Auction volumes ‘robust' following May interest rate cut
'Auction activity is a little bit quieter this week than this same corresponding week last year,' Ms Creagh told Sky News Business Reporter Ed Boyd.
'We have seen that auction volumes have been pretty robust over the past few weeks, with interest rates falling again in May.
'On the demand side of things, the same goes.'
In partnership with realestate.com.au.
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ABC News
8 minutes ago
- ABC News
Australia and Vanuatu agree to $500m deal, but details remain scarce
Senior ministers from Australia and Vanuatu have trooped to the top of an active volcano on the island of Tanna for a ceremony to celebrate a major new pact between the two countries. Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and Pacific Minister Pat Conroy joined their counterparts from Vanuatu on the top of Mount Yasur to "initial" the landmark Nakamal Agreement ahead of formal signature by prime ministers next month. Australia is set to funnel some $500 million into Vanuatu over a decade under the pact, which will supplant a bilateral security agreement that was effectively scrapped by the Pacific nation after it was signed in 2022. While most of the details in the agreement are not yet public, Australia has labelled it "transformational", and Mr Marles said it reflected the two nations had a "shared destiny". "What this agreement really does is, for the first time, acknowledge what has always been the truth, and that is that as two nations, we are family, and that our future is very much bound together," Mr Marles said. The Prime Minister of Vanuatu Jotham Napat declared the deal a "win-win" for both countries. "The agreement that has entered today will transpire into a lot of great benefits between the two countries, whether it be the security agreement, economic transformation, with some specific focus on the mobile labour mobility and financial support," Mr Napat told journalists in Tanna. Under the agreement, Australia is expected to funnel funding into a host of areas, including climate resilience, key infrastructure, security support, labour mobility and budget support. There were some last-minute negotiations to secure an in-principle agreement ahead of the ministers' arrival, with officials from Vanuatu telling the ABC that both sides had to make some late concessions in order to secure the pact. Mr Marles would not be drawn on exactly what financial commitments Australia had made, but said the Nakamal Agreement "acknowledges our shared economic connection". He added it "makes clear that it is core business for Australia to be engaged in the human development of Vanuatu". It is also not clear if the arrangement will make it easier for Ni-Vanuatu to travel to Australia. Ahead of the agreement, Mr Napat declared he would not sign unless Australia agreed to introduce "visa-free" travel for his country's citizens, an arrangement which Australia has never introduced for any Pacific island nations. When asked whether Australia had offered any concessions on this front, Mr Napat said there would be an "agenda item" on visa-free travel in the Nakamal Agreement, but also suggested the subject was still being discussed — saying Australia "would get back to us on that". While Australia has not outlined its position publicly, the ABC has been told that while a "visa free" arrangement was not on the table, the government was willing to discuss liberalising broader travel requirements for citizens of Vanuatu. Griffith Asia Institute Adjunct Associate Professor Tess Newton Cain said the question around travel was a "real issue for the Vanuatu government and for the prime minister personally". "He has said that this is a 'must have' as far as he is concerned and he knows that if it doesn't transpire, it will reflect badly on him," Dr Cain told the ABC. She also said other Pacific nations would be watching the discussions between Vanuatu and Australia closely. "If, and it's a big if, Australia does grant some degree of visa-free access, for example, for Vanuatu officials, it will be very significant because we would expect to see pressure from other Pacific island countries for the same," she said. The agreement comes as Australia pushes back against China's efforts to embed itself as a major commercial and security partner for Vanuatu. Vanuatu has leaned heavily on Chinese institutions to fund major infrastructure projects and Beijing recently gifted it a sprawling new presidential palace, which was estimated to cost $31 million. China's police training teams have also been playing an increasingly visible role in the Pacific island nation. Vanuatu is not expected to hand Australia any "veto" rights over security partnerships with outside countries under the Nakamal Agreement, as both Nauru and Tuvalu have done in their strategic pacts with Canberra. But federal government officials nonetheless hope the substantial commitments on security within the pact will help enshrine Australia's position as Vanuatu's top security partner. Dr Cain suggested the Nakamal Agreement would likely have greater staying power than the 2022 bilateral security agreement signed by former Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau, which first stalled in parliament before being effectively dumped by Mr Napat. "The process is the main difference — this has been signed off by both the National Security Council and the Council of Ministers, which did not happen in 2022," she said. "It also is being designated as much broader than simply a security agreement with commitments made across several domains, including climate resilience, economic development and budget support."
News.com.au
22 minutes ago
- News.com.au
ASX slumps as CBA financial results disappoint investors
Australia's sharemarket slumped on Wednesday as investors sold off CBA, Computershare and AGL shares on disappointing financial results. The benchmark ASX 200 dropped 53.70 points, or 0.60 per cent, to 88271.0 while the broader All Ordinaries lost 47.20 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 9103.10. Australia's dollar is trading 0.23 per cent higher, buying 65.44 US cents. Overall, six of the 11 sectors gained, but falls in the utilities and financials offset gains out of materials, healthcare and consumer staples. The drag on the market was led by CBA, with the heavyweight pulling down the entire market, due to being almost 12 per cent of the index. Shares in Australia's largest company plunged 5.41 per cent to $169.12 on its latest profit announcement. The fall comes despite Australia's largest bank saying improving household budgets helped drive it to a monster $10.25bn profit. CBA will also pay out a final dividend of $2.60 per share, taking total dividend payouts for the year to $4.85, which is a new record high for the bank. Despite announcing strong profits, the bank, which has seen its share price climb 30 per cent over the year, was priced for perfection, with analysts saying the result did not match the valuation. IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said CBA was being dumped due to its lofty valuations. 'The falls come as the market continues to question its lofty valuation and as the RBA's rate-cutting cycle reduces the ability of the bank to leverage its large deposit base and as margins are compressed,' he said in a market note. CBA dragged the rest of the financial sector down. NAB shares fell 2.63 per cent to $38.16, Westpac dropped 2.11 per cent to $33.90 and ANZ slipped 0.19 per cent to $31.87. While the banks sold off, the major miners and healthcare shares gained. The miners were boosted by rising iron ore futures prices on the back of China steel production curbs in the north, adding to tightening global supply. BHP gained 1.14 per cent to $41.73, Rio Tinto added 0.96 per cent to $117.84 and Fortescue jumped 1.37 per cent to $19.93. Healthcare heavyweight CSL gained 1.98 per cent to $269.55, while Cochlear was up 0.43 per cent to $313.29 and Ramsay Healthcare added 0.60 per cent to $38.81 on a strong day for the sector. In other company news, Australia's largest winemaker, Treasury Wine Estates, told the market it was lifting its dividends as well as buying $200m worth of stock as part of its latest company announcement. The business said revenue grew by 6.5 per cent to $2.99bn for the 12 months until June 30, while net profit after tax soared 342 per cent to $437m due to one-off items that dragged down last year's performance being removed. Shares rose 1.18 per cent to $7.72. Computershares fell 3.78 to $39.75 after announcing revenue dropped 5.6 per cent to $3.1bn for the year to June 30. Profits rose 72 per cent to $607m. AGL shares plunged 13.11 per cent to $8.88 after the power generation company said there would be a steeper-than-expected 21.2 per cent drop in profits to $640m.
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Expat snaps up Bellevue Hill home for $21m at hot auction
A grand Bellevue Hill estate has sold for more than $21m— $6m above the latest price guide — at an exciting private auction tonight. There were 19 registered for the four-bedroom circa 1930s deceased estate 'Fernlee' at 41 Drumalbyn Rd, bought in 1990 for $2.3m by two doctors, Katherine Tang Yiu, and her late husband Robert. The property, on an elevated 930sqm block, has magnificent harbour views and is in a dress-circle position. It was marketed by Laing + Simmons Double Bay's Steven Zoellner and had a $13m to $14.3m guide when Fernleigh first hit the market early last month. It was revised to $15m 10 days ago after two offers were received. The exact sale price was $21,076,000. Prominent buyer's agent Simon Cohen represented the buyer, but he had no comment when contacted. Other sources said the buyer was an expat currently living overseas. There'd been speculation in other media that the buyer was media mogul Lachlan Murdoch, who lives nearby, but the sources said he wasn't the successful purchaser. When asked to explain why the home went so far above the buyer's guide, Zoellner said: 'This house is so unique, in a style that the buyers like something like ... it has the elegance of an older-style home, with high ceilings, views and big rooms. 'There were 19 registered bidders, and it was super active. 'It was a private auction and only registered buyers could attend, and the room was completely full.' It's understood the property was bought in a company name. Auctioneer Jake Moore of Cooleys is understood to have had eight of the 19 who registered competing at rooms at Double Bay, with bidding opening at $16m and rising in $500,000 increments up to $20m. It was down to $1000k bids at the end, with four bidders over $20m and down to just two bidders above $21m. The underbidder was a Bellevue Hill resident. Katherine died at the age of 91 last July, but moved out six years ago and the house had been sitting empty. In an obituary, her beloved niece, Cho-Wai Cheung, wrote: 'I always marveled at her energy in handling a huge house and the expansive front and back yards. 'Aunty Katherine was gracious and resilient. She was a dedicated and loving wife, mother and grandmother. 'She had a good knowledge of the Chinese history and Chinese antiques. 'I was always fascinated by the historical background that she told me about the furniture and paintings in her house. 'Her mind was still so sharp!' The home was once owned by a man who received one of the highest awards that can be given by the Pope. It was purchased by Ulisse Pellegrini, managing director of the firm Pellegrini and Co, and his wife, May, in 1931 for an unknown amount. The respected firm, established in 1890 in Melbourne, provided religious supplies to Catholic churches and schools. Pellegrini died at Lewisham Hospital at the age of 56 in February 1950. According to his death notice in the Sydney Morning Herald: 'Mr Pellegrini was honoured with the Papal Knighthood of St Gregory in 1947 ... Mr Pellegrini has been abroad on four occasions and in 1929 was received in private audience by the late Pope Pius Xi.'
