REAL ESTATE

A new survey to measure borrower and would-be borrower sentiment for housing loans shows a decrease in the confidence level among home buyers.

Construction activities in August remained weak sending the number of new houses to plunge after 16 months.

The property market gains of 12.5 percent for new housing in the June quarter could take a slow down over the medium term.

No one else would take a critical stance against closing a tourist spot such as Fraser Island but tourism operators.

Queensland may not be seeing new houses due to very high development levies and rising uncertainty in the Queensland planning system.

Shopping strips may be lined up with empty shops due to the staggering increase in rental prices.

The Housing Industry Association (HIA) considers the 2.3 percent increase in building approvals in July a modest figure.

A lift in dwelling approvals in July provides a cause for cautious optimism that the wavering residential building upturn can regain momentum, according to Master Builders Australia, the peak body for the building and construction industry.

The number of dwelling units approved rose in July, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The number of new houses sold from May to July is 2 percent lower than the figures for the same period last year.

Commercial and residential projects could go back to the planning table due to the uncertainty in the proposed National Broadband Network (NBN).

The Abacus Property Group (ASX: ABP) is offering new debt facilities amounting to $536 million.

Based on the Master Builders State housing industry report, the introduction of six-star energy requirements for new homes caused the increase. Master Builders' director of housing policy Paul Bidwell said seventy percent of the cost increase can be attributed to the one-off impact of six-star energy requirements rather than significant increases in labour and/or material costs.

The number of available rental properties in Sydney was 1.6 percent in July. The figure is close to the 1.7 percent vacancy rate in January 2010.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed on Wednesday that overall construction work completed in the second quarter of 2010 soared to a record high $41.7 billion as residential building activities surged during the past three months leading to end of June.

Property investors should consider the possibility that retail banks may raise rates independently.

The simple shipping port town of Port Hedland begins makeover projects that will mark its transformation into a regional city.

It is not just the uncertainty in the political climate that keeps business players from making moves. The drop in investment housing loans this year could also be taken as a sign of property investors saving up for the spring selling season.

Private property investors account for 1.5 residential investment properties in Australia today. The figure represents a quarter of the housing industry nationwide.

The Diploma Group will develop the first stage of Fort Knox in Fremantle, Western Australia. The stage 1 development has an allocation of $11 billion.

Personal savings are taking the back seat while households ward off interest rates from mortgages, credit cards, and personal loans.

Households in dwellings two years old or less were more likely to have the energy and water efficiency elements they needed to reach government building standards, but beyond these measures they were quite similar to households in older dwellings, according to a report released Friday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Fears about the economy stopped landlords from increasing rents over the last three months even with extraordinary house price hikes, according to a quarterly survey by Australian Property Monitors.

Housing finance for owner-occupied commitments in Australia slumped by a seasonally-adjusted 3.9 per cent in June, well above analysts' prediction of a 2 per cent decline.

Out of control property taxes combined with rising costs of living are trashing the dream of homeownership for tens of thousands of Australians, according to REINSW, a major professional association for real estate agents and other property professionals in the country.

The Hon Tanya Plibersek, Federal Minister for Housing, today announced the building of 200 national affordable houses in Ballarat to be provided by Ethan Affordable Housing.

Demand for Australian office space has recovered after the global financial crisis, with research from the Property Council of Australia showing figures over the last six months at double the 20 year average.

The Gold Coast's office vacancy rate has continued to climb and is the highest in Australia, according to a mid-year Office Market Report released today by the Property Council of Australia.

Brisbane's Fringe office vacancy rate recorded its highest level since January 2003, rising from 11.4 percent in January to 12.2 percent in July this year, according to the Property Council of Australia's mid-year Office Market Report released today.