Morning Briefing: China crash to benefit Australian real estate?

Australia real estate market ‘uncertain’ amid Chinese stock crash… Rents at record highs in Australia’s largest cities… Sydney man convicted of $7 million home loan fraud...

China's stock market effect spills into Australian real estate
The turmoil on the Chinese sharemarket raises concerns, challenges and opportunities, for Australian real estate, according to an article from the Australian Financial Review.

At last count, China was the single-largest source of offshore real estate investment in the country, with $12.4 billion of Foreign Investment Review Board approvals in 2014-15. In the context of a $250 billion-plus annual real estate turnover, the figure does not seem much.

But by all accounts, it has kept rising in the past year, is very focused on particular geographies and sectors such as development sites and apartments in Sydney and Melbourne, and foreshadows further spending to come, according to the article.

The turmoil raises questions about the Chinese developers who have made major investments in Australian sites; about the Chinese retail investors who appear so keen to buy new apartments off the plan; about the nascent institutional buying of commercial property; and, through the broader economy, about the impact for property as a whole.

"I ask my staff the same questions," says Australia's billionaire apartment developer, Meriton's Harry Triguboff. "At this stage, we don't feel anything has changed. With the dollar coming down, they want our apartments even more."

Rents at record highs in Australia’s largest cities
Sydney house rental prices have surged to a record high, while in Melbourne they remain at highest-ever levels, according to an article from the Daily Telegraph.

The average weekly house rents in Sydney hit a fresh record of $530 and unit rents lifted to $500 in the June quarter, according to the latest Domain Group Rental Report, released Thursday.

In Melbourne, house rents remained at a record of $390 a week - a 2.6 per cent lift over the year to June - with unit rents jumping to $370. The data indicates that increased investor activity and construction may be offsetting the rising demand for rental properties," Wilson said. "The demand is driven by solid migration levels and low first home buyer numbers."

Sydney man convicted of $7 million home loan fraud
A former Aussie Home Loans credit representative, Shiv Prakash Sahay was convicted and sentenced yesterday in the Downing Centre Local Court on charges relating to a home loan fraud worth $7 million.

Sahay, from Lidcome NSW, was sentenced to 350 hours of community service work on three charges of making false statements, making false documents and using false documents in home loan applications submitted for his clients to Bankwest and Suncorp.

“The reputation of the lending industry depends on mortgage brokers and other credit representatives acting honestly and in compliance with the credit laws. ASIC will vigorously pursue offenders involved in falsifying loan documents and other statements for their own financial benefit,” ASIC commissioner Peter Kell said.