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A$3bn in Australian defence properties to be sold
The federal government has agreed to sell off A$3 billion in defence properties around the country, in the largest military sell-off in Australian history. Some of the sites up for grabs include Victoria Barracks in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, along with dozens of inner-city training depots and barracks across the country. This followed a multi-year audit that was tasked with identifying surplus and costly property holdings, often costing millions to maintain. A number of the properties sold could be used for new housing developments, after sales managed by the finance department. This comes as housing prices in Australia are set to surge in 2026, in part due to tight housing supply. Defence Minister Richard Marles released the audit of the 3 million defence estate and agreed to recommendations to sell more than 60 properties. A longtime target for remediation, it could fit 6,000 new homes. After relocation costs and other expenses, net proceeds of about $1.8 billion are expected. About $100 million a year is expected to be saved from the upkeep of disused and run-down properties. Labor plans to boost the take-up of modern office spaces, including Defence Plaza in Melbourne, which is operating at just 4
Selling
US existing home sales up in Oct; mortgage rates dip
United States existing home sales rose by 1.2% in October, as mortgage rates fell to their lowest point in 2025. The seasonally adjusted annual sales rate was 4.10 million last month, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Existing home sales were also up 1.7% year-over-year. “Home sales increased in October even with the government shutdown due to homebuyers taking advantage of lower mortgage rates,” said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. “Rents are decelerating which will reduce inflation and encourage the Federal Reserve to continue cutting rates and pulling back their quantitative tightening," said Yun. “This will help bring more homebuyers into the market since the Fed rate has an indirect impact on mortgage rates.” The median existing home price increased by 2.1% year-over-year to US$415,200. This is the 28th consecutive month of year-over-year price growth. Condominiums and co-op sales were up 5.4% to 390,000, outpacing single-family home sales. Single-family home sales grew by 0.8% to 3.71 million. Total housing inventory was 1.52 million units, dropping 0.7% from the previous month, but rising 10.9% year-over-year. Sales in the Northeast remained flat from September, and led year-ove
Selling
US home prices slow to lowest gain in two years
United States home sales have gained the least in over two years, slowing down for a seventh straight month in August. The National Index was up just 1.5% year-over-year, marking the weakest annual gain in two years and falling below the 3% inflation rate, according to the latest S&P Cotality Case-Shiller home price index. “For the fourth straight month, home values have lost ground to inflation, meaning homeowners are seeing their real wealth decline even as nominal prices inch higher,” Head of Fixed Income Tradables & Commodities at S&P Dow Jones Indices Nicholas Godec said. "The National Index rose 1.5% over the past year, with most of that gain coming in the recent six months (up 1.5%) while the prior six months were essentially flat. The highest metro gains were in New York with a 6.1% gain, followed by Chicago and Cleveland, which recorded gains of 5.9% and 4.7% respectively. On the other end of the spectrum, the largest declines were in Tampa, which fell 3.3% and Phoenix and Miami, which both dropped by 1.7%. Mortgage rates still remain over 6.5% and continue to weigh on buyer demand even during what should be a busy summer season. Godec said the market is finding a “new equilibrium” after the pandemic
Selling
Home resale profits grow across Australian capitals
Resale profits in Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide are the highest amongst the Australian capital cities according to new data. The Domain Profit & Loss Report shows that this increase was driven by median resale prices in Sydney, which has the highest median price of A$700,500 and Brisbane and Adelaide, with median prices reaching A$480,000 and A$430,000, respectively. Unit resale prices varied more dramatically across the capital cities. In Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, more than 97% of units sold for a profit, with Perth unit profits surging by 55.5% and Brisbane and Adelaide climbing 40.4% and 37.4% respectively. Nationally, median profits sat at A$365,000 and at A$202,000 for units. According to Domain senior economist, Dr Joel Bowman, the opportunity for profit-making resales remains strong for the rest of 2025, partly due to long tenure by home owners. “Most sellers are making solid gains, in large part because they’re holding onto their properties longer – on average, nine years for houses and eight for units – and building significant equity over time,” he said. “With ongoing undersupply and renewed price momentum already emerging, the outlook for profit-making resales remains positive across most region
Selling
US homes sales dip as mortgages remain high
United States home sales have once again become weak after showing some signs of a rebound in May. Two months ago, existing home sales in the U.S. hit a five-month low, then this May showed signs of rebound before declining 2.7% in June to an annual rate of 3.93 million, according to Mortgage News Daily. This leaves activity just above the recent slow and 25% below long-term norms, but remains unchanged from June 2024. Housing sales have been hovering at 75% of pre-pandemic norms for the past three years. “The record high median home price highlights how American homeowners’ wealth continues to grow — a benefit of homeownership,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said. “High mortgage rates are causing home sales to remain stuck at cyclical lows.” Mortgage rates have remained high and steady for the past seven months at an average of 6.77%. At the end of June, supply continues to gain with 1.53 units for sale at the end of June, representing a 15.9% increase year-over-year. The median house price in June increased 2% year-over-year to US$435,300, which is a record high for June. This is the 24th consecutive month of an annual increase. “Multiple years of undersupply are driving the record-high home prices.

Selling
Aussie auctions hold strong, Melbourne leads the charge
Auction clearance rates remain steady across Australia, with 1,574 auctions held across the capital cities last week. According to Cotaility, this is a 9.9% rise from the prior week’s 1,432 but an 11.4% drop from 1,777 in the same week last year. The preliminary auction rose higher to 74.4% last week compared to 72.2% the week prior, marking the highest preliminary clearance rate so far this year after the final week of June. This is also the sixth straight week where the number of successful auctions has held above the 70% mark. Melbourne has the highest number of auctions with 678, which is higher than the prior week’s 628. Based on current results, 76.7% of the auctions were successful, which is a sharp rise compared to the previous week’s 70.5% and the highest preliminary clearance rate since May 2023. Sydney had 578 homes up for auction last week, up from 566 in the week prior. The city recorded 74.8% successful auctions, down from the previous week’s 76.2%. Despite the dip, this was Sydney’s sixth week in a row where the number of successful auctions was held above 70%. Across the smaller capitals, Brisbane hosted the most auctions with 155 homes going under the hammer, with 68.4% of these being successf
Selling
May Downs cattle station fetches $47.5m at auction
An outback cattle station in North Queensland has been bought at auction for A$47.5 million. The May Downs station was sold by Lord Cattle to McMillan Pastoral Company, based in Cloncurry. This purchase is in addition to the two stations the McMillan family purchased in 2020 on the Queensland and Northern Territory border from Chinese owners for $53 million. These stations were previously owned by one of China’s richest businessmen, Xinfa Ma, who bought them in 2015. The 223,000-hectare station was owned by the Lord family for 39 years and is 30 kilometres west of Mount Isa. The lease backs onto Mount Isa Mines and holds 9,500 head of prime cattle. "We were interested in presenting our property to the market and accepting the result on the day," previous owner James Lord said. According to Stock Place Marketing Agent Luke Westaway, the station is a “quality asset”.
Selling
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.
Selling
Preliminary clearance rate lowest since Feb: CoreLogic
Australia's auction market displayed signs of cooling last week, with a preliminary clearance rate of 68.7% across the combined capitals, according to CoreLogic data. This marks a slight dip from the previous week's 69.1% rate and reflects the lowest preliminary clearance rate since February 2025. A total of 2,435 homes were auctioned, slightly fewer than the 2,472 homes auctioned a week prior. This is well below last year's pre-Easter spike of 3,519 homes.Credit: CoreLogicMelbourne showed resilience as the largest auction market, hosting 1,249 auctions, up from 1,192 the previous week. The city's preliminary clearance rate edged higher to 70.6%, while Sydney experienced a decline. This was due to 837 homes going under the hammer compared to 893 the week before. Sydney's clearance rate dropped below the 70% threshold to 69.1%, breaking its six-week streak of high results and signalling potential headwinds for the market. Brisbane recorded the strongest performance among the smaller capitals, with a preliminary clearance rate of 61.5%, its highest so far this year. Adelaide reported a preliminary rate of 60.8%, its weakest showing year-to-date, while the ACT saw improvement, climbing to 60.8% from the previous wee