Floodwaters across Queensland and New South Wales have now peaked and the widespread flooding has affected thousands of residences. The worst affected city in Queensland is Bundaberg, where more than 2000 homes and businesses have been affected. Ipswich, in Queensland’s south-east, has confirmed 35 homes have been inundated with floodwater. Insurance Australia Group Limited
(ASX:IAG) has received over 5,000 claims arising from the storms and flooding. Suncorp Group Limited
(ASX:SUN) confirmed earlier this week, it had received 4,500 claims associated with the impact of ex-tropical cyclone Oswald.
Real estate figures
New home sales rose for the third straight month at the end of last year. The Housing Industry Association has reported sales of new homes in Australia increased 6.2 per cent in December, after lifting 4.7 per cent the month before.
The HIA-RP Data Residential Land Report has revealed residential land sales fell by 17.8 per cent in the September quarter, which the HIA says, signals a ‘rocky road’ for any new home building recovery this year.
The December 2012 quarter Consumer Price Index figures show that the Reserve Bank of Australia's measure of inflation are within their target zone of 2-3 per cent. Industry groups are calling for further interest rate cuts.
Commentary FNN spoke to Westpac Banking Corporation's
(ASX:WBC) Senior Economist, Bill Evans about his view on where interest rates will move this year.
“Well we haven’t actually changed our interest rate forecast since May last year, when we lowered it from a low point of 3.75 per cent to a low point of 2.75 per cent. It’s now at 3 per cent, we do expect another rate cut in the next few months. Then we’ll make a decision at that point as to how the rate cuts have started to impact upon the economy but I think clearly there are little prospects of rates rising, if rates move further in the second half of the year it will be down.”
To watch more of the interview click
here.
Auction results
Most capital cities remain dormant but are expected to resume as we move into February. Activity picked up on the Gold Coast where 103 properties were listed for auction by Ray White Surfers Paradise, who sold 72 of those listings.
Commercial property sector
Leighton Holdings Limited
(ASX:LEI) has commenced first stage construction on the Wynn Resorts project in Macau, which is valued at $222 million.The entire project includes construction of a luxury hotel, gaming, dining, retail and convention facilities.
Lend Lease Group
(ASX:LLC) has inked a $370 million deal to construct up to 40,000 student accommodation units across England and Scotland.
Cedar Woods Properties Limited
(ASX:CWP) has boosted its first half net profit by 64 per cent to about $18 million. The property developer also increased its full year guidance from $34 to $35 million.
