Talking Property with CBRE

Simon Kuestenmacher is a leading demographer who ranks as one of the world’s Top 10 influencers in data visualisation, using data to explain how the world works. In the first in a two-part Talking Property series from the Property Council of Australia’s annual Congress, Simon shares why he thinks the property sector shouldn’t be too pessimistic, why global capital still wants to come to Australia and why migration isn’t going to slow down.Simon also shares his views on the long-term outlook for interest rates, Australia’s skills shortage and why the major political parties aren’t interested in cheaper housing, despite the rhetoric.Stay tuned for our second Congress podcast and you can check out details for next year’s Property Council Congress here.

Australia’s emerging build to rent sector remains in the spotlight, with the country’s need for housing having never been stronger.But it’s been a tough year to get new projects started, amid government policy issues, delivery challenges, high interest rates and a constrained capitalmarkets environment.So, what does the future hold? What’s needed to accelerate Australia’s BTR rollout? And what are some of the lessons learnt by Australia’s BTR pioneers.Find out in our latest Talking Property episode featuring Richard Carmont, the chairman of Arklife and a board member of ADCO, one of Australia’s largest builder-developers. ADCO recently sold recently sold two Brisbane projects to the $256 billion Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and the US-based Hines - the world’s second largest BTR player. This episode also features insights from the Pacific Head of CBRE’s Living Sectors Capital Markets business, Andrew Purdon.

Residential property prices. They’re a lively source of dinner party conversation, particularly when it comes to the records being toppled across Australia.Whether it be Atlassian tech billionaire Scott Farquhar pocketing $130 million for his Point Piper estate, Aussie Home Loans founder John Symond chasing over $200 million for his nearby mansion, the Myer family putting a more than $100 million price tag on their Toorak estate, there seems to be no shortage of cash at the top end of the market.So why has the prestige market been so immune to the slowdown in the wider residential market and stubbornly high interest rates? Where are some of the new hot spots? Why are wealthy Australians eyeing off multi-million dollar apartments on the world’s largest luxury residential yacht? And are there prestige markets that have fallen out of favour.Find out all the answers in this latest episode of Talking Property featuring Lisa Allen, Editor of The Weekend Australian’s property magazine, Mansion, and CBRE’s NSW Head of Prestige Residential Valuations Bader Naaman.

In this final edition of The House View for 2024 we delve into the critical role social infrastructure will play in shaping Australia’s future. Healthcare, retirement living, and childcare – they all fall into this category and there are unique dynamics which are driving investor interest in these asset classes.CBRE’s Pacific Advisory Services CEO Phil Rowland and Pacific Head of Research Sameer Chopra also give their take on the key risks and opportunities in the property sector as we move into 2025, and their top three investment picks.They also dissect the outlook for rate cuts. Will it be this year or next? Make sure you follow Talking Property so you don’t miss Phil and Sameer’s first 2025 House View and fortnightly episodes of Talking Property.

Green loans. Sustainability linked loans. They’re become increasingly prevalent, reflecting the property market's commitment to responsible and sustainable lending.And it’s not just about reputation. Green finance is becoming one of the keys to accessing debt in today’s competitive market, with billions of dollars required to electrify our building stock and eliminate embodied carbon in the race to net zero.So, what do property owners and financiers need to consider? Find out in our latest Talking Property podcast featuring the Australian Sustainable Finance Institute’s Nicole Yazbek-Martin, Frasers Property Ltd’s Rory Martin and CBRE’s Daniel Sollorz.If you have ideas for future Talking Property podcasts, please contact us at talkingproperty@cbre.com.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping the world as we know it, and the long-term property sector impact will be profound. But what exactly can landlords and occupiers expect in the coming decade?  From accelerating the rollout of smart buildings through to revolutionising office design, lowering building outgoings, and even shortening our working week, AI has significant potential. But how can companies be disruptors, and not be disrupted, as these AI advancements roll out? And is Australia’s property sector behind the eightball when it comes to embracing AI? Find out in CBRE’s latest Talking Property podcast featuring Taronga Ventures’ Growth Advisor Julian Kezelman and CBRE’s Head of Office Market Research Tom Broderick. You can read more about what to expect in CBRE’s new AI Impact on Office report. And subscribe to Talking Property to ensure that you don’t miss any of our upcoming episodes.  

Luxury retail brands. They’re in demand in Australia right now and you might be surprised by who’s buying these high-end products. Forget the Boomers and Gen X, its Millennials and Gen Z who have a growing appetite for luxury, fuelled by their favourite influencers on TikTok and Instagram.These younger consumers helped push luxury retail trade in Australia to a record $6.2 billion in 2023 and the smart retail landlords are taking note. To discuss the trends, we’re joined by Tomi Grainger - most recently the Creator Engagement Partnerships Lead at TikTok - and by CBRE’s Sheree Griff.

Australia’s largest private hotel owner Dr Jerry Schwartz is not your stereotypical multi-millionaire businessman. He’s been described as a long-haired larrikin and Australia’s very own Willy Wonka, who rarely wears a suit and has been known to jump into the pool at launch events. He’s been a trailblazer in the hotel industry and has made an art-form out of going with his gut, building a portfolio of 15 properties across the country. We chat to Jerry and CBRE’s Wayne Bunz in our latest Talking Property podcast to get the lowdown on the current trends shaping the Australian hotel sector, including the rise in experiential travel and why sustainability has become the industry’s new X factor.

What role can data play in enhancing property values, meeting ambitious sustainability goals, capturing the best occupiers and ensuring that property owners are on track in the ongoing race to net zero? And how do investors leverage data to make the right investment decisions? In our latest episode of Talking Property we explore whether big data can provide a big payback. Tune in to hear from the Global Leader of Sustainability for CBRE’s Property Management business Carl Brooks and from the General Manager of ESG for Scape, Australia’s largest student accommodation provider, Chris Nunn. 

In this latest edition of The House View we delve into why alternative assets are on the investment radar, examine the growth potential in data centres, healthcare and hotels, and give CBRE’s take on the outlook for rents, vacancies, demand and investor appetite across Australia’s office, retail, and logistics sectors.CBRE’s Pacific Advisory Services CEO Phil Rowland and Pacific Head of Research Sameer Chopra also revisit some of their bold predictions from the Q1 and Q2 episodes of The House View – including their diverging views on the current interest rate outlook.

As the global head of investor thought leadership for CBRE and overseer of the Asia Pacific Research team, Henry Chin is always in demand when he visits Australia.  We were lucky enough to nab him while he was in town for our Talking Property podcast to get his wide-ranging views on topics that are top of mind for investors. Tune in to hear Henry’s take on the current interest rate trajectory, the biggest investor challenges and why he thinks the pendulum is swinging back in favour of the retail sector. He also weighs in on why we need to stop talking about the future of office, where he’d park $200 million if he had the cash, and whether he still believes Australia is in “La La Land” when it comes to commercial property values.  

Housing, housing, housing. It was a conversation that dominated the Property Council of Australia’s annual Property Leaders’ Summit given the country’s current supply crisis. But a range of other topics were also put under the microscope, including the current interest rate trajectory, views on alternative property assets, if we’re on track to meet our ambitious energy transition targets, and whether early AI adopters will reap a competitive advantage. The Summit is the hottest property ticket in town, and it’s governed by the Chatham House Rule. So, we were excited by the opportunity to discuss - under the Chatham House Rule of course - key outtakes with the Property Council’s Executive Director of Capital Markets Antony Knep and the Capital Markets Division Council President Carmel Hourigan, who is also Charter Hall’s Office CEO. 

From humble beginnings, Salta Properties has grown to be one of Australia’s largest privately owned property companies.In this latest episode of Talking Property, we discuss the company’s evolution, its $3 billion build to rent strategy, the office outlook and what’s next for the industrial& logistics sector with Salta’s Managing Director Sam Tarascio. Sam also gives his views on the current housing supply crisis and what’s needed from government at both a Victorian and national level to stop the bottlenecks.

How can we future proof office buildings? Give workers a better guest experience so that they want to come into the office? And what tactics can landlords employ to foster the workplace experience and provide greater flexibility to enhance occupier engagement, property values, and truly earn the commute?To get under the hood, we’ve spoken to Jaelle Ang, CEO and founder of The Great Room by Industrious, and CBRE’s Executive Managing Director of Property Management, Pacific, Nat Slessor, on our latest Talking Property podcast.

Could land lease communities be one of the solutions for Australia’s housing affordability crisis?They’ve become an increasingly sought after option for retirees. Some 130,000 people are living in these estates and the $12 billion sector having been described as the fastest growing solution for downsizers in Australia.But what exactly is a land lease community, what are the pros and cons of buying into them, how much growth is likely in this sector and why is it rising on the radar of local and offshore institutions and developers?We explore this with Kate Melrose from the Ingenia Communities Group alongside CBRE’s Liam Greentree and Kat Hale in our latest Talking Property podcast.We also discuss CBRE’s inaugural residential valuers survey, which shines a light on the ever-pressing need for more affordable housing options in Australia.If you have any questions regarding this episode or property topics that you’d like CBRE to address in future episodes, please email us at talkingproperty@cbre.com.

While there’s broad agreement on some of the longer-term tailwinds for the Australian real estate market, conviction is still lacking when it comes to the strength of future rent growth, exit values and in some cases the regulatory environment.  That’s one of the areas up for discussion in our quarterly Talking Property: The House View podcast, which explores the opportunities and challenges ahead for the retail, office, industrial and living sectors.Tune in to hear CBRE’s Pacific Advisory Services CEO Phil Rowland Pacific Head of Research Sameer Chopra give their take on fresh interest in the retail investment market, the ongoing gap between office fundamentals and sentiment, the unprecedented demand conditions and supply side challenges in the residential market and whether occupier demand is beginning to moderate in the industrial sector.If you have any questions regarding this episode or property topics that you’d like CBRE to address in future episodes, please email us at talkingproperty@cbre.com.

By 2100, some 10 billion people will live in around 10,000 cities across the globe. Just in Australia, our population is tipped to rise by 15 million people over the next 36 years.So how do we accommodate this growth, deal with the current housing shortage, continue to decarbonise, harness the power of AI and manage the long-term impacts of the pandemic?These issues were centre stage at the Property Council of Australia’s Future Cities Summit, which was headlined by one of the world’s leading urbanists, Professor Greg Clark. He joins us on Talking Property alongside CBRE’s NSW Director of Government & Industry Ash Nicholson to discuss how we can make our cities liveable, loveable and prosperous.If you have any questions regarding this episode or property topics that you’d like CBRE to address in future episodes, please email us at talkingproperty@cbre.com.

The capital flowing into Australia’s commercial real estate sector dipped significantly in 2023, as many local and offshore investors sat on the sidelines. But are there signs of a market shift? In this latest Talking Property episode, we zero in on how global investors are viewing the Australian market, which sectors are most in favour, where the money is coming from and what the expectations are for the year ahead. CBRE’s Stuart McCann, Head of International Capital & Capital Advisory, Pacific and Southeast Asia joins Tom Broderick, CBRE’s Australian Head of Capital Markets Research, to discuss the outlook and some of the key trends highlighted in our latest Capital Flows report, which you can read here. If you have any questions regarding this episode or property topics that you’d like CBRE to address in future episodes, please email us at talkingproperty@cbre.com.

Hundreds of Australian companies have just posted their half year results, including a swag of ASX-listed property stocks. Australian Financial Review columnist Robert Harley, The Australian’s commercial property editor Ben Wilmot and the Sydney Morning Herald’s commercial property editor Carolyn Cummins join this latest episode of Talking Property to cut through the financials, discuss the trends and give a view on what’s next. In this wide-ranging discussion, they touch on the sectors which outperformed, whether office is still a “dirty word”, why alternative assets are in focus and the outlook for asset values. If you have any questions regarding this episode or property topics that you’d like CBRE to address in future episodes, please email us at talkingproperty@cbre.com.