Posts Tagged ‘global financial crisis’

The last 12 to 18 months has been a dramatic ride for Developers large and small across the world but also in Australia, and more so than many people on the street might think.

Most of the large listed Developers are finally taking a gasp of fresh air with a feeling of incredible relief after intense activity to recapitalise their companies and having come dangerously close to breaching existing loan covenants, many selling assets, massively shrunken share prices, and needing to refinance maturing short term debts in the face of the tightest credit in their histories.

Small to mid-size Developers have either come out nicely due to the stage their projects were at, or gone to the wall if they were over-geared, had a no better than normal level of pre-sales or pre-leasing, or were relying on finance companies or structures that couldn’t stand any heat.

Private investors and some institutional ones that have been cashed-up for a while or conservatively geared, have recognised the opportunities that any recession or pull-back offers, and jumped on the bargains.

In Australia it only seems like the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) has been with us a year or so. To Americans it may seem a bit longer but most people are surprised when I show them the following chart where the level of new home building in the US actually started crashing in September 2005, some four years ago! And look how similar this downturn is to the one commencing in December of 1972.

Read the rest of this entry »

After spending nine months in a Dubai jail, two Australian businessmen have been granted bail in the lead-up to their fraud trial, expected to begin next month.

Melbourne’s Matt Joyce and Sydney’s Marcus Lee had been working for Dubai real estate developer Nakheel on a multi-billion dollar waterfront development when they were arrested.

Joyce had been managing director and Lee commercial manager of the development.

Joyce’s solicitor, Martin Amad, says it is the first time an independent judicial officer has looked over the defence material submitted on his client’s behalf.

“[There are] allegations of deception, as part of his employment with Nakheel, and these allegations are vehemently denied by Matt,” he said.

“Now that he’s on bail, he looks forward to joining his wife and three children and obviously spending some quality time with them and also preparing his defence. He’s very, very confident that ultimately he’ll be found innocent of these allegations.” Read the rest of this entry »

Is it the proof that we’ve been waiting for that the housing boom is back. While the global financial crisis made us all armchair investment analysts, now lower interest rates, government bonuses and the first home market boom has again made property the hot topic.

On any given Saturday huge numbers of prospective buyers are flocking to open houses everywhere.

Nowhere is the craze more evident than in the median home market, where young families are trying to make the most of the demand from first time buyers to sell and trade up for more space.

Melbourne’s resilient inner-city market has made last year’s economic collapse look like a mere hiccup as last weekends auction results reached late-2007 boom peaks.

Agents said the boom prices reflected Melbourne’s rapidly increasing population, the relaxation of foreign-investment rules and an increased desire from buyers to live close to the inner city.

These factors produced intense competition – up to six bidders – and high prices at many auctions.

Buxton Bentleigh’s Craig Williamson received a clear sign of the market’s resurgence on Saturday when he auctioned a double-storey brick home at 25 Atkinson Street, Bentleigh. It had last been sold in November 2007 for $1,271,000 but on Saturday it brought $1,275,000.

Mr Williamson said the market had had its ups and significant downs in the past 18 months but now it was ”back to where it was”.

After lawnmowers, Hills hoists and wind chimes, Australian suburbia created something even more special: the bogan.

There are also Westies, booners and C.U.Bs (that’s cashed-up-bogans). We Australians know exactly what I am talking about. (International readers may wish to check a definition here or look at bogan hair here.)

And I’d like to make an  announcement: bogans are winning today’s property market. Read the rest of this entry »