Seaford Meadows: SA Housing Trust puts 42ha greenfield site on the market

Seaford Meadows: SA Housing Trust puts 42ha greenfield site on the market, @MichaelBleby reports. #ausproperty

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— AFR Property (@AFRproperty) August 30, 2016

Source: @MichaelBleby reports. #ausproperty afr.com/real-estate/co… 5:14 PM - 29 Aug 2016 https://t.co/c0QC77ybdE http://www.afr.com/real-estate/commercial/sales/sa-housing-trust-puts-42hectare-greenfield-seaford-meadows-site-on-the-market-20160829-gr3qix#ixzz4Iiu3yfZP SA Housing Trust puts 42-hectare greenfield Seaford Meadows site on the market The South Australian Housing Trust has put up for sale a 42-hectare site at Seaford Meadows, south of Adelaide, with the capacity for about 750 new homes. To know further details call: +61 431138537 ==========

A commodity economy with record-breaking property prices, fuelled by ultra-low interest rates and Chinese buyers, raises taxes on foreign homebuyers.

While the scenario is eerily similar to Australia, it is actually Canada and early signs are the property market is rapidly cooling.

The unravelling could offer insight for Australians contemplating the state of the expensive local real estate market.

A record one in five Canadians expect house prices to fall, according to the weekly Bloomberg Nanos Canadian Confidence Index.

The new Sea to Sky Gondola near Squamish, about 60km, north of Vancouver has drawn increasingly more visitors to the Sea to Sky Corridor, driving home prices higher here.

The number of property price pessimists has nearly doubled since a 15 per cent foreign buyer tax on Vancouver homes took effect on August 2. In the first two weeks since the tax came into effect, home sales fell 51 per cent in the metropolitan area, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver said.

Nanos Research chairman Nik Nanos told The Australian Financial Review that real estate was the "canary in the mine" for the Canadian economy and the foreign acquirer tax has had an immediate "chill" effect on confidence.

"If we see a significant slide in confidence in real estate there will be an immediate negative knock-on effect on the Canadian economy because right now there is no energy [oil] economy to fall back on," he said.

The price of Canada's biggest export, oil, has crashed over the past two years, much like iron ore and coal prices in Australia.

Price surge

Like Sydney and Melbourne, real estate prices in Canada's most-liveable cities have surged in recent years.

A combination of low borrowing costs, strong demand, limited housing supply because of red tape and, anecdotally, foreign buyers mainly from China seeking to park their money in perceived safe havens offshore, pushed up values.

Vancouver house prices soared 30 per cent in the year ended May 31, and prices shot up 15 per cent in Canada's biggest city of Toronto. The median price for detached houses in Vancouver jumped to $C1.6 million.

The foreign buyer tax, introduced after a flurry of Chinese buyers were accused of pushing up prices beyond affordable for everyday Canadians, is sharply higher than similar taxes recently increased by NSW, Victoria and Queensland.

The Baird government in June announced a 4 per cent stamp duty surcharge for foreign buyers in NSW, adding $40,000 to the cost of a $1 million property and taking the total stamp duty to $80,490.

Victoria in May more than doubled the surcharge for foreign buyers to 7 per cent, while Queensland will charge 3 per cent from October.

Unsustainable expectations

To be sure, Canadian house prices have not fallen yet. About 41 per cent of those surveyed said they see home prices rising and 36 per cent believe there will be little change in values.

The market is cooling in the previously red hot area of Vancouver, even before the new property transfer charge for foreigners was unveiled.

Like Australia, the International Monetary Fund has pointed to financial risks associated with Canada's hot housing market.

Echoing Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens, Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz recently warned that prospective homebuyers should not expect the recent price surge to repeat.

"If prices are going up because people expect prices to go up, then that, of course, is probably unsustainable," Mr Poloz said in June.

He did not say what would happen if people expected prices to fall.

Sentiment can be a key driver of asset values.

Whether the rising Canadian pessimism on housing transmits to actual price declines remains to be seen.

For property-obsessed Australia, Canada could be a handy barometer to see if the market will finally be tipped over the edge.

================================================= "The South Australian Housing Trust has put up for sale a 42-hectare site at Seaford Meadows, south of Adelaide, with the capacity for about 750 new homes." SA Housing Trust puts 42-hectare greenfield Seaford Meadows site on the market " The South Australian Housing Trust has put up for sale a 42-hectare site at Seaford Meadows, south of Adelaide, with the capacity for about 750 new homes. A condition of the sale of the Seaford Meadows site was that at least 90 new social housing dwellings would be built as ...part of any development.

The South Australian Housing Trust has put up for sale a 42-hectare site at Seaford Meadows, south of Adelaide, with the capacity for about 750 new homes.

A condition of the sale, which market sources said could be worth between $25 million and $30 million, was that at least 90 new social housing dwellings would be built as part of any development and a minimum of 15 per cent of homes would be provided as affordable housing.

"We are seeking an experienced developer to deliver a high-quality master planned development featuring a diversity of quality housing and new public infrastructure," said Michael Buchan, the general manager for property development at state government development organisation Renewal SA.

"We are seeking innovative ideas from the industry and not-for-profit sector for the best way to achieve new social housing and affordable housing as well as providing an economic stimulus for the state."

The sale is part of the state government's Renewing Our Streets and Suburbs initiative to replace outdated Housing Trust homes in areas with traditionally high concentrations of public housing, with new homes in sought-after suburbs, locating people closer to services such as transport and schools.

The sale is part of the state government's Renewing Our Streets and Suburbs initiative to replace outdated Housing Trust homes in areas with traditionally high concentrations of public housing, with new homes in sought-after suburbs, locating people closer to services such as transport and schools.

The site, being marketed through McGees Property, is vacant and has historically been used for farming. The successful proponent will be required to prepare a master plan for the site, located between the southern coastline and McLaren Vale wine region, in consultation with Renewal SA and the City of Onkaparinga.

"The 42-hectare site is one of the largest residential sites to be offered to the open market in recent times and is one of few remaining opportunities in the highly sought southern Adelaide region," McGees Property director James Juers said. "It is a prime site and the area includes schools, libraries, community centres, open spaces and shopping centres."

Expressions of interest close 13 October 2016.