medium to long term, thereby creating opportunities for the real estate sector,” Bhimijiani said. Queensland
Real Estate
REA Group profit jumps 23% as rate cuts lift market
REA Group (ASX: REA) delivered full-year results on Tuesday, as falling interest rates and a resurgent property market helped lift its earnings and revenues to record levels in FY25. Revenues soared by 15% to A$1.67 billion, compared to $1.45 billion in the previous fiscal year, with the vast majority of this coming from Australia. Its net profit also increased by 23% to A$546 million, and the board will pay a dividend of $1.38 per share, fully franked, which is a 35% jump from last year. REA Group CEO, Owen Wilson, said these “excellent” results were helped along by improvements in the property market and interest rate cuts. “Buyer activity increased during the year, with the first interest rate cuts in four years accelerating enquiries delivered to our customers to a three-year high in the last quarter. Demonstrating the health of the market, listings remained in line with the strong prior year,” he said. In Australia alone, revenue grew by 14% year-over-year to A$1.54 billion. This was mainly driven by residential revenue, which was up 16% to A$1.16 billion. The company also maintained its position as Australia’s number one address in property, according to Wilson. “Australians continually turn to realestat
Real Estate
Luxury property booms on South Africa’s north coast
Luxury real estate is booming on the north coast of South Africa, with Umhlanga Ballito and Durban becoming one of South Africa’s wealthiest regions. This comes as Business Tech reports that the area is expected to see four or five new developments worth around R80 million over the next few years as Umhlanga spends R20 billion to unlock investments in the next three years. EThekwini city manager, Musa Mbhele announced this at the launch of the North Oceans Tower at the Oceans mixed-use development. The R1.4 billion towers are the latest to open in the R4.3 billion (US$240 million) luxury oceans development. Mbhele also announced additional projects worth 80 billion that are expected to launch in the region in the coming years. Durban and its neighbouring areas have also attracted over 3,500 high net worth individuals according to a 2024 Africa Wealth Report published by Helney & Partners and New World Wealth. The region is also home to Zimbali, one of South Africa’s most prestigious estates and has attracted international buyers from the U.K. and Northern Europe. This trend of international buyers has boosted demand for real estate on KwaZulu-Natal’s North Coast, where property prices range from R13 million to
Real Estate
Daryl Ng to succeed father as Sino Group Chairman
Daryl Ng Win Kong, the eldest son of Robert Ng Chee Siong, will be taking over the Sino Group from his father, marking the third generation of leadership of the group for the family. Daryl Ng will step into the chairman role on 31 August for Sino Land, Tsim Sha Tsui Properties and Sino Hotels, which have a combined market value of HK$127.2 billion (US$16.3 billion). Robert Ng took over the business from his father, Ng Teng Fong in 1991 and has decided to retire from his position, according to the filing. “The board would like to express its sincere gratitude to Robert Ng for his contributions to the company over the past 44 years of service and his leadership in building a solid foundation for the company’s sustainable growth and development,” Sino Land said in its exchange filing. Robert Ng has three sons and three daughters, and his eldest daughter, Nikki Ng Mien Hua, is already a non-executive director of the company. In a separate announcement, Daryl Ng thanked his father for his work at the company. “I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to my father Mr Robert Ng for his leadership and guidance in the upholding of integrity and quality assurance,” Daryl Ng said in a separate announcement. Darly Ng
Real Estate
Housing values have grown in every capital city
Housing values have grown across every capital during June, with national dwelling values up 0.6%. According to Coatlity, this marks six straight months of gains, with the positive inflection aligning with the first rate cut in February. However, Cotality research director, Tim Lawless, said the pace of home values is no longer accelerating. “We have seen growth rates holding a little above half a percent from month to month since May as the opposing influence of low supply, falling interest rates and rising confidence run up against affordability constraints and lingering uncertainty,” he said. Capital city growth was led by Darwin, which had a solid 2.2% rise, followed by Perth, which was up 0.9%. This comes as national listings are 19% below the previous five-year average for this time of year while Cotality’s estimates show that sales are tracking 1.9% above the previous five-year average. There was a 1.8% rise in the national index over the three months ending July, the strongest result since the three months ending June last year. Cotality found that the rate of growth in house values is once again outpacing gains in the units sector. While housing values have grown by 1.9%, adding around A$16,700 to

Real Estate
Construction productivity in Queensland is down: QPC
A new report has found that construction productivity in Queensland by 9% since 2018, leading to 77,000 fewer homes being built. The Queensland Productivity Commission (QPC) Construction Inquiry report found that Best Practice Industry Conditions (BPIC) could inflict an up to A$20.6 billion hit on the community and increase project costs by up to 25%. “Last year we also took immediate action by suspending BPIC – the CFMEU tax, which caused worksites to be shut down for nearly a third of the year,” Deputy Premier and Minister for Industrial Relations, Jarrod Bleijie, said. Treasurer David Janestzki validates the Queensland government's decision to suspend BPICs on new government-funded projects, after the report found they were adding to the cost of major projects and holding up construction. “This initial modelling confirms the concerns raised by the industry about poor productivity within the construction sector,” Treasurer Janetzki said. “These early signs justify the Crisafulli Government’s re-establishment of the QPC and its initial Construction Inquiry, which is examining conditions in the construction sector and identifying ways to improve the industry and boost productivity.” The commission said it wanted
Real Estate
CBRE raises guidance as revenue grows across segments
CBRE Group has raised its full-year guidance, after beating estimates for earnings per share and revenue last quarter. Earnings per share were US$1.19, up from $0.81 one year ago and passing Zacks estimates of $1.05. Revenue was $9.75 billion, driven by growth across most segments, rising 16.2% year-over-year and above estimates by 4.14%. “The strong momentum we exhibited to start the year continued in the second quarter. Despite uncertainty in the macro environment, occupier and investor clients largely proceeded with executing their plans,” said CBRE CEO Bob Sulentic. “In light of our outperformance in the year’s first half and the pipelines across our business,” Sulentic said, “we have increased our earnings outlook for the year and expect to set a new peak just two years after the 2023 trough in the commercial real estate downturn. We anticipate this outcome even though capital markets activity remains well below prior peak levels.” GAAP net income was US$215 million, rising 65% year-on-year. EBITDA was also up 30% to $658 million. Its Advisory Services segment reported US$2.00 billion in revenue, up 14.4% year-over-year. Global leasing revenues grew by 14% globally, with Europe, the Middle East, and Africa lead
Real Estate
Property-backed loans up in FY2025 amid rate cuts: PEXA
Property-backed loans settled in Australia’s mainland states rose by 6.8% across the 2025 financial year, aided by a boost in buyer sentiment from rate cuts, according to a PEXA report. In FY2025, 544,630 new property-backed loans were settled in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, and South Australia. Queensland led in total property settlements, while Victoria saw the most new mortgages. “521,750 of these loans (96%) were attached to a residential property. This surpassed growth in property settlement volumes over the same period (up by just 3.2% y/y), indicating that a greater proportion of property settlements required a loan,” wrote PEXA. A total of A$380.6 billion was settled in new loans over the last financial year, up 14.7% from the previous year, with $346.4 billion for residential property. New commercial loans rose by 13.2% to 18,000 in New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland, with their value rising by 22.2% to $34.2 billion. According to the report, the Reserve Bank of Australia’s 25-basis point cash rate cuts in February and May “helped to support household sentiment, consumption, home purchases and savings rates.” Victoria posted the most new loans in FY2025 at 148,126. It
Real Estate
LA dominates most expensive US homes sold in June
Los Angeles has dominated the charts of the most expensive homes sold in June. According to Redfin, five of the Top 10 sellers were in California and three were in Beverly Hills. This was led by Paris Hilton’s US$63 million purchase of Mark Wahlberg’s mansion at 71 Beverly Park, Beverly Hills. The home was also ranked as the fifth most expensive home sale in 2025. The Beverly Hills Estates agent Nicole Palxen said buyers displaced by fires remain big drivers of luxury real estate in LA. She says rising demand from foreign buyers, especially from China, is also fuelling deals in Beverly Hills and Bel Air. “I see this strength continuing based on the activity I’m seeing right now,” she told CNBC. “We’ve been showing every single day nonstop.” This comes after Redfin found the Palisades Fires in January impacted US$51.7 billion worth of homes in LA. Home market data also indicates that it will take a while for the affected communities a while to recover. Despite this, there has been a jump in lot sales with June data from the California Association of Realtors (CAR) showing there have been around 172 property or land lots sold in Altadena this year, compared to six at the same time last year. Similarly, the