Property

PRIVATELY owned property developer and investment firm, The Lester Group, has backed its positive view of the commercial property market by agreeing to buy an $8.5 million Subiaco office building.

THE Master Builders Association has backed Western Australian builders’ handling of the $16.2 billion Building the Education Revolution schools program, following claims of price gouging by builders in other states.

Salta Constructions has commenced court action against Saracen Properties over the Raine Square dispute.

THE Town of Cambridge has introduced a priority building approvals process, which will allow residential applications to be assessed within five days.

WESTERN Australia’s top interior designers are looking to diversify their focus away from commercial office fit-outs to government, leisure and hospitality work as the number of new office buildings coming to market peaks.

With a potential boom looming, industry is questioning the state government’s industrial land priorities.

Saracen Properties is expected to announce a replacement builder for the $500 million retail and office development Raine Square within the next two weeks.

The Pilbara town at the centre of the state's resources surge, Karratha, has seen its median rent jump to $1,600 a week in the March quarter.

The vacancy rate for rental properties in metropolitan Perth has eased in March due to diminished stock rather than increased demand.

Property researcher RP Data says Perth's house prices are cause for concern as Armadale, Parmelia and Brookdale are found to be the cheapest suburbs in the metropolitan area.

THE Asbestos Diseases Society of Australia has welcomed the strengthening of Western Australia’s occupational health and safety laws aimed at ensuring only licensed workers with the proper skills can remove asbestos.

THE Hyatt Regency Perth has launched its most extensive redevelopment program in 20 years, with the hotel’s owners investing $9 million for renovations.

INNER-CITY apartment owners have been forced to cut rents and improve dwelling presentation in order to attract tenants in a competitive market.

Today marks the first step in Albany's quest towards constructing two much-needed hotels with the state government calling on developers to build a new luxury hotel overlooking the Southern Ocean.

Landlords are more prepared to pass rising costs from interest rate rises on to renters after the average rental growth across capital cities in the March quarter rebounded to 1.5 per cent, according to Australian Property Monitors.

Property developer Port Bouvard has again pushed back the release of its capital management strategy as the suspension on the trading of its shares enters its sixth month.

Diploma Group is set to expand its presence in the eastern end of the Perth CBD, today announcing its fourth high-rise apartment building on Adelaide Terrace, valued at $50 million.

More bureaucracy would be the worst outcome from the state government’s review of housing indemnity insurance.

IN three decades of being in business together, Pindan owners George Allingame and David Pringle say they have disagreed on little.

A BELMONT-BASED builder is staking its claim to a niche in the competitive Western Australian homebuilding market, by doing things a little bit differently.

COASTAL developments in the south-western metropolitan corridor will establish the region as Western Australia’s premium aquatic playground, according to a local MP.

Despite Western Australia bucking the national trend, posting an eight per cent increase in residential dwelling approvals, seasonally adjusted, the nation's building industry bodies have warned a housing recovery can't be guaranteed.

Two separate property research organisations have released data on the value of houses in Perth, with one stating house prices dipped in the past few months while the other is forecasting the median price to pass the $500,000 mark in the March quarter.

Publicly listed agricultural property investment company, The Ark Fund, has announced a $55 million capital raising and an implementation agreement to effect its merger with private managed investment scheme player Rewards Group.

Property developer Aspen Group says it is reviewing a Perth CBD commercial development site, but stopped short on confirming whether the property has links to embattled WA tycoon Rick Stowe.

The global financial crisis (GFC) did not stop the flow of credit to consumers looking to buy houses, despite the rising cost of funding those loans and tighter lending standards, the Reserve Bank of Australia says.

New housing starts in Western Australia are forecast to grow 24 per cent this financial year but then flat-line in 2011-12, a new outlook report shows.

Fresh concerns have been raised over the sustainability of the residential property sector after new home sales in Western Australia dropped 5.1 per cent last month, a turnaround from January's figures.

A Queensland man has been convicted and sentenced after he pleaded guilty to dealing with Westpoint products without a financial services licence.

Property developer Finbar Group has raised nearly $21 million which will be applied to its expansion plans in the Pilbara and continued growth opportunities in Perth.

Property investment company SAS Global Forrestdale Pty Ltd is facing further pressure after the corporate regulator cancelled the financial services licence of its responsible entity, Teys Property Funds Ltd.

Property company Finbar Group has been named by the state government as the preferred developer of a new housing project, including a 10-storey high-rise, in Karratha, valued on completion at $225 million.