Hot Property: Biggest headlines this week 2

1. 5 regions tipped to rise

Low vacancy rates and inventory can still lead to portfolio growth in a COVID-19 world, according to Arjun Paliwal.

“To the surprise of many, many suburbs across Australia are actually going through high levels of rental and price competition with low inventory levels and below 1.5 per cent vacancy rates.”

2. Central Coast hotspots uncovered  

According to Raine & Horne, there has been considerable attention being drawn to NSW’s Central Coast in recent times.

It’s flagged four local areas as attracting the most attention. 

3. Property remains resilient despite COVID pandemic

CoreLogic’s quarterly property update has revealed Australia’s dwelling market fell by just 0.8 per cent over the June quarter, despite some economists saying the $7 trillion asset class could fall by as much as 20 per cent.

The capital cities saw a 1.1 per cent reduction in house prices while, regionally, properties grew by 0.3 per cent during the quarter.

4. Lender closes branches in all but one state

Tasmania-based lender MyState Bank has confirmed that it is closing its four central Queensland branches and two branches in Tasmania following a steep decline in in-person transactions and strong performance in the digital and broker channels.

In announcing its FY20 full-year results, MyState Bank revealed that two-thirds of its customers are now using internet banking.

5. McGrath CEO resigns, successor appointed

Geoff Lucas said it had been pleasing to lead the McGrath team “through a period of regenerating the McGrath business”.

Succeeding Mr Lucas in the role will be Edward Law, a 14-year ANZ veteran who has also been executive director of Newground Capital Partners and investment director at MaxCap Group.

6. McGrath boasts $10m, 12-month turnaround: How did it do it?

McGrath highlighted its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was $3.7 million for the year – a $10.1 million turnaround from underlying EBITDA loss of $6.4 million last financial year.

Calling the turnaround “significant”, the real estate giant posted an 11 per cent lift in revenue to $91.69 million for the year – a 31 per cent rise in sales per agent for the period, achieved despite the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the last quarter.

7. Real estate platforms confirm merger

Real estate marketing platforms Campaigntrack and Realhub have officially combined, consolidating their projects, teams and resources.

The move sees the pair align in a dual-brand approach “under one clear strategy to make selling real estate easier and more profitable for real estate businesses, not only in the current climate, but long into the future”, a statement said.

8. Borrowers turn to government stimulus to pay mortgage

An ABS survey has found a growing proportion of Australians using their personal government stimulus payments (such as JobKeeper) to pay their bills and mortgages.

While around 14 per cent of all people receiving payments were using it to pay their mortgage/rent, a growing proportion of people said that this was the “main” use of their payment.

9. More clarity needed over clawback recoupment

Mark Haron, executive director of Connective, has called for more guidance around whether the ban on clawback recoupment will apply to loans lodged before 2021 that settle after 1 January.

Brokers will not be able to recoup the cost of clawback from 1 January 2020 when the best interests duty comes into effect, however, he said regulators need to help identify whether it will apply to loans lodged before the BID implementation date, too.

10. Why is tax depreciation important for property investors?

If I said to you that we may be able to reduce your tax by thousands, would you say, “No, thank you”? Or would you say, “Yes, please!”, writes Mark Wilkins.

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