Melbourne braces for a tough adjustment in 2009

2008 will go down as the year property values started to fall. Fast forward 12 months and 2009 is looming as the year property income will also come under pressure, according to CBRE Research & Consulting Executive Director Kevin Stanley. He said the financial crisis was now moving into the “real economy” – and not just in Sydney.

“It’s been a slower transition than expected and pockets of disbelief remain,” Mr Stanley said.

“In a national context and by its own standards, Melbourne has over-performed in the last four to five years, characterised by strong underlying growth in demand drivers. Hindsight tells us these were not normal years. Melbourne should brace itself for a tough adjustment in 2009.”

The current forecasts were for Victoria to slip into a mild recession this year, along with the country’s largest economy, New South Wales, before returning to positive growth from 2010.

“To put it in some context and to act as a guide, we think the depth of the impending downturn will be somewhere between the small one early this decade and the big one of 1992,” Mr Stanley said.

“But no two cycles are the same. What makes the depth and length of this cycle difficult to call is the synchronized nature of the global downturn. A global interconnectedness has never underpinned a downturn like this before.” Read the rest »

Melbourne industrial market to trough in 2009

Industrial property values have come under significant pressure in Melbourne, with prime yields having softened by almost 250 basis points in just 12 months.

However, prices and yields are forecast to stabilise this year before a period of gradual recovery, according to new forecasts from CB Richard Ellis. Further, Kevin Stanley said pricing had moved more aggressively in the industrial sector than any other area of the market. Read the rest »

43 Former ABC Childcare Centres released to the market

A total of 43 former ABC Learning childcare centres around Australia are being offered to the market for sale or lease following the recent demise of ABC.

Austock has appointed global commercial property services firm, Jones Lang LaSalle, to manage an Expressions of Interest (EOI) process making use of its national footprint to invite interest from prospective buyers or tenants. Read the rest »