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COVID-19 hasn’t seemed to stop a strong (if not belated) spring selling season: Here are the biggest property stories from the week.
Welcome to REB’s weekly round-up of the headline stories and news that’s important not only for the real estate sector, but for the state of property in Australia more broadly.
To compile this list, not only are we taking a look at the week’s most-read stories and the news that matters to you, but we are also curating it to include stories from our sister platforms that could have an impact on the Australian property landscape.
Sales rookie Amber Boumelhem has sold six Western Sydney properties in October after just five weeks in real estate sales.
The 19-year-old former property manager only started in property sales in September when she joined Raine & Horne St Marys, having previously worked in property management with an independent Carlingford firm.
It’s been a two-year journey for one Sydney-based family business to break away from the franchise model: Here’s why they did it.
In conversation with REB, director Angus White revealed that while the 20-year span with LJ Hooker “was a really good adventure and journey”, it was time for the father-son team of Tony and Angus White to branch out on their own.
According to Coronis Now’s Jodie Stainton, with the existence of so many iterations of real estate agencies and businesses, it was only a matter of time before a new breed of “real estate professional” emerged.
She’s observed a recent rise in the number of partners who are not only running their own property management portfolios, but also listing and selling those investment properties they do look after.
October has seen a huge turnaround in buyer sentiment in Brisbane. It seems that even more buyers have entered the market in the last month, and this is contributing to the very high demand that is evident around the city, writes Melinda Jennison.
The ability to work remotely from further afield has put many more affordable lifestyle destinations in the spotlight, a recent McGrath Real Estate report found.
According to McGrath: “The Victorian high country is proving to be an early beneficiary of this trend, with growing buyer interest in areas such as Mansfield Shire in the state’s north east.”
“About 2.5 hours from Melbourne and one hour from the regional centres of Shepparton, Wangaratta and Benalla, Mansfield Shire is attracting more tree-changers due to its many recreational options, including snow skiing, water skiing on Lake Eildon, horse riding and fishing.”
- Where have house prices increased more than 1,200%?
The strongest performing regional town over 20 years is Bangalow, near Byron Bay, which has seen its median house price increase more than 1,200 per cent from $76,025 in 2000 to $1.05 million in 2020.
The managing director of the FBAA has tentatively welcomed the Treasury’s proposed extension of the best interests duty, outlining that industry had been warning of the unintended consequences of its original form.
Peter White noted that the mortgage broking industry had raised concerns with Treasury when the draft legislation for the best interests duty was first released last year, largely related to potential unintended consequences of the legislation’s wording.
The federal government is to develop exposure draft legislation that will make it unlawful to have unfair contract terms, which will come with a civil penalty if breached.
While protections for unfair contract terms (UCTs) have been in place for 10 years for consumers and four years for small business (major banks agreed to eliminate UCTs from their SME lending contracts in 2017), the government has noted that there are still prevalent instances where UCTs still exist.
A Wembley-based agency has had its operations suspended and a supervisor appointed for continuing to operate in breach of relevant real estate laws.
The Western Australian Commissioner for Consumer Protection brought the action against IJR Property Pty Ltd after it argued the agency’s sole representative, Sarah Mack, did not have the appropriate licences to act as director of the agency, and had not made arrangements to appoint a director who held appropriate licences.
October 2020 has gifted one of Australia’s largest real estate networks its strongest month for sales ever – reporting $5.71 billion worth of sales.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Grace Ormsby
Grace is a journalist across Momentum property and investment brands. Grace joined Momentum Media in 2018, bringing with her a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Communication (Journalism) from the University of Newcastle. She’s passionate about delivering easy to digest information and content relevant to her key audiences and stakeholders.
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