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Vol 11. No.14

Economic Overview

	Current	+/-	Movement
$AUS/$US	91.61	-0.76
Cash Rate	3.75	Steady
90 Day Bill	4.22	+0.02
10 Year Bond	5.525	+0.040
ASX 200	4868.2	+7.0

Queensland Property

CITIWICH Business Park update (AFR Pg.42)

• KSB Australia & Caltex Australia will lease property in Walker Corporations $1 billion CITIWICH Business Park in Ipswich, south-east Queensland.
• It is expected KSB will construct a 2,000m² facility and Caltex will develop an unmanned diesel stop at the estate. 

National Property

Office market update (AFR Pg.39)

• Recent reports indicate office vacancy rates declined in Sydney, Melbourne & Perth during the December quarter.
• Vacancy rates in Sydney fell 0.3% to 8.2% while in Melbourne rates decreased 0.2% to 6.4%. Effective rents within both these markets remained unchanged in the three months to December.
• Vacancy rates in Brisbane increased to 10.1%, up 1.8%, while rents decreased 8.3% from the third quarter.
• The national CBD office vacancy rate increased 0.3% in the December quarter to 8%.
• Unemployment figures dropped to 5.5% in December, the lowest since April 2009. Evidence suggests companies are taking back sub-lease space as they begin to recruit.
  

Building approval update (SMH Pg.5)

• The Property Council of Australia (PCA) & the Residential Development Council have conducted a review into each states handling of development applications.
• NSW scored a rating of 5.2 out of 10, however was it was indicated that reforms underway could improve the score by as much as 30%. Queensland and Victoria scored 5.8 and 6.8 respectively.
• The PCA suggest Sydney needs 25,000 new homes approved each year to meet demands of future growth. In 2009 only 13,000 new dwellings were constructed.