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From an unregistered sales agent who operated for more than five years to new borrowing recommendations: Here are the biggest property stories this 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 also for the state of property in Australia more broadly.
To compile this list, not only do we consider the week’s most read stories and the news that matters to you, but we curate it to include stories from our sister brands that also have an impact on the Australian property landscape.
1. Agency cops fine for unregistered agent
A Perth-based real estate agency that allowed a sales agent to work on more than 100 transactions over a five-year period while unregistered has been fined $7,000.
2. The Agency board slams legitimacy of Magnolia offer
An ASX announcement from The Agency Group Australia has called out Magnolia for its “proposal to make an unsolicited, conditional offer” for a controlling share in the real estate company.
“The board of The Agency does not consider that the proposal provides shareholders with enough information to even be considered a credible ‘proposal’ or constitute a legitimate alternative to the proposed issue of $5 million in convertible notes to Peters Investments Pty Ltd,” it outlined.
See also: New bid on the table for The Agency
3. Revealing the REB Awards finalists for 2021
With the recent relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions, we’re now pleased to announce that the REB Awards will be returning from Sydney’s The Star on 28 January 2021.
4. Lenders should prompt borrowers to review rate: ACCC final report
The final Home Loan Price Inquiry report recommends that lenders should regularly prompt customers whose loans are more than three years old to review their rate and consider switching products.
5. Consumer credit reforms introduced into Parliament
The National Consumer Credit Protection Amendment (Supporting Economic Recovery) Bill 2020 has been introduced into Parliament and read for the first time.
The bill seeks to amend the law relating to consumer credit and consumer leases, and includes the controversial proposal to extend the best interests duty to more credit assistance providers and to remove responsible lending laws.
6. House prices to surpass pre-COVID levels in ‘early 2021’
According to CoreLogic’s Hedonic Home Value Index data for November, dwelling values were up by 0.8 of a percentage point over the month, building on the recovery first seen in October, and following a 2.1 per cent drop in Australian home values between April and September.
7. Detached housing approvals at 20-year high: ABS
Building approvals for private houses were at the highest recorded level since February 2000, and rose for the fourth consecutive month in October, according to new data.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Building Approvals data for October 2020, total dwelling approvals rose by 3.8 per cent in October (seasonally adjusted terms), following a strong 16.2 per cent rise in September.
The rise was driven by substantial increases in NSW (32.1 per cent) and WA (29.7 per cent).
8. Post-recession pattern: How prices will rise in the next 5 years
The CoreLogic Home Value Index for November showed that national dwelling values were up by 0.8 of a percentage point over the month, with every capital city, apart from Melbourne, posting positive results and regional areas performing even more strongly.
9. Rental income tipped to spike as shortages drive record prices
Propertyology’s head of research, Simon Pressley, believes that even a fall in migration due to border restrictions will not offset the number of dwellings Australia needs: “The reality is that Australia does not have enough housing supply for its existing 25.6 million population.
“Propertyology is predicting that these next couple of years will produce the biggest increase in rents that Australia has seen in living memory.”
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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