Oh, no! Property prices have gone down for the first time in three years.  We’re all doomed.

Wait a minute! Doesn’t that mean houses and especially apartments have become more affordable?  Hurrah!

Congratulations if you are about to buy and commiserations if you are about to sell.  Give each other a hug when you exchange.

One of the underlying trends, apparently, is that people who have been waiting for prices to drop so they can afford them are now worried that they’ll keep dropping and they’ll end up with the dreaded negative equity – owing more on their 95 per cent mortgage than their home is worth.

Mark this date – it’s the day FOMO (fear of missing out) was overtaken by FOGS (fear of getting screwed).

This week a very rich person Warren Buffet said the way people are operating in the stock market is gambling, not investment.

Maybe that’s the real problem with property in Australia. Our love of gambling has leached into our need to own our homes, and we are prepared to risk the most money we will ever owe on the hope that prices will keep going up.

Meanwhile fear of crime is driving well-heeled buyers into high-security penthouses and technophobia has led to warnings that data centres will drive housing off the priority list for land and building resources.

These are just some of the many property panics in this week’s feed from Leftfield Communications.

Free Reads

Domain

‘FOMO is gone’: Australia’s housing market remains in slowdown
Urgency has left the Australian auction market, replaced by caution and a buyer conviction that tomorrow’s price will be lower than today’s, with the national preliminary clearance rate falling back to 50 per cent after last week’s 54.8 per cent revised down to 48.5 per cent.

Realestate.com.au

Fear of overpaying grips Sydney’s weak auction market
Sydney’s auction clearance rate hit 40.4 per cent last weekend, with buyer psychology now defined by the fear of overpaying in a market where prices may still have further to fall.

One in four Australians are skipping vital home repairs amid cost pressures
A quarter of Australian homeowners are avoiding or delaying maintenance due to cost of living pressure, with some repairs reaching the point of becoming safety risks.

Rentvesting: The golden era is over, but it’s not dead yet
The tax perks that made rentvesting so attractive have been wound back, but the strategy still works for buyers who adjust their approach to the changed environment.

Buyers of record $24m North Bondi duplex delay reno plans
Actor Natassia Halabi and entrepreneur Tolga Kumova, buyers of the $24 million North Bondi duplex that set a suburb record in March, have delayed renovation plans as they settle into the property.

Melbourne crime fears fuel penthouse boom
Wealthy Melbourne buyers are choosing high-security penthouse complexes with biometric entry and 24-hour staffing in response to concerns about urban crime, with sky homes priced up to $20 million finding motivated buyers even as the broader Melbourne market softens.

Data centres fuelling housing crisis as they win race for land, power and water
The Housing Industry Association has warned that data centres have received preferential planning treatment over housing, as Prime Minister Albanese announces an Office of AI and insists the two can coexist.

Saved $150k deposit, then a $16k hidden fee nearly killed new home
A Brisbane couple who saved $150,000 for their first home came within a $16,000 hidden cost of abandoning the purchase.

Urban Developer – Partly Free

Metrics Scraps Box Hill Hotel Scheme for 28-Storey Apartment Tower
Metrics Credit Partners has lodged plans to replace a collapsed developer’s 15-storey hotel scheme at 702-706 Station Street, Box Hill with a 28-storey apartment tower, continuing a pattern of the non-bank lender stepping in and increasing density on sites it has taken over.

HG Developments Plots Next Tower as Newstead Density Push Accelerates
HG Developments has filed plans for an 18-storey, 64-apartment tower in Brisbane’s Newstead North precinct, adding to a corridor that is absorbing significant residential density ahead of the 2032 Games.

Developcorp Targets Lindfield Heritage Area for Apartments
Developcorp has lodged plans to demolish three Federation and inter-war homes in a protected Lindfield streetscape to build an eight-storey, 42-apartment building under planning controls introduced eight months ago.

Art, Community Fee Hikes Stymie Units in Perth’s Leafy Mosman Park
A restaurateur-turned-developer has sought a two-year extension to his Mosman Park apartment approval after the council tripled its public art and community contribution demands, making the $20 million project’s financial case difficult to close.

Stockland Files Plan to Double Yield of Brunswick Apartment Tower
Stockland has filed plans to double the apartment yield of its former timber yard site at 429-435 Albert Street in Brunswick, acquired for $15 million in 2020 and now being significantly upscaled from its original approved scheme.

Dreamworld ‘Mini-City’ Masterplan Waved Ahead for Gold Coast
Queensland’s Deputy Premier has signed off on the 55.3-hectare Dreamworld Masterplan after calling it in from the City of Gold Coast last October, combining tourism expansion with new housing and accommodation on the northern Gold Coast.

Timber BtR Scheme in Abbotsford Factory Greenlit as MODEL’s Debut
Build-to-rent developer MODEL has received Victorian government approval for its $120 million, 158-home debut project at Abbotsford using timber construction

Apartments.com.au

Why this Castle Hill apartment building starts with a $7 million advantage
An owners corporation at 9 Gay Street, Castle Hill, starts its life with approximately $7 million in reserve from a remediation bond negotiated following defect findings during construction

Pay-walled

The Australian Financial Review

Massive Dreamworld ‘homes and hotels’ masterplan gets green light
Queensland has used special powers to approve a 55-hectare masterplan surrounding Dreamworld that will deliver resorts, residential apartments and restaurants, with Coast Entertainment Group’s chairman describing it as a watershed moment for the company more than a decade after the 2016 tragedy.

The Australian

Audit reveals ‘insufficient transparency,’ shortfalls in Labor’s failing flagship housing scheme
The ANAO has found that the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund has delivered just 1,432 of its 40,000 home target with three years remaining, while Treasury has failed to take full responsibility for the scheme and transparency has been insufficient.

Melbourne developer secures $400m in sales for revived $1bn Gold Coast tower
Central Equity has sold more than $400 million worth of units in its relaunched $1 billion Gold Coast tower since earlier this year, having abandoned the project four years ago amid construction cost pressures before returning with fewer but larger apartments and a doubled gross end value.

Soaring rents crush first-home buyer hopes as home prices fall
Australia’s housing market is simultaneously falling in price and rising in rent, with rents climbing at twice the rate of inflation while home values decline, placing first-home buyers in a position where neither renting nor buying is becoming easier.

The Sydney Morning Herald

Investors could be $600k worse off when buying new builds
Modelling by Get Rare Properties finds that an investor buying an established $700,000 property will be $592,000 better off over 20 years than one buying a comparable new build, even accounting for all the tax advantages the budget extended to new builds.

How a Sydney developer bypassed council to gain approval for 250 homes
Landmark Group’s Arash Tavakoli used the NSW Housing Delivery Authority pathway to secure approval for a 25-storey tower in Edgecliff after Woollahra Council rejected the proposal and community opposition ran strong.

Car yards, churches and bowling greens: The sites earmarked for Sydney’s next housing towers
An analysis of NSW Housing Delivery Authority projects finds almost no well-located parcel of land is now off-limits for redevelopment, with churches, shopping centres, golf courses, hospitals and even universities being targeted for apartment developments reaching up to 78 storeys.

Edwardian-era harbourside apartment passes in at $2.2 million
A three-bedroom heritage apartment in Elizabeth Bay passed in on a vendor bid with no genuine bidders registering, in a result that reflects the ongoing winter chill across Sydney’s inner suburb auction market.

Fruit and veg supplier drops about $9.5m in 24 hours on Crown unit
The owners of Select Fresh Providores viewed and purchased a two-bedroom Crown Residences apartment with Opera House views within 24 hours of inspection, paying around $9.5 million.

The Age

Political heavyweights join campaign against 16-storey Hawthorn tower
A 16-storey proposal for 846-858 Glenferrie Road in Hawthorn, twice the height of what has already been approved and four storeys above state government activity centre limits, has drawn opposition from residents and prominent political figures in Melbourne’s inner east.

The Brisbane Times

High-rise tower planned on long-empty block in heart of Fortitude Valley
A 22-storey, 180-apartment building is proposed for a long-vacant Fortitude Valley site at 186 Wickham Street, filling a gap in one of Brisbane’s most active development corridors ahead of the 2032 Games.

The Daily Telegraph

Proposal for towering apartment blocks next to Moore Park golf course
The NSW government has declared state significant a proposal for five towers and 870 apartments above Moore Park Supa Centa, as the adjacent golf course loses eight holes to create open space.

Bondi Junction Master Plan: 3,000 additional homes set for Sydney’s east as major hub approved
Waverley Council has approved a Bondi Junction master plan delivering 3,000 additional homes in buildings reaching 100 metres, despite heritage and community concerns including the potential demolition of the Bondi Vet practice.

Super fund loan ban puts 18,000 homes in jeopardy, industry warns
The August ban on Limited Recourse Borrowing Arrangements for SMSF property investment could put 18,000 homes annually at risk of delay or cancellation, with 6,000 of those in NSW, according to the Urban Development Institute.

Green light for 51-storey tower bringing 300 apartments and hotel to North Sydney
Ageing North Sydney offices at 153-157 Walker Street are making way for a 51-storey tower with 296 apartments and a luxury hotel, approved by the state government over council objection.

The Gold Coast Bulletin

New seven-storey apartment tower planned for Gold Coast Highway at Mermaid Beach
Plans have been lodged for a seven-storey residential tower at Mermaid Beach that would replace a cafe, bike shop, gym and adult shop on the Gold Coast Highway.

The Adelaide Advertiser

Prospect Oval’s $60m revamp gets green light for 12-storey apartment buildings
The state government has approved 12-storey apartment towers as part of a $60 million Prospect Oval revamp despite sustained community opposition, adding significant residential density to one of Adelaide’s most contentious mixed-use sites.