Good news for investors and the Australian economy!

The 2009/10 Australian Federal Budget has some interesting ramifications for real estate investors. I read with real interest some of its provisions, which are clearly aimed at promoting Australia as a financial services hub for the Asia-Pacific region.

The items that most interested me include a new capital gains tax trust roll-over for assets transferred between fixed trusts with the same beneficiaries, new measures to allow eligible Australian Managed Investment Trusts to make an election to apply the Capital Gains Tax regime to the disposal of qualifying assets, and changes to Australia’s  foreign accruals taxation provisions.

I am pleased that Australia’s foreign investment fund provisions are to be repealed. This should result in reduced costs and less complicated compliance requirements as far as investments in non-controlled off-shore property entities are concerned.  Another thing great to see is that the government is modernising its definition of passive income.

I believe these measures combined will be good news for investors and should go a long way to helping further stimulate the Australian economy.

Australia ranks in the top three countries in the world in which to invest in property

I was reading the results of a recent survey by the Asian Real Estate Association and was pleased but not surprised to see that Australia ranks in the top three countries in the world in which to invest in property. Japan and China were the other two, giving Harcourts a presence in two of the world’s top countries for property investment.

It is not just Australian investors who are reaping fantastic benefits from real estate here but international investors as well. Investors from New Zealand have also long known that the Australian market is a very lucrative one to invest in long term. But, from what we are seeing through increasing traffic to our websites, email and phone enquiry, word has certainly spread to other countries as well, with South Africans, Singaporians, Europeans and North Americans also looking seriously at the Australian market for investment. The survey reports that international investors are now seeking returns from core assets in developed countries.

It’s my view too that being involved in the best investment climate in the world can still come to nothing unless you are working with a great team. This is one of the reasons our organisation has made such inroads into the market internationally. Our teams in Australia, New Zealand and internationally in South Africa, China, and Indonesia are all exceptionally well placed to help any investor take advantage of everything the real estate market has to offer.

Two LJ Hooker Offices Join Harcourts

Two established Auckland real estate companies join Harcourts group

Two established Auckland real estate companies have bought Harcourts franchises and officially joined New Zealand’s largest real estate group.

V & B Realty Ltd and Shelter Realty Ltd, both formerly part of the LJ Hooker real estate group, have rebranded their offices in Mt Roskill and New Lynn respectively to Harcourts and are now introducing the group’s comprehensive range of world-class business, marketing and technology systems and products.

VK Verma and Brendon Sy, the shareholders in V & B Realty Ltd, say they are delighted their company and its 11-strong team have become part of the Harcourts group.

“Being in the biggest real estate group in the country, with all of the resources and support that brings, offers huge benefits to our team and in addition Harcourts has a great company culture which we look forward to experiencing and contributing to,” the pair say.

 Bobby Sapra and Vijay Kumar, the  shareholders in Shelter Realty Ltd, says the strength of the Harcourts’ brand in New Zealand, its cutting-edge technology systems and industry-leading training capabilities are also exciting advantages of being part of the Harcourts group.

“Harcourts’ technology systems and products are very impressive and along with the excellent suite of Harcourts marketing material I’m confident it will positively impact on the results our team can achieve. 

“In addition I look forward to being able to access top-quality training via the Harcourts Academy and that fact that it has approval to provide salesperson certification courses in association with the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand Industry Training Organisation and to facilitate on-the-job training sessions for Harcourts sales consultants who are working towards their National Certificate in Real Estate is definitely going to be beneficial from a recruitment and retention perspective,” the duo say.