Melbourne Buyers Advocates

21/06/2026

Apartment buyers who were sold on ambitious plans for the tallest building in the country say they're facing up to a decade of uncertainty after the head-turning project faltered.

18/06/2026

Warnings were raised in two draft stormwater flooding maps released on Thursday, as the city continues to update its flood modelling.

17/06/2026

Bond traders are betting the RBA is finished raising rates — and that its next move could be a cut.

The Reserve Bank held the cash rate at 4.35% on Tuesday, its first pause after three consecutive rises this year. Governor Michele Bullock called it a hawkish hold, warning the decision "does not rule out further tightening" if inflation proves stubborn.

Markets read it differently. The odds of another rise before year-end fell to 50% from 62% before the meeting, AFR reported, while traders now price a 20% chance of a cut late next year. Weaker jobs figures, softer inflation and a post-budget property downturn have shifted the mood.

"The market is increasing its confidence that the RBA is done raising rates," Barrenjoey chief rates strategist Andrew Lilley said this week.

Not everyone agrees: Westpac's Luci Ellis still forecasts an August rise, even as three of the four major-bank economists now expect a cut.

17/06/2026

Labor's negative gearing and CGT changes are pushing some residential property investors toward commercial assets — single-shop retail, medical clinics, and childcare centres.

Finance and real estate figures told the AFR that investors rattled by the federal budget changes are exploring these alternatives. Under the budget, negative gearing will be abolished for buyers of existing residential properties, and the 50% CGT discount is being replaced with a minimum 30% tax impost — both changes effective from July 2027.

Commercial property is not captured by those residential-specific measures, making single-tenancy commercial assets more attractive to investors who previously relied on negative gearing to offset losses on residential holdings.

Whether this rotation represents a durable reallocation of capital or a short-term reaction to policy uncertainty will depend on how the legislation is finally drafted — the budget announcement is not yet law.

Source: AFR.

17/06/2026

Seven years after cracking concrete forced a pre-Christmas evacuation, owners of Sydney's Opal Tower say their building is finally defect-free.

Builder Icon and its parent Kajima spent more than $50 million rectifying the 392-unit Sydney Olympic Park tower, which now carries a 20-year structural guarantee — a level of assurance rarely seen in Australian residential building.

Values have been slower to heal. An AFR analysis of nearly 80 resales since the 2018 evacuation shows a median 12% loss, about $95,250 per apartment, against the original price. Over the same period Cotality's Greater Sydney index rose 50.3%, with units up almost 22%.

One apartment did resell in April for a $5000 gain. Owners' committee chair Shady Eskander said on Tuesday the recovery had been slowed by investors pulling back after the federal budget disallowed negative gearing and the 50% capital gains discount on existing homes.

"Buildings are ultimately about confidence," he said.

13/06/2026

Dozens of caravan owners are in limbo after a coastal council approved plans to develop a site near a popular Victorian beach.

03/06/2026

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03/06/2026

The Victorian Government has approved a major residential development at the former Leo’s supermarket site at Kew Junction.

26/05/2026

A secret tennis court has been served up to the market, with neighbours teaming up for a shared shot at the prize.

19/05/2026

Australia is wasting more than $1 billion each year building off-street car parks that end up sitting unused and unwanted, a Grattan report has found.