We’ve had a few successes since Flat Chat came into being in its various iterations, but we were reminded of one big one by a story that came through today.

Back in 2017, Sue Williams was writing about a developer who was planning to use a sunset clause to rescind an off-the-plan sale so that they could put their apartments back on the market and take advantage of a property boom.

In the intervening years since the deal had first been signed, property prices had risen astronomically, so the developer stopped work on the block so they could say it hadn’t been completed. Then they planned to invoke the clause that said if the work wasn’t finish by a certain time the purchaser could be given their deposit back.

The idea was to charge the original purchaser a supplement or put the unit back on the market to take advantage of price rises.

For the purchaser, this was a double whammy. The returned deposit would have lost considerable spending power in a booming market so they were going to be considerably out of pocket either way.

We called the dodgy dealings Sunset Clawbacks. I told then NSW Fair Trading Minister Victor Dominello about it and he sprang into action, issuing a temporary halt on sunset clause actions before pushing through legislation that said if the purchaser didn’t want their deposit back, the developer had to prove in court that there had been genuine delays in the completion of the work.  You can read about the results of the original story HERE.

Nine years on, there’s been another property boom and those sunset clawbacks are back. You can find out what happened to Queensland purchasers who challenged a sunset clause claim, based on the fact that they’d put down their deposits during Covid, by scrolling down into the latest apartment news feed from Leftfield Communications.

Free Reads

Domain

A 1930s East Melbourne studio designed by a former lord mayor of Melbourne
A rare sub-$500,000 apartment on the edge of Melbourne’s CBD has drawn interest, a 1939 East Melbourne studio designed by a former lord mayor.

Major Sydney property developer Bathla Group falls into administration
Bathla Group has fallen into voluntary administration, leaving scores of off-the-plan homes uncertain.

Why a $155,000 Sydney parking spot is actually a bargain
A single Rushcutters Bay parking spot listed at $155,000 has raised eyebrows, but in a part of Sydney where space is at a premium it is being called a bargain, turning a concrete bay in an apartment block into a tradeable piece of real estate.

ABC Online

Rents increase to more than half median take-home pay across capitals
Renting a unit now costs more than half the median take-home pay of a single worker in every capital, Everybody’s Home finds.

Smaller blocks and taller buildings allowed in some Brisbane suburbs under planning changes
Brisbane City Council has passed planning amendments allowing smaller lots and taller buildings in some suburbs, aiming to unlock thousands of new dwellings and more housing choice.

Realestate.com.au

RBA says rate hikes ‘working’ ahead of key inflation data
The Reserve Bank says higher rates are working to cool the economy but households should not expect mortgage relief soon, with minutes showing a cut was not even discussed when the board held the cash rate at 4.35 per cent.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese accused of ‘gaslighting’ Australians on housing policy
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been accused by critics of gaslighting Australians over housing policy after posting a video crediting the negative gearing and capital gains changes with giving first-home buyers a chance and boosting supply.

Rental crisis deepens as new report reveals six-figure salaries are not enough
Everybody’s Home’s 2026 Priced Out report finds even a $130,000 income leaves renters in stress, above the ABS 30 per cent affordability threshold, with the median Australian rent at $614 a week.

Developer Graya wins approval for luxury St Lucia ‘Silk’ project on prime Brisbane riverfront
Local developer Graya has won approval for Silk, a 15-level luxury riverfront tower at 16-18 Sandford Street, St Lucia, in Brisbane’s inner west, with 16 split-floor and six full-floor apartments.

Local family snaps up $11.5m penthouse in new Gold Coast development
A Gold Coast family has paid $11.5 million for a yet-to-be-built penthouse in QNY’s $125 million Camilla tower at Broadbeach, before any public sales campaign, with construction due to start in October.

Buyer win: Developer’s off-the-plan contract move twist
In a major win for off-the-plan buyers, the Supreme Court of Queensland has ruled a high-rise developer cannot use a sunset clause to cancel contracts after failing to complete on time, protecting buyers who signed during the pandemic.

Grill’d founder Simon Crowe buys South Yarra warehouse apartment
Grill’d co-founder Simon Crowe has bought a striking South Yarra warehouse apartment, the latest in a growing list of homes the burger chain founder has acquired across Melbourne’s best neighbourhoods.

Luxury $15m Hutt St project with just eight exclusive apartments
A $15 million luxury project of eight apartments is planned for Adelaide’s Hutt Street, priced from $965,000 to $3.5 million with a ground-floor shopfront, with construction due to start later this year.

Horror spike: Rents, fuel, UberEats jumps derail RBA relief
ANZ forecasts headline inflation to jump 0.8 per cent for July, driven by an expected 8 per cent petrol rise plus seasonal increases in travel, clothing and takeaway, threatening hopes of early rate relief as the major banks cut savings rates.

The Australian suburbs delivering the highest apartment investment returns revealed
Apartments are delivering higher yields than houses in five times as many suburbs, according to the August 2026 Rise and Rise of Apartments report from Nuestar and Hotspotting, which counts 242 capital-city unit markets yielding 5 per cent or more against 47 house markets.

New analysis reveals a 10 per cent drop will wipe $1.3t from property values
Modelling by Primara Research estimates a 10.6 per cent national price fall, in line with recent ANZ forecasts, would strip about $1.3 trillion from Australia’s wealth over two years.

Melbourne units outperform houses in auction clearance rates
Melbourne units are outperforming houses at auction, holding a clearance-rate edge of up to 10 points in three of the past four weeks.

First homebuyer apartments from $595k planned for Kidman Park
SA developer Fairland’s $17.5 million Canopy Apartments at Kidman Park will bring 38 architecturally designed one and two-bedroom homes from $595,000, one of the larger infill projects in Adelaide’s western suburbs.

Junction’s $36m Tonsley social housing hub opens
Community provider Junction has opened its $36 million Thrive Tonsley hub, with 50 studio, one and two-bedroom social homes across eight levels plus a cafe and community spaces.

Real Commercial

Waverley block of flats that last traded for $28k sells for $4.1m
An Art Deco block of flats in Waverley that last traded for $28,000 six decades ago has sold for about $4.1 million after more than a year on the market, close to the vendors’ expectations.

Urban Developer – Partly Free

Approval Completes Brisbane Waterfront Tower Hat-Trick for Graya
Graya’s 15-storey Silk apartment tower has been approved for a Brisbane River site at 16-18 Sandford Street, St Lucia, its third waterfront scheme to advance in 18 months.

Arada Reveals Bold Design for $2bn Broadbeach Dual-Skyscraper Debut
UAE developer Arada has revealed the design for One Broadbeach, its $2 billion dual-tower debut in Queensland, in a change application filed with the City of Gold Coast.

Looming Tax Shake-Up Drives Yield-Hunting Money Migration
Investors are shifting from residential to commercial property, an Urban Developer piece reports, as capital gains tax changes, higher rates and rising construction costs weigh on housing, driving a hunt for yield.

Greenlit Waterloo, Annandale BtR Towers to Add 1125 Homes
Coronation has won approval for an 826-home build-to-rent precinct of nine towers on a 2.15ha Waterloo site in Sydney’s inner south, part of greenlit Waterloo and Annandale projects set to add 1125 homes.

Decade On, Stasia Files Fresh Apartment Scheme for Surry Hills
Stasia has filed fresh plans for an eight-storey residential block at 117-119 Flinders Street, Surry Hills, a site it has been planning since 2015, having won approval for a six-storey office there in 2021.

Clayton Site Pitched for 218-Home Rail Loop Apartment Scheme
Norus Developments has filed plans for a 218-home, 12-storey apartment project near the future Suburban Rail Loop interchange at Clayton, on a 3716sq m corner site last sold in October for $6.18 million.

Sasco Shows Plans for Tower Next to Ryde’s $110m ‘Hole in the Ground’
Sasco Development’s Sassine family has put on show a $61 million, 10-storey, 114-home scheme beside the City of Ryde’s stalled $110 million civic centre demolition site.

Scaled Back Plans Cut Broadbeach Tower Scheme by Nine Storeys
Approved plans for a Broadbeach tower at 33-37 Armrick Avenue have been cut by nine storeys as developers juggle feasibility in South-East Queensland.

Apartments.com.au

Dalcott targets owner-occupiers with South Brisbane debut Marrone
New Brisbane developer Dalcott has unveiled Marrone, the first of three planned South Brisbane projects, with 97 mostly two and three-bedroom apartments aimed at owner-occupiers.

First look: New apartment tower pitched for Strathfield Town Centre precinct
Parnell Developments has sought approval through the NSW Housing Delivery Authority for a 32-storey, 160-apartment mixed-use tower near Strathfield Station, with 15 per cent affordable housing as required for extra height.

First look: EG plans 130 apartments on former Roche pharmaceutical campus in Cromer
EG plans to turn part of the former Roche pharmaceutical campus at Cromer into a 130-home community of low-rise apartments, townhouses and duplexes on the Northern Beaches, on a 3.2ha site it bought for $55 million in 2017.

SP Setia plans three-tower finale for Carlton’s former CUB precinct
SP Setia has lodged plans for a $750 million, three-tower mixed-use precinct to complete the redevelopment of Carlton’s former Carlton United Breweries site, on the last undeveloped parcels of the 2007 masterplan.

Lowe Living unveils Middle Park apartment development
Lowe Living has filed plans for a boutique eight-residence development at 123-125 Erskine Street in Melbourne’s tightly held Middle Park, adding to its bayside pipeline.

First look: Norus plans landscape-led apartment project for Clayton’s emerging Green Street
Norus Developments has lodged plans for 218 apartments in a 12-storey building at 1359-1365 Centre Road, Clayton, adding to the suburb’s emerging Green Street corridor.

First look: First Quadrant plans park-fronting Neutral Bay apartments
First Quadrant Properties has lodged plans for a 28-apartment, eight-storey building beside Forsyth Park at 3-5 Yeo Street, Neutral Bay, weeks after unveiling a 63-apartment Mosman proposal.

Pay-walled

The Australian Financial Review

Property renovations face higher tax under CGT changes
Investment property renovations and business goodwill could face higher tax under the government’s capital gains changes if investors use a simple Treasury valuation formula, a discrepancy arising as existing investments move to the new regime from July 2027.

Bathla collapse may be Australian private credit’s cockroach moment
In a Chanticleer column, the Financial Review says private credit lenders should have seen the collapse of the Sydney home builder coming, and asks who among them is now exposed.

High asset prices, not low interest rates, are driving inflation
An opinion piece argues high asset prices, not low rates, are driving inflation, noting that outside shelter, US core inflation has held near 2 per cent for three years while the stickiest components tie to wealth-linked services, with household net worth near record highs even as employee pay falls to its lowest share of GDP since 1947.

Several RBA board members eye another rate rise
Several Reserve Bank board members think another rate rise may be needed to tame inflation, minutes of the August meeting show, flagging the risk that upside inflation forecasts could crystallise.

Westfield owner Scentre eyes 25,000 apartments at its malls
Scentre, owner of Westfield malls and the country’s biggest shopping centre owner, is ramping up plans to build housing across its suburban land, lifting its pipeline to more than 25,000 apartments.

Taxpayers tip $120m into Australian-first modular apartment builder
Wesfarmers and the federal government will together invest $220 million in an Australian-first facility making modular components for apartment buildings, through the National Reconstruction Fund.

‘Buyer’s market big time’ this spring as Sydney auction draws crowd
National preliminary clearance eased to 53.2 per cent, back from last week’s three-month high of 56.5 per cent, firming expectations of a buyer’s market this spring after record-low results and price falls in Sydney and Melbourne, Cotality figures show.

Realtors brace for bleak spring selling as buyers go ‘on strike’
Agents are bracing for the toughest spring in years, warning buyers have gone on strike ahead of the traditional selling season amid tax concession changes and higher rates.

WFH like a boss in this $22m Melbourne penthouse
A hotel-branded penthouse in Riverlee’s Seafarers project in Melbourne’s Docklands has been listed at $22 million, pairing a level 18 residence with a separate executive office a floor below.

The Australian

Albanese government faces fierce backlash over plan to sell historic defence land
The federal government’s plan to sell historic defence land is drawing organised opposition, with a community campaign and a NSW parliamentary bill aimed at protecting sites from development.

‘Vested interests’: Chris Bowen dismisses dire rent warnings
Energy Minister Chris Bowen has dismissed warnings that the budget’s housing tax changes would drive rents sharply higher, describing the analyses as coming from vested interests and defending Treasury’s $2-a-week estimate.

The Sydney Morning Herald

‘Situational selling’: The home owners who are selling in a downturn
Motivated sellers are driving most listings in the downturn, downsizers, deceased estates and family changes such as divorce, while owners without a pressing reason hold off as watchers tip prices have further to fall, the Herald reports.

‘Sydney needs more housing’: The church adding an eight-storey unit block
In an unusual arrangement, the Anglican church has partnered with a private developer to build homes for sale in exchange for renovating a local church and adding community spaces, with dozens of parishes interested.

The state wants 800 new homes in this Sydney suburb. The council is arguing for more
A council in Premier Chris Minns’ own southern Sydney backyard has accused the state of under-delivering on housing, arguing its alternative plan for Beverly Hills would build more homes, jobs and infrastructure than the government’s.

Rents spike up to 80 per cent as people are pushed from houses to units
Rents in parts of the capitals have risen as much as 80 per cent since the end of the COVID-era freeze, though some pockets are cheaper than five years ago, Cotality figures show.

The Herald Sun

Richmond, Cremorne towers approved as residents lose right to object
More than 850 apartments will be built in Richmond and Cremorne after Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny fast-tracked towers of up to 18 storeys, bypassing council and removing residents’ right to object.

The Gold Coast Bulletin

Sneaky sunset clause torched: Chevron One buyers win against construction giant Bensons Property Group
Off-the-plan buyers have won a landmark case against developer Bensons Property Group, which used sunset clauses to terminate contracts on its $485 million Chevron One Gold Coast tower.

Property Council warns 100 Gold Coast projects threatened by tower height ruling
The Property Council warns a landmark court ruling on tower heights has thrown more than $4 billion in Gold Coast construction and 4341 new homes into doubt, urging councillors to act.

Arada Group unveils plans for $2bn twin-tower development at Broadbeach
International developer Arada has unveiled a $2 billion twin-tower Broadbeach development with almost 1000 residences plus luxury amenities, retail and hospitality.

Southport Golf Club considers two 15-storey towers to secure its future
The 102-year-old Southport Golf Club is weighing two 15-storey towers on its grounds to cover a $13 million capital works bill it says it cannot otherwise afford.

The West Australian

Has strict legislation improved conditions for Victorian tenants?
A sponsored piece examines WA’s tenancy law review, with proposed bans on no-grounds terminations and new minimum standards modelled on Victoria’s reforms, the most pro-tenant regime in the country after more than 150 changes in a decade.

The Newcastle Herald

Townhouse or unit block? Council backs developer as neighbours cry foul
Councillors will decide a contested eight-unit development at Soldiers Point on Tuesday, with staff recommending approval despite neighbours arguing it should be classed as a residential flat building and refused.

The St George & Sutherland Shire Leader

Georges River looks at register to track developer and lobbyist talks
Georges River Council will consider a public lobbyist register recording meetings with developers and third parties seeking to influence council decisions and planning matters.

Draft Kogarah master plans outlines vision for 4700 new homes
The draft Kogarah Strategic Centre Master Plan, now on exhibition, envisions 4700 new homes with building heights up to 58 metres and, at some sites, 86 metres.

The Illawarra Mercury

Unfinished Kembla Grange block in limbo as major developer goes into administration
Bathla Group’s collapse into administration has left an unfinished 108-apartment complex on Darkes Road, Kembla Grange, in limbo, with the Illawarra among the affected regions.