Investment

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<p>Former <em>Masterchef</em> contestant Jonathan Daddia has bought an investment in Randwick.</p>

<p>The IT consultant, who dubbed himself 'The Terminator' during the series won by Adam Liaw, has spent $1.7 million on a two level 1920s semi.</p>

<p>He's leased the original two bedroom home after asking $700 a week.</p>

<p>NG Farah Coogee agents Cameron Airlie and Mark Feerick sold the home pre-auction.</p>

<p>Daddia made the final eight of the 2010 series of the popular Channel 10 food show.</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2018/5/22/RANDWICK%202.jpg"></p>

<p>After contemplating opening his own restaurant, Daddia stayed in IT and works at PwC Strategy.</p>

<p>Having settled on the home, Daddia has briefly listed a Bellevue Hill apartment.</p>

<p>The renovated art deco unit in the 1920s Carinya building which cost $950,000 in 2014 as withdrawn from sale by Phillips Pantzer Donnelley agent Jason Pantzer.</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2018/5/22/RANDWICK%203.jpg"></p>

<p><em>This article first appeared in </em>The Sunday Telegraph.</p>

<h2><strong>Take a look at our latest projects:</strong></h2>

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Former Masterchef contestant purchases Randwick investment

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<p><span>GUEST OBSERVER</span></p>
<p><span>Moves by regulators and banks to curb the growth in investment lending in response to spiralling Sydney and Melbourne property prices could cool the investment market nationwide.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">The decision by lenders to raise interest rates on investor loans and other changes to tighten up investment lending was penalising investors.</span></p>
<p><span>Changes aimed at trying to simmer the property hot spots of Sydney and Melbourne would needlessly harm investors in other parts of Australia</span></p>
<p><span>Not only have there been interest rate rises for investors but also changes to loan servicing calculations and Loan to Value Ratio (LVR) requirements, with the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) encouraging the crackdown.</span></p>
<p><span>Our economy is in a two speed cycle with the big property price increases focussed on Sydney and Melbourne.</span></p>
<p><span>Regulators and lenders need to be careful with how they deal with this as they risk hindering the market in others parts of the country where real estate is not booming.</span></p>
<p><span>The lending landscape is changing with a mixed bag of LVR requirements which are now causing a great deal of uncertainty in the market.</span></p>
<p><span>Investors in places such as Brisbane and Perth are being unfairly targeted over the property boom in Sydney and Melbourne.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Kent Leicester is managing director of Cigna Wealth and can be contacted <a href="https://www.cignawealth.com.au" target="_blank">here</a>.</em></p>
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Investor lending changes could backfire: Cigna Wealth's Kent Leicester 

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<p>GUEST OBSERVER</p>
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<p>London is one of the most diverse, globally connected, competitive, high performing cities in the world, <span>on a wide variety of measures.</span></p>
<p><span> We have combined four of the most widely quoted indicators of World City prominence. These measure global connectedness (gaWC), performance and potential (kearney), power (Mori) and global c</span>ompetitiveness (eIu). Together, these create the Savills World City Ranking.</p>
<p>London and New York stand out far ahead of other cities and illustrate how a unique combination of strengths marks them out as global powerhouses. We have dubbed London a ‘polymath city’ for being so pre-eminent in a wide range of aspects of city life.</p>
<p>It might be worth noting, however, that although ranking high economically, London, and indeed the rest of the world cities tend not to rate so high on the ‘softer’ social and environmental issues.</p>
<p>It is also notable that none of the 20 cities rate in the top ten of the Economist’s ‘Liveability Ranking’, for example. Numbeo’s Quality of Life Index 2015 places London in 90th place out of 150 cities, ahead of Paris, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Moscow and Beijing but behind the other 14 cities (only Frankfurt makes it into Numbeo’s top 20).</p>
<p>It would seem that being a top performing world city comes at a price. Pollution can be higher (though London’s is slightly below average), and real estate costs in the 20 cities are significantly higher than in other global cities but, surprisingly, London’s are not among the highest when mainstream housing costs are measured against average household incomes.</p>
<p>This dubious honour belongs to Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Moscow and Singapore. Traffic congestion and long commutes are another side effect of economic success but London does not fare too badly here, in comparison to other world cities. If Numbeo is to be believed, London’s main downfall in the quality of life rankings (in common with most of the other 20 cities) is that the purchasing power of individuals is low, in relation to average incomes and consumer prices are high.</p>
<p>A rapidly expanding employment base is underpinning a new wave of expansion in London’s office markets. New records were set in the leasing markets in 2014, with 8.2m sq ft leased in the City of London. Reaffirming London’s status as one of the most important global centres for the creative, media, entertainment and tech industries, the capital has seen a general shift in occupier demand from west to east.</p>
<p>This in turn has been reflected in fast-rising office rents. The proportion of office take-up by creative and technology companies in the City of London was 17% in the year to June 2015, the same as the proportion taken by insurance and financial service companies.</p>
<p>However, it is worth noting that the banking sector has started to recover this year, and this means banking and finance companies currently account for 38% of current requirements across central London. A buoyant occupier market underpins record investment – London is the number one destination for cross-border investment into offices globally.</p>
<p>Rapid employment growth puts further pressure on London’s housing market. New housing supply has failed to meet the need and the pressure on living costs has continued to build. House prices in London have risen by 43%, and private sector rents by 19% over the last five years according to the ONS. Investment in transport improvements is essential to open up new parts of the city for housing development. Crossrail, an upgrade to Thameslink services and an extension to the Northern Line, is unlocking new development in the near term.</p>
<p>The focus of London government at present is ensuring that sufficient and affordable accommodation is provided to house London’s growing population. There is concern that a combination of high land prices, low industry capacity and a historic undersupply backlog will continue to thwart these intentions.</p>
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<p>Global urbanisation and the focus by people on city living has meant that international investment activity has also been focused in this way. Worldwide, prime city property has appreciated in value but mainstream property has not grown by so much. This is as true of London as any other global city.</p>
<p>The impact of overseas investment by private individuals in world cities seems to have pushed up prices for wealthy people in the prime markets, but not so much for mainstream property in secondary markets.</p>
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<p><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">London’s prime residential real estate is seven times more expensive than its mainstream housing, compared to New York’s, for example, which is only four times the price. The higher incidence of overseas property buyers in London has created an international market in prime property but London’s mainstream property is about the same price as New York’s.</span></p>
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<p>At a global level, mainstream London property prices are on a par with Singapore and New York and cheaper than Hong Kong’s (all of these cities have growing populations and constrained land supply). This still makes London one of the most expensive locations in which to buy property globally, but the issue seems to be one of high demand against near-static supply, rather than the weight of money pressing on prime markets.</p>
<p>It is when new development is overly concentrated in prime markets that these supply problems are exacerbated. London has been able to grow the size of its prime stock but has been less successful at growing its mainstream housing supply. London has several possible solutions to its issues of high home prices:</p>
<ul>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">Densify and make better use of land, especially in central and transport- accessible neighbourhoods</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">Open up new areas with new transport infrastructure</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">Regenerate low-grade and low-density land, both publicly and privately owned</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">Intensify neighbourhoods by mixing residential into low-intensity retail and workspace uses</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">Expand beyond political boundaries, a significant proportion of London’s workforce lives outside greater London already.</span></li>
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<p>Until most or all of these solutions start to change the supply of housing in London, the city is likely to remain among the world’s most expensive.<span><br></span></p>
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<p><span>London, unlike many former hosts of the Olympic Games, saw both visitor numbers and spend increase in </span>its post olympic year, a trend that has continued. London is expected to welcome 18.8m international overnight visitors in 2015, and has topped the Mastercard’s global destination Index in four out of five years, except 2013, when bangkok held the lead position. London also topped the rankings for tourist spend at $20.2bn, with a significant chunk of this spent shopping.</p>
<p>London’s world famous shopping streets and its variety of international brands, including home grown ones such as Burberry, have helped to increase international tourist spend. But it has been London’s ability to attract high spending tourists that has really established it as a Global retail destination.</p>
<p>The biggest spenders have been those coming from the UAE and China. They each have an average spend per transaction of over £900 (US$1,400). The fact that China is now the largest consumer market of luxury products globally, with an increasing proportion of this spend taking place overseas, means that they are an attractive target consumer group – particularly for luxury brands.</p>
<p>At present Chinese tourists account for only a small proportion of total overseas spend in the UK. According to official data from the ONS 233,000 <span style="line-height: 1.3em;">mainland Chinese tourists came to the UK last year with a total spend of £559m. This represents only 2.6% of total overseas spend.</span></p>
<p>In contrast France attracted over 1 million Chinese visitors. The difficulties experienced by Chinese visitors in obtaining visas has been cited as an issue contributing<br> to these lower visitor numbers. Improvements to the visa application process, introduced last year, are expected to improve these numbers.</p>
<p>VisitBritain is hoping it will help to attract 650,000 Chinese visitors by 2020, with spending power of almost £1.1bn (US$1.7bn).</p>
<p>London’s position as one of the largest city markets for international tourists, and the potential upswing in Chinese visitor numbers, has attracted increasing numbers of international brands.</p>
<p>Since 2012, 98 international brands have opened their first UK store in London with another 11 expected by the end of the year.</p>
<p><strong>New entrants</strong></p>
<p>The majority of these new entrants have come from Europe (64%), with another 25% originating from North America are now also, largely reflecting the existing international mix of retailers on London’s key shopping streets.</p>
<p>However, retailers from Asia Pacific and South America have established a presence in London, reflecting the increasing globalisation of London’s retail landscape and<br> its visitor profile. This influx of new retailer entrants, combined with availability constraints on the traditional key pitches, have helped to open up new retail ‘destinations’ within London.</p>
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<p><span>Historically, any new retail brands to London would have tended to concentrate within </span><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">a relatively narrow selection </span><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">of pitches. </span><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">The scale of new entrants and existing demand, combined with improvements and enhanced ‘curation’ by a number of existing and emerging landed Estates within Central London </span><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">has widened the variety of retail ‘destinations’ available to both occupiers and shoppers.</span></p>
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<p>The top locations of choice for new overseas retailers to London since 2012 are Westfield (West London and Stratford), Covent Garden and Bond Street.</p>
<p>This influx of international spend has not been solely confined to consumers and occupiers. Investment by international investors into Central London retail property has also intensified.</p>
<p>Total acquisition activity by overseas investors totalled £1.5bn in 2014. This represented 59.2% of total activity levels. This investor behaviour is changing the ownership landscape of some of London’s key shopping streets. And it is not just international investors that have become increasingly acquisitive. International retail brands themselves have also been on their own shopping spree.</p>
<p><strong>Overseas ownership</strong></p>
<p>Close to half (45.2%) of all retail units on Bond Street are now owned by overseas entities, up by 10% in January 2013. But around a third of these international owners are in fact international retailers, not investors. While retailer owner-occupation is nothing new on Bond Street, the change has been the increase in acquisition by retailers irrespective of whether they are occupiers or not.</p>
<p>Retailer ownership has increased by 28% since early 2013, but, only half of these retailer owned units are owner-occupied.</p>
<p>Purchaser motivations seem to be in part competitive and in part a way to future proof themselves against further rental growth following the strong rental uplift seen over the last three years (prime Zone A rents on New Bond Street have increased by an average of 20.8% per annum). This trend appears relatively unique to London and is facilitated by the city’s transparent and open real estate market.</p>
<p>On the flip side, this investment appetite from brands has also contributed heavily to competitive <span style="line-height: 1.3em;">tension in yields and retailers becoming landlords to their competitors. </span><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">In the case of Oxford Street, where the need for protectionism is less acute, overseas retailer ownership </span><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">is lower, accounting for 10.0% of all units on the street.</span></p>
<p>Meanwhile, investment activity by other international investors has picked up significantly. With availability on Bond Street <span style="line-height: 1.3em;">some overseas investors </span><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">have looked to other retails streets to satisfy demand. For example, overseas ownership on Oxford Street has increased by 24.4% since early 2013.</span></p>
<p>Going forward, activity from overseas investors is expected to continue but is likely to focus on those key retail destinations where current ownership profile offers opportunity.</p>
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<p>The weight of money pressing on real estate in world cities is a widely reported phenomenon. London was the second most invested world city after New York by large-scale investors in the year to june 2015 according to Real Capital analytics.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">But it is not just institutions and corporations who are focused on real estate as an investment class. The type and range of players in the market has increased substantially since 2008 with Sovereign Wealth and private individuals entering the fray to a much greater extent.</span></p>
<p>A recent survey of global wealth advisers by Savills/Wealth Briefing showed that private wealth is very active in real estate with 45% investing more than a fifth of wealth in direct property holdings and 37% investing an additional sum amounting to more than 10% of their wealth in indirect property holdings (property companies and REITs for example). Only 9% of these survey respondents said their clients were planning to decrease their exposure to direct property and 13% to decrease their indirect holdings.</p>
<p>Much of the recent buying activity in real estate has been directed at prime property in world cities, and buying behaviour has been focused on London and top US cities. Our survey of private wealth property holdings in 2014 shows few signs<br> of activity abating. According to the Savills/Wealth Briefing survey, 67% of high net worth private clients want to buy more real estate in North America and 63% in the United Kingdom. This compares with only 37% who are looking to buy in China and Hong Kong, for example.</p>
<p>One characteristic of private wealth is that it is focused on different sectors of property to institutional money. Residential property, development land and agricultural land are the three top buys on private clients’ shopping lists (72% of all respondents say their clients are looking at this sector). But offices also feature prominently, with 50% looking to buy in this sector.</p>
<p>The implications of this for London are that money will likely continue to press on the city’s real estate markets. For those seeking the best income returns from day one, the extent to which this weight of money suppresses yields and increases prices means for them, too much money is pointing at the city.</p>
<p>Consequently, we anticipate that the smart, income-seeking money will increasingly move away from the prime centre to the higher-yielding periphery and even outside of London. Some of it already is, with high-quality city markets like Oxford, Cambridge and Edinburgh already seeing significant investment activity.</p>
<p>Those seeking capital growth will do well to look at the underlying fundamentals of rental growth and the prospects of its continuance, as there is very little scope for further investment yield reductions to boost prices.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, trophy properties, such as mansions, farms and sporting estates, are also beginning to see increased activity and we expect this to grow. Access to London, even from these more far flung retreats, will still be important, so the western corridor with access to Heathrow and the world beyond will likely continue to be a favoured location.</p>
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<p><img src="/images/2015/07/17/Screen%20Shot%202015-07-17%20at%201.55.41%20PM.png" alt=""></p>
<p><em>Yolande Barnes is director, world research with Savills. You can follow Yolande on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/yolande_barnes" target="_blank">here.</a></em></p>
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Occupier and investor demand in London: Savills

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<p><span>GUEST OBSERVER</span></p>
<p><span>Not since 1998 have banks charged a higher rate for investment property loan as compared to owner-occupiers. You may have seen the news that ANZ have decided to slug heaps of their mortgage clients. Independent of any RBA movement, they are increasing the standard variable rate by 0.27% for investment home loans.</span></p>
<p><span>Unfortunately, CBA today announced the same thing. The interest rate for existing variable investment CBA home loans will rise by 0.27% from August 10th. </span></p>
<p><span>The stance of iChoice is that these tactics are opportunistic, and ANZ &amp; CBA clients should think again. </span></p>
<p><span>The APRA directive is for investment lending growth to be limited by 10%. So the unpublished interest rate discounts offered to us high-end brokers will be stronger for those taking a loan against their home. We have accepted this, in fact since some banks are much more flexible than others (some not discounting at all) the importance of a knowledgeable broker is becoming more apparent.</span></p>
<p><span>So why are ANZ &amp; CBA slugging EXISTING clients, if the APRA directive related only to growth? These questions should be asked. The beauty of some banks is that their home loans, whether for a home or an investment, is actually the same product, so they wont have the ability to pinpoint the investors to discriminately slug them. maybe check your statement and see if the name of your product includes the word ’investment’.</span></p>
<p><span>So will this intervention in market forces negatively affect the run of the property market? Will cashed-up foreigners be laughing as local investors get further priced out? What we do know immediately, is that CBA clients with an Investment Home Loan will be fuming as they watch the news tonight, like ANZ customers were last night!</span></p>
<p><span>iChoice will be emailing our client base with facilities at ANZ and CBA this weekend with our recommendation for next steps.</span></p>
<p><span>Off-the plan buyers know that some banks lend against the valuation at completion (not the LOWER of purchase price and valuation like the nasty banks). I say this because I have heard of many people getting slugged with thousands of dollars of LMI because they just don’t know (do they know that us mortgage advisors are free??). </span></p>
<p><span>Also, Westpac for a limited time are lending 85% with no LMI, for purchases OR refinances but applications must be in by the end of August.</span></p>
<p><span>As usual, Citibank have an 85% no-LMI as their standard, and great fixed rates too.</span></p>
<p><span>As an acclaimed Flame broker, I can often lend 90% with no LMI to doctors, pharmacists, dentists, vets, accountants, barristers and solicitors.</span></p>
<p><em>Jason Khoury is principal, iChoice Mortgage Brokers and can be contacted <a href="mailto:jason=ichoice.com.au@mercurymail.connective.com.au" target="_blank">here</a>. </em></p>
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ANZ and CBA slug their property investor customers: Jason Khoury

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<p><span>GUEST OBSERVER</span></p>
<p><span>While the economic outlook for 2016 is weak, there are still locations across Australia that provide good investment opportunities.</span></p>
<p><span>With the latest Onthehouse.com.au data, I have identified the top 10 areas to watch in the year ahead, based on strong growth performance, cyclical growth expectations, upcoming developments and historical growth patterns.</span></p>
<p><span>While Sydney has been the clear growth winner in recent years, it is in a downswing of its current growth cycle so it is not on the Top 10 list. However, Regional NSW is set to be the winner in 2016, with four regional NSW cities topping the list.</span></p>
<p><span>Queensland also has a strong presence on the list, with a total of four metro and regional centres making the Top 10.</span></p>
<p><span><strong>The following table lists the Top 10 cities to watch in 2016. </strong></span></p>
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<p><span>With cities such as Wollongong and Newcastle being considered as re-homing areas for displaced Syrian refugees, Tasmania continuing to pick-up its tourism market and Queensland boasting some large development projects, there are many emerging areas showing positive economic potential.</span></p>
<p><span><strong>Here is my quick breakdown of why each identified area made the list...</strong></span></p>
<p><span><strong>City of Gosford, NSW</strong></span></p>
<p><span>Suburbs within the City of Gosford enjoy a spill-over of wealth from Sydney in the form of residential investment and from tourism to the lakeside city. Despite enormous growth in 2015, regional NSW tends to lag a little behind Sydney. This is supported by historical growth patterns, therefore growth could continue into 2016.</span></p>
<p><span><strong>Lake Macquarie Region, NSW</strong></span></p>
<p><span>Lake Macquarie is popular with tourists who are seeking a quick getaway from Sydney, as it is only a two-hour drive from the Sydney CBD. The area contains suburbs with very affordable dwellings, some with strong rental yields. For owner occupiers, the area is popular with retirees and has a growing health care sector to support quality of life.</span></p>
<p><span><strong>City of Newcastle, NSW</strong></span></p>
<p><span>Newcastle has undergone tremendous development in the last few years. This has partially been the result of people and businesses being priced out of Sydney and seeking more affordable rent in a nearby city. As a result, the Central Coast has transformed over the last few years. Newcastle and Wollongong have also been named as areas to relocate Syrian refugees, which would encourage population growth and increase demand in the economy for a range of services; provided refugees are set up with adequate resources.</span></p>
<p><span><strong>City of Shellharbour, NSW</strong></span></p>
<p><span>The City of Shellharbour is another regional NSW area that is set to benefit from the Sydney wealth spill-over. Shellharbour is also home to the established City of Wollongong, which has excellent educational and medical facilities, as well as a beautiful coastal setting.</span></p>
<p><span><strong>City of Whittlesea, VIC</strong></span></p>
<p><span>This is more of a cyclical evaluation; where lower value properties are expected to follow the high end. It's also worth noting that as population growth remains high over the next decade (particularly in Melbourne as approximately one-third of migrants settle in Victoria), anywhere within reasonable distance and commute time to the CBD is likely to see long-term growth. Stockland survey data also suggests that Sydney buyers were registering their interest in Melbourne property, suggesting the appeal of Melbourne will continue in 2016 as residual wealth from Sydney is transferred to the relatively affordable Melbourne market.</span></p>
<p><span><strong>Brisbane Metropolitan, QLD</strong></span></p>
<p><span>Growth in Brisbane is expected to be partially out of cyclical movements. Historically, Brisbane usually peaks in capital growth after the Sydney and Melbourne markets. As Melbourne is likely coming into peak growth now, Brisbane could see higher value increases in 2016. It is worth noting that this could be mitigated by increases in home loan interest rates and slowed economic growth both globally and in Australia, plus slowed rates of migration to Queensland, which fell by approximately 22 per cent in the year to June 2015.</span></p>
<p><span>However, an increase in tourism may drive employment; attracting migration and dwelling demand in the future. According to Tourism Research Australia, Brisbane was the third top holiday destination of overseas visitors, followed by the Gold Coast, with the Sunshine Coast also featuring in the top 10. There are currently also large development programs happening around Brisbane, including a casino at the Queens Wharf site. It is worth making the distinction that this may not be a long-term growth driver, but if you are only looking at movements for the next few years then this area has potential.</span></p>
<p><span><strong>City of Logan, QLD</strong></span></p>
<p><span>The City of Logan is a growth centre, conveniently located between Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Enormous development projects have been approved in the region, particularly in Beenleigh, where the town's CBD is set to see new residences, commercial offices, a new theatre, medical centre and café precinct. However, the highest growth potential is likely to be in surrounding suburbs where values remain relatively affordable.</span></p>
<p><span><strong>Greater Hobart, TAS</strong></span></p>
<p><span>Tasmania has presented some surprising growth results in 2015. The Hobart CBD and surrounding suburbs in particular have drawn many tourists. Hobart is regarded for its historic charm, with many heritage buildings preserved. Tasmania also has highly regarded produce, which, combined with trade subsidies provided by the federal government, will help to boost exports from Tasmania. As tourism and hospitality pick up in Tasmania, popular centres like Hobart could see further capital growth from employment, affordability and dwelling demand in 2016.</span></p>
<p><span><strong>Gold Coast, QLD</strong></span></p>
<p><span>According to Tourism Research Australia, the Gold Coast was the fourth most visited destination by tourists in the year to September 2015. The Gold Coast has also recently outperformed growth in both Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, suggesting the booming value of this area.</span></p>
<p><span>The Gold Coast is also set to host the Commonwealth Games in 2018. Chairman of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation, Nigel Chamier, has claimed that preparations for the games are under budget and ahead of schedule, enabling new sports facilities to be trialled in 2017. The government expects $2 billion worth of contracts across the Gold Coast and in other parts of the south-east corridor, in preparation and execution of the Games.</span></p>
<p><span>Finally, major residential developments are occurring in the Gold Coast CBD, including The Ruby Towers development, which is expected to be complete in six years time. Although the city centre has seen recent escalations in value, a spill-over of growth may also be expected in nearby suburbs such as Oxenford, Helensvale and Robina.</span></p>
<p><span><strong>Sunshine Coast, QLD</strong></span></p>
<p><span>As developers anticipate strong migration and affordability to drive dwelling demand, there has been increased construction activity on the Sunshine Coast. Part of the more general cyclical trend, which may see the south-east of Queensland see steady growth in the area, the Sunshine Coast also achieved steady capital growth over 2015. New developments in the region include a University Hospital set to open in late 2016.</span></p>
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<div class="meta"><em>Eliza Owen is the market analyst for Onthehouse.com.au. She can be contacted <a href="https://www.onthehouse.com.au" target="_blank">here.</a></em></div>
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Top 10 cities to watch in 2016: Onthehouse.com.au's Eliza Owen

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<p>GUEST OBSERVER</p>
<p>Brisbane has outperformed Sydney and Melbourne in a new Australian index that measures innovation performance at a suburb level.</p>
<p>The index is designed to help policymakers better understand the characteristics that make some locations more innovative than others.</p>
<p>Brisbane has five areas in the top 10 of the innovation index in 2014, substantially more than the much larger state capitals of Sydney (three) and Melbourne (two). At the same time, areas in the other states capital cities don’t even feature until position 28.</p>
<p><a href="/images/2016/03/23/image-20160322-32291-1fxszd5.jpg" target="_blank"> Click to enlarge</a></p>
<p><img src="/images/2016/03/23/image-20160322-32291-1fxszd5.jpg" alt=""></p>
<h4><span class="caption">Figure 1. BCEC Innovation index for Australia: 2014, by SA3 regions</span></h4>
<p>The index is a composite of a number of indicators for both inputs to and outputs from innovation. Measures include patents, trademarks, new business entry and business R&amp;D investment (all relative to the size of the workforce), as well as the share of postgraduate qualified graduates and the ratio of research institutes to the resident population. Each of these measures either a direct innovation activity or a factor that supports innovation activities.</p>
<p>The index highlights the importance of location and agglomeration. The most innovative regions are usually in the largest cities and are typically near other innovative regions and relevant infrastructure that supports innovation such as business districts, universities and research institutes, as can be seen in Figure 1 above.</p>
<h2>Proximity matters</h2>
<p>Innovation is embedded in places. The co-location of the right mix of people, physical capital and infrastructure is key to developing new ideas and transforming them into commercial successes.</p>
<p>A new report from the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre finds innovation is a local phenomenon where for a host of complex and interacting reasons, certain places and regions are doing better than others.</p>
<p>Innovations build on existing knowledge. Cities are the mechanism which facilitates the creation and dissemination of knowledge leading to better innovation performance. Universities increase the innovation performance of surrounding areas through direct research and innovation outputs and by improving the human capital of workers. Similarly, city centres and surrounding areas attract highly-skilled graduates.</p>
<p>While internet-based communication connects people in even the most remote locations with the rest of the world, when developing an innovation, these communication technologies largely complement regular face-to-face interaction rather than replacing it. It is easier to connect, share ideas and build trust with a neighbour than a person or business who is far away.</p>
<p>Other countries have recognised how important location is for innovation and developed place-based innovation policies.</p>
<p>EU countries and regions are required to have national or regional “Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation” in order to access European structural and investment funds to support research and innovation. EU cohesion policy involves a process for tailoring innovation policies to local regions, including policies for scientific R&amp;D, practice-based innovation and adoption and diffusion of knowledge and innovations.</p>
<p>Australia is almost twice the area of the European Union. Place-based policies are particularly important in Australia with its large distances between cities and larger distances to the rest of the world.</p>
<p>Place-based innovation policies are not completely new in Australia. Queensland’s “Smart State” strategy between 1998 and 2007 attempted to boost knowledge-based industries through investment in infrastructure, education and training, research programs and industry incentives. While it is difficult to measure the success of these policies the strategy may help explain the high ranking of areas in Brisbane in BCEC’s innovation index (See Table 1).</p>
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<span class="caption">Table 1. Ranking of SA3 regions by 2014 BCEC Innovation index for Australia</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.3em;"> </span>
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<h2>International collaboration and innovation</h2>
<p>While innovation is a local phenomenon, international collaborations can bring benefits to businesses in the form of greater exposure to new ideas, world leading advances in technology, and commercialisation opportunities.</p>
<p>Yet OECD comparisons show that only 7.7 percent of innovation-active businesses in Australia engage in collaborations with international partners in the United States, Asia or Europe - well below the OECD average of 17.9 percent (Figure 2).</p>
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<p> <img src="/images/2016/03/23/image-20160322-32300-1bushko.jpg" alt=""></p>
<h4><span class="caption">Figure 2. Share of innovation-active firms engaged in international collaborations: OECD, 2012-13</span></h4>
<p>Australia is a long way from innovation centres such as London, Tokyo, Shanghai and the Silicon Valley, of course. Australia is also far away from large cities in countries that are (relatively at least) closer to home, like Singapore or Auckland. And Australian cities are also far away from each other.</p>
<p>This means the knowledge inputs crucial to innovation do not diffuse easily within and to Australia, something that may be a particular constraint to innovation in Western Australia given its relative isolation.</p>
<p>Yet paradoxically, no more than 3.6% of Australian businesses cite access to knowledge as a barrier to innovation. This suggests - rightly or wrongly – that the majority of businesses rely on national knowledge partnerships for research and development activities.</p>
<p>It is difficult to square this circle, other than to speculate that some businesses in Australia perhaps “don’t know what they don’t know” – in other words, it is difficult for firms to recognise knowledge gaps as a barrier to innovation, because they simply don’t know what they haven’t learned or invented yet.</p>
<p>Successfully positioning Australia for an “ideas boom” may require a policy approach that addresses the unique constraints of Australia’s economic geography. In absence of such a tailored policy approach, innovation may be more expensive and difficult to achieve in Australia, discouraging R&amp;D investment and limiting the potential for an “ideas boom”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em><span class="fn author-name" style="line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">Alan Duncan</span> is d</span><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">irector, Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre and Bankwest Research Chair in Economic Policy, Curtin University and can be contacted <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/alan-duncan-100759" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="fn author-name" style="line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">Rebecca Cassells</span> is a</span><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">ssociate professor, Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre, Curtin University and can be </span>contacted<span style="line-height: 1.3em;"> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rebecca-cassells-127690" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="fn author-name" style="line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">Steven Bond-Smith</span> is r</span><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">esearch fellow, Bankwest-Curtin Economics Centre, Curtin University and can be contacted <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/steven-bond-smith-243423" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">All are authors for The Conversation</span></em></p>
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Location, location, location: what’s holding back an Australian ideas boom

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<p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/66209/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1"></p>
<p>GUEST OBSERVER</p>
<p>So much of the national conversation about superannuation simply assumes that “savings for retirement” is synonymous with “superannuation savings”. This is a big mistake. </p>
<p>This mistake partly explains why we got into such a mess with excessively generous tax breaks for super. It also underlies misguided plans to increase superannuation contributions to 12 percent of earnings. </p>
<h2>Super doesn’t equal retirement savings</h2>
<p>Any sensible conversation about superannuation policy must start by recognising how households save for retirement, and why.</p>
<p>It’s become conventional wisdom that people will retire on their superannuation savings, perhaps topped up by the Age Pension. Even ASIC’s retirement savings calculator – which enables people to estimate their future retirement income – presumes that superannuation and the Age Pension alone will fund retirement. The assumption that superannuation accounts for the bulk of households’ retirement savings has underpinned claims that most Australians aren’t saving enough for their retirement. </p>
<p>Yet the stark reality is that superannuation savings account for only a small portion – about 15% – of the wealth of most households. Even without counting the family home, the average Australian saves as much outside as inside the super system. For older households close to retirement, assets other than super are often even larger than the value of their homes.</p>
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<p>Super’s modest contribution to retirement savings is true for households of most levels of wealth and income, as confirmed by new analysis for the Grattan Institute of both ABS data and the Melbourne Institute’s HILDA survey. </p>
<p>It is true that many of those with little wealth report a larger share of savings in superannuation than in other assets, but only because their total savings are small. For such low-wealth households, the Age Pension will always be their main source of retirement income.</p>
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<h2>Even younger households save a lot outside of super</h2>
<p>When confronted with facts about the modest contribution of super to retirement savings, super’s cheerleaders point out that the system is immature. Compulsory super only began in 1992, with compulsory contributions of 3% of wages, rising to 9% by 2002 and 9.5% since 2014-15. It will be another two decades before typical retirees will have contributed at least 9% of their wages to super for their entire working lives. So surely super will account for a larger share of household savings in future? </p>
<p>While we might expect younger households to save more in super, and less outside, that’s simply not true. Their assets outside are typically as large as their assets inside superannuation, even without counting home ownership. This is so even for households in the 25-34 and 35-44 age groups who have had high levels of compulsory super for most of their working lives. </p>
<h2>Non-super savings will remain large</h2>
<p>The enduring importance of non-super savings should come as no surprise. While compulsory superannuation forces people to save more via superannuation, there’s little evidence that non-super savings have fallen very much in response. </p>
<p>A recent Reserve Bank of Australia study found that each extra dollar of compulsory superannuation savings was accompanied by an offsetting fall in non-super savings of only between 10 and 30 cents. As a result, compulsory super has added a lot to private savings in Australia – an estimated 1.5% of GDP a year over the past two decades. </p>
<p>There is little reason to expect this pattern of non-super saving to change radically. Households hold a material portion of their wealth outside of super so that they have an option to use it before turning 60, and because they are nervous that government may change the superannuation rules before they retire.</p>
<p>Other asset classes, such as negatively geared property, are taxed lightly and so will likely remain an attractive vehicle for accumulating wealth. Whatever the motivation, most households heading towards retirement have substantial non-super, non-home assets to draw on.</p>
<p>Super as a proportion of total assets is somewhat higher for 55-64-year-olds when compared to younger households. This is partly because households aged over 55 contribute more voluntarily. They transfer assets they have already accumulated into super to attract a lower tax rate, knowing that if necessary they can withdraw immediately, or within a year or two. While this asset shuffling reduces their tax bills, it adds little to genuine retirement savings. </p>
<h2>One implication: super tax breaks should be more limited</h2>
<p>Acknowledging super’s more modest contribution to retirement savings has big implications for retirement incomes policy. </p>
<p>Since most Australians will rely upon a range of assets and income sources to support their retirement, we shouldn’t expect superannuation alone to provide an “adequate” or even a “comfortable” retirement, as the super industry demands. </p>
<p>A number of prominent studies claim we face a retirement savings crisis, but they ignore non-super savings. This leads them to advocate ever-more-generous tax breaks so that super alone is enough to provide an adequate retirement income, even though the reality of retirement incomes will be different for most households. </p>
<p>The government plans to legislate that the purpose of superannuation is to provide income to supplement or substitute the Age Pension. This implies that super tax breaks should cut out at the point that people no longer qualify for even a part Age Pension (a pre-tax income of A$75,000 for a couple). If the earnings on non-super savings are ignored, then this leads to super tax breaks for a lot of people unlikely to qualify for an Age Pension. </p>
<p>The next round of reforms to super tax breaks will need to do better on this score. </p>
<h2>Another implication: no need to increase the Super Guarantee to 12 percent</h2>
<p>Ignoring non-super savings may also lead policymakers to force people to save too much through superannuation. A common aim of retirement income policy is to support lifetime consumption smoothing: maintaining a more consistent standard of living across people’s lives. Compulsory saving via the Superannuation Guarantee forces people to save while they are working so they have more to spend in retirement. </p>
<p>But there is no magic pudding when it comes to superannuation. Higher compulsory super contributions are ultimately funded by lower wages, which means lower living standards for workers today. </p>
<p>In fact current levels of compulsory super contributions and Age Pension are likely to provide a reasonable retirement for most Australians. </p>
<p>If we project forward the retirement income for a median income earner working for 40 years, and account for just compulsory super contributions – in other words, we ignore any voluntary superannuation contributions and savings outside of super – we find that today’s 9.5% Superannuation Guarantee and the Age Pension would provide the average worker with a retirement income equal to 79% of their pre-retirement wage (also known as a replacement rate). </p>
<p>About two-thirds of income earners can expect a retirement income of at least 70% of their pre-retirement income – the replacement rate for the median earner used by the Mercer Global Pension Index and endorsed by the OECD. </p>
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<p>Once non-super savings are taken into account, many workers are likely to have a higher standard of living when they retire in 40 years’ time than during their working life. This is before we consider that people have much lower spending needs in retirement, particularly in the later stages of life when government covers much of their largest costs of health and age care. </p>
<p>This modelling of the future shouldn’t be a surprise. It matches what is already happening today. The non-housing expenditure of retirement-age households today, many of whom did not retire with any super, is typically more than 70% of that of working-age households today. </p>
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<p>Current levels of retirement spending appear to be sustainable. Most households in retirement only draw down very slowly on their superannuation and their broader savings. Consequently, most are likely to leave material bequests. </p>
<p>The policy implication is that there is no compelling case to compel households to save 12% of their income through the Super Guarantee as currently legislated. This would effectively compel most people to save for a higher living standard in retirement than they enjoy during their working lives. </p>
<p>In practice, given typical retiree spending patterns, a 12% Super Guarantee will primarily result in larger bequests. It would be better to leave the Super Guarantee where it is – at 9.5% of wages. This is consistent with the 2009 Henry Tax Review, which found that the Super Guarantee of 9% then in force would be enough to give most Australians “a substantial replacement of their income, well above that provided by the Age Pension”. </p>
<h2>Ignore the vested interests</h2>
<p>Powerful vested interests are pushing the idea that super equals retirement savings. Yet such a view is inconsistent with the facts. Super’s importance to retirement savings has been overblown for far too long. </p>
<p>As the debate heats up over policy for Australia’s A$2 trillion super sector, recognising what households actually save, and why, would be a big step in the right direction.</p>
<p><em>John Daley is chief executive officer, Grattan Institute and can be contacted <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/john-daley-1870" target="_blank">here.</a></em></p>
<p><em>Brendan Coates is a friend of The Conversation and can be contacted <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/brendan-coates-154644" target="_blank">here</a>.</em></p>
<p><em><span class="fn author-name">Hugh Parsonage is a</span>ssociate, Grattan Institute and can be contacted <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/hugh-parsonage-210671" target="_blank">here</a>. </em></p>
<p><em>All are authors for The Conversation.</em></p>
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The superannuation myth: why it’s a mistake to increase contributions to 12 percent of earnings

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<p>GUEST OBSERVER </p>
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<div class="column">The end of the mining investment downturn, which remains the dominant dynamic shaping Australia’s investment project pipeline, is in sight.</div>
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<br>The 5 remaining mega gas projects under construction, with a combined value of $172bn, are due to be completed by end 2017.</div>
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<br>This will see the value of definite mining projects (those under construction or committed) fall sharply, down from $201bn currently.</div>
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<br>The other key dynamic, albeit less powerful, is the upswing in public transport projects.</div>
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<br>Definite public transport projects are now valued at $100bn. This represents a sharp increase on a year ago, up $45.4bn, including a $5.3bn rise in June <br>State by state, there is a stark divide. The mining investment downturn is being felt in Qld, WA and the NT.</div>
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<div class="column">While it is the state governments in NSW and Victoria, which are benefitting most from the housing boom, that are leading the way on public investment. </div>
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<div class="column">Australia’s investment project pipeline was $812.8bn in September 2016, as reported by Deloitte Access Economics in their Investment Monitor. The database includes 1,102 investment projects valued at $20mn or more.</div>
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<br>This is $9.7bn lower than three months ago. Projects completions were worth $6.8bn in the quarter, while project deletions were $18.1bn, including the cancelling of the ‘possible’ $12bn Port Hastings development in Victoria.</div>
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<br>44 new projects were added to the database, with a value of $6.3bn.</div>
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<img src="/images/2016/11/04/Screen%20Shot%202016-11-04%20at%208.45.58%20AM.png" alt=""><br><p>Cost revisions added $8.9bn, including WestConnex, which increased to $16.8bn from $11.5bn following an updated strategic business case.</p>
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<div class="column">The value of definite projects (under construction or committed) increased to $434.7bn in September, +$3.6bn on June and $28.2bn above a year ago.<br>Note, the Wheatstone LNG project, valued at $29bn in the database, has reportedly experienced a cost blowout of $6.6bn.<br><br>Note: the database includes the full value of a project until it is completed or deleted. This differs from the ABS notion of the ‘work pipeline’, which is the value of work yet to be done on projects currently under construction. </div>
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<br>Non mining: Publis transport leads the way</div>
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<br>The transport &amp; storage sector has re-emerged as a driver of the investment pipeline as state governments, particularly in NSW and Victoria, commit to new public transport initiatives.</div>
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<br>Total non-mining projects are valued at $432.2bn. Of that, $233.8bn are at the definite stage, which is $4.6bn higher than in June and $43.5bn above the level of a year ago.</div>
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<br>Definite public transport projects are now valued at $100bn. This represents a sharp increase on a year ago, up $45.4bn, including a $5.3bn rise in June.</div>
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<br>NSW leads the way in public transport projects, with $37bn worth under construction and a further $18.5bn at the committed stage.</div>
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<br>Victoria has $22.1bn in definite public transport projects, although $13.3bn of these are at the committed stage (the $11bn Metro project starts in 2018).<br>For services (retail, finance &amp; business services, accommodation, community services) the definite project pipeline is $64bn, up from a 2010 low of $39bn but flat over the past two years. Projects at the planning stage total $46bn, including a number in the tourism sector, which is a potential bright spot. </div>
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<img src="/images/2016/11/04/Screen%20Shot%202016-11-04%20at%208.51.08%20AM.png" alt=""><br><br>Investment pipeline: State by state<br><br>The investment project pipeline on a state by state basis is heavily influenced by the mining investment downturn (WA, Qld &amp; NT) and by the public transport upswing (NSW &amp; Vic).</div>
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<br>In the mining state of WA, definite projects total $124bn, a figure that will fall sharply as $102bn in gas projects are completed by the end of 2017.</div>
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<br>In Qld, definite projects are at $70bn, including the $25bn Origin LNG project, due to be completed by late 2016. Key will be whether tourism projects, still at the planning stage, eventually proceed.</div>
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<br>In NSW, the pipeline of definite projects has climbed to $81bn, up from $56bn a year ago, with the prospect of additional transport projects to progress from the planning stage.</div>
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<br>In Victoria, projects under construction is relatively stable at $27bn, although the projects at the committed stage now stands at $15bn.</div>
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<img src="/images/2016/11/04/Screen%20Shot%202016-11-04%20at%208.54.07%20AM.png" alt=""><br><p>In South Australia, the value of definite projects has risen to $13bn, up from $8bn a year ago, boosted by public works. </p>
<div class="page" title="Page 17"><em>Andrew Hanlan is senior economist for Westpac and can be contacted <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://au.linkedin.com/pub/andrew-hanlan/3/222/430" target="_blank">here</a>. </em></div>
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End of the mining investment downturn in sight: Westpac's Andrew Hanlan

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<p class="Normal"><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">GUEST OBSERVER</span></p>
<p class="Normal"><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">Property investment is a thicket of anxiety-inducing moments, according to our recent research. There is hardly a stage in the process that doesn’t make some investors break out in a nervous sweat.</span></p>
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<p class="Normal"><span class="Normal__Char">The most worrisome aspect of investment is choosing the right property. Which shouldn’t be a surprise given the sheer choice and variety of property types investors have to choose from. Moreover, even a novice investor knows that investment performance varies between properties and that the cost of getting it wrong is high.</span></p>
<p class="Normal"><span class="Normal__Char">The next most troublesome part of campaign is around finding a property manager and good tenants.  It’s not a misplaced fear and I’m glad to see prospective investors are thinking about it. With the excitement attached to the buying process, it is vital that attention is paid to this less glamourous aspect if money isn’t to be lost on high tenant turnover and vacancy.</span></p>
<p class="Normal"><span class="Normal__Char">The bronze medal for principal fear is shared between two elements: securing lending and negotiations. I suspect the fear of securing lending relates as much to the choice and complexity of lending options as it does to receiving a yes or no from the bank manager – although with increased talk of tightening lending standards I may be wrong.</span></p>
<p class="Normal"><span class="Normal__Char">The negotiation is the main fear for 17% of investors. I’m pretty confident that number skyrockets when it comes to making an offer!</span></p>
<p class="Normal"><span class="Normal__Char">Bringing up the fear field is settlement at 4% – a low number which may indicate a degree of complacency about a necessary part of the process that can cause huge headaches if it goes wrong. By the way, no one seems to worry about managing a portfolio. Perhaps that’s seen as looking too far into the future.</span></p>
<p class="Normal"><span class="Normal__Char">I’ve no doubt that many a hopeful investor has walked away from property over the years because these multitude of fears have been too much. Of course, like many fears they can be overcome. The key is to <a name="_GoBack" href=""></a>break the problem down into manageable parts and to do the proper research and preparation for each element.</span></p>
<p class="Normal"><span class="Normal__Char">Paul Nugent is a director of Wakelin Property Advisory. At 12.30pm, Wednesday 17 June he’ll be presenting a webinar, <span class="Normal__Char">The six steps to safe residential property investment</span>.<a href="https://wakelin.com.au/webinar" target="_blank"> Click here</a></span><span class="Normal__Char"><a href="https://wakelin.com.au/webinar" target="_blank"> to register</a>.</span></p>
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Different anxieties holding back property investors: Paul Nugent

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<p><span>GUEST OBSERVER</span></p>
<p><span>Sydney’s white hot property market has defied expert predictions, with median house prices edging close to $1 million as growth and competition accelerates*.  Sydney’s market imbalance – the divide between investors and owner-occupiers – is spurring a social divide between the have not’s and the have more’s.</span></p>
<p><span>We have a situation where owner-occupiers are being phased-out as house prices hike. Investors are saturating the market and expanding their property portfolios while first home buyers are struggling to get a foot in the door. </span></p>
<p><span>Of those first time buyers that do successfully buy, many can’t afford to move into their property and are stuck living in a rental. This is concerning, in so far that lending conditions have played a role in this dilemma.</span></p>
<p><span>There is also growing separation within the investment community. We have one group of investors that are more mature and astute, while others appear less sophisticated, taking on too much debt and lacking a long term investment strategy. This latter group are more likely to negatively gear their property; but if the market takes a turn and interest rates increase, these investors could face loan repayment difficulties if they’ve given themselves only a small financial buffer.</span></p>
<p><span>In December 2014, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) outlined guidelines to lending institutions on steps to reinforce mortgage lending practices**. One of these included requiring investors to pay higher deposits. I welcome this guideline. It is arguably too easy for investors, especially less sophisticated investors, to be approved low rate loans. While I actively encourage property investment, the current ratio is out of kilter, and this will inevitably lead to negative ramifications should nothing change. Not only are some investors at risk of being overconfident, they are snapping up properties that are ideal for first home buyers.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">Greater lending prudence is urgently needed. We need incentives that assist Sydney’s first home buyers in entering the market so that they can physically live in their new dwelling, such as fixed, low rate, new home owner mortgages. Tighter regulations for investors are also necessary. I believe investors should pay up to 20% investment deposits. These two measures would at least be a step forward in helping redress the balance.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">The influx of foreign investors also doesn’t appear to show signs of slowing down. The Government should seriously consider putting a cap on the number of properties that a foreign buyer can purchase within a new development. Right now, foreign buyers are snapping up development properties in droves, and before the first slab of concrete hits the ground. Australians are also becoming increasingly adaptive to buying off-the-plan, but right now, it’s a case of slim pickings. We need to ensure that there is a residual amount of stock available for local buyers.</span></p>
<p><span>The time to act is now. Sydney’s housing market is robust, but when you peel back the layers, there are several issues warranting address, and the market imbalance is a pressing issue. If left untended, the consequences could be significant.</span></p>
<p><span><em><span>DOUGLAS DRISCOLL</span> is CEO of real estate agency <a href="https://www.starrpartners.com.au/" target="_blank">Starr Partners</a>.</em></span></p>
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<p><span>*Latest monthly indices by CoreLogic shows the median value of Sydney house prices is $949,800, as at 31 May, 2015. See: <a href="https://www.corelogic.com.au/research/monthly-indices" target="_blank"><span>https://www.corelogic.com.au/research/monthly-indices.html</span></a></span></p>
<p><span>**Please click here to read a media release on APRA’s guidelines on residential mortgage lending practices: <span><a href="https://www.apra.gov.au/mediareleases/pages/14_30.aspx" target="_blank">https://www.apra.gov.au/mediareleases/pages/14_30.aspx</a></span></span></p>
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