A MESSAGE FROM DAVID

THE GREAT AUSTRALIAN HOUSING HUNGER GAMES

Welcome to a new year, a year which will hopefully deliver some stabilization in our industry. In what seems to be the longest 36 months of my 40 + year career, I can feel the tide turning. Last week there was some brief relief for property investors and the average business with interest rates slightly reducing by 0.25 percentage points to 4.10 per cent. While rates will not decrease at the same rate they rose, we can hope that a more positive sentiment returns to the market.

Sadly, I have recently seen many former colleagues exit and move onto other industries, it is simply too difficult to develop in this State. The challenge developers continue to battle are not an industry problem, they are a national crisis. Construction costs, labour shortages, successive tax increases, holding and, finance costs, red tape and planning restrictions continue to make it not feasible to develop property in Victoria. This will affect the liveability and lure of what was to be the nation’s largest state. Industry leading research firm, Charter Keck Cramer recently noted that year on year over the next 2 decades the development industry will need to deliver 14,000 apartments. This year, the industry will struggle to deliver 4,000. In addition to the shocking undersupply of housing, we are also facing a huge lack of adequate schooling infrastructure. In the decade leading to 2036, it has been reported that the government will need to build another 60 schools as the population grows by more than 1 million people every decade.

As a nation, which once prided itself on home affordability and ownership, it seems to be a farfetched dream for all but previous generations. Apartments are the segway for many aspiring to own their own home. However as a result of the  decline in apartments being delivered, this will leave many suburbs deficient in affordable housing, hence locking people out of inner Melbourne. 

What remains a concern for the industry and every single Victorian is the elephant in the room – the Government debt and appetite to increase taxes and provide little incentive to invest. Last month, the State Auditor General reported that major government projects have increased by over $11 billion in the past year alone. The Victorian public and businesses continue to carry the burden for the public sector incompetence in spending OUR money.

With a federal election looming perhaps  next month, this presents an opportunity for a reset of the regulations and restrictions across the business board. We need to increase our national security, incentivise the private sector to invest again in housing, and focus on assisting the parts of our society wanting to start families and plan to retire. This needs to be the priority if we want to make Victoria attractive again to live, study and work.

I will end this Autumn 2025 update with a quote, hoping for the latter to prevail following the upcoming election. “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” And remember when you cast your vote “It’s your money they are spending”.

DAVID KOBRITZ
Executive Chairman, DealCorp

NOVA

REACHING THE FINAL STAGES

Nova heritage terraces and modern townhouses are amid their final stages.

The summer months saw the commencement of settlements take place for the initial stages of the project. Moving into Autumn, builder Edgepoint shifts their focus to completing the final heritage component of the project and the heritage terraces will shift closer to completion.

NOVA has been over a decade in the making, with the façade earmarked by council as heritage. Working with MGS Architecture, DealCorp retained the dilapidated building and original brickwork.

2025 will be a monumental year as NOVA is the final stage to be complete of the original Polaris 3083 masterplan vision, going back 14 years to when the initial site infrastructure works were done in 2011.

STANDARDX

ALL SETTLED IN

The StandardX Melbourne has comfortably settled into its new neighbourhood and has been operating for 6 months. The buzzy lobby is full on the weekend with weekenders enjoying the many events on in Melbourne and the very tasty food flying out of the kitchen at BANG! And with a new season comes a new menu and cocktails! Think delicious juicy chicken and lemongrass skewers with peanut sauce, a fresh prawn curry – ideal for long warm nights.

BE SURE TO BOOK INTO BANG FOR ALL-DAY AND EVENING DINING: