Australian cities are changing. You see that change in our newest outer suburbs and former country towns that now make up our commuter belt, where a third of the nation’s population growth has taken place over the past eight years. Here, up to 70 kilometres from the CBD, is where many have realised their dreams of home ownership, only to find the transport, hospitals, schools and other facilities Australians expect are lacking. More than 1 million Australians have moved to the outer suburbs of our major cities since 2011. All levels of government have a role to play in driving infrastructure improvements. However, for nearly one fifth of Australia’s population, the federal government’s piecemeal approach to infrastructure investment is impacting their daily lives. More than 1 million Australians have moved to the outer suburbs of our major cities since 2011. Yet despite accommodating 35 per cent of Australia's population growth...

Tenants hoping the property downturn would spur rents to drop across Melbourne have so far been left disappointed, with new data showing weekly asking prices for houses have continued to climb to record levels while unit rents have flattened. As the rental market enters its busiest fortnight of the year, the latest Domain Rental Report has found the citywide median weekly house rent increased 2.3 per cent over the December quarter to reach a record high of $440. Units remained stable over the quarter at $410 per week. The inner south region recorded the biggest annual jump, with asking prices for houses surging from $600 to $650 per week. Meanwhile, the region’s median rent for units increased $20 per week to $420, translating to an extra $1040 a year. Median weekly asking rents for houses in Melbourne  RegionDecember 2018       December 2017       QoQ      YoY       Inner$610$6001.7%1.7%Inner...

An Australian city has outstripped Singapore and Tokyo as the best prospect in the Asia Pacific region for both investment and development. Here’s why: Melbourne has narrowly outstripped Singapore and Sydney as the best prospect in the Asia Pacific region for both investment and development, according to new data. A real estate forecast jointly published by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PwC — called The Emerging Trends in Real Estate Asia Pacific 2019 — shows Melbourne’s ascent in the rankings is because its office supply pipeline is more constrained than in Sydney. The report says that with vacancies shrinking rapidly, this is likely to provide upward momentum to rents in both locations. Melbourne was the top ranked in both investment and development, with experts saying the Victorian capital offered a constrained office supply pipeline, a good yield spread over the cost of debt and sovereign bonds, a deep, liquid,...