Rental affordability is a major Australian issue. The rationale that rent controls aid tenants is misguided as international experience shows.

The best solution to addressing Australia’s housing crisis is a combination of two factors. Influencing demand and increasing supply.

While they are intrinsically unpopular, they’re still essential to a functioning society. They’re used to fund government activities, distribute wealth and shape behaviour. (Think ‘sin’ taxes on alcohol, tobacco and sugar).

One important dimension of Australia’s housing crisis is how we use existing housing supply. In particular, the impact on, and of, older people. Many retirees continue living in the family home even after their children have left. This is an inefficient use of the larger home.

There has been an under appreciation for biodiversity for far too long. We believe that biodiversity will be the next 'net zero'.

New policies around creating density in CBD and surrounding areas. Global cities show how to deliver more homes.

We explore lessons from Auckland's approach in enacting major planning changes to boost housing supply and address affordability

Last year, Atlas led a multi-disciplinary team to consider the changes and trends at play, understand the changing role, character and function of the Chinatown/Haymarket area located in the City of Sydney. The CoS Strategy builds upon many of the recommendations of Atlas’ work and includes a five point plan.

Part 3 of our asset bubble series takes us back to the future. By 1995, the internet was establishing itself as a powerful commerce tool. The rise of expectations and possibilities of what the internet could deliver grew immensely. The internet spawned a new category of businesses dubbed ‘Tech Start ups’. So a frenzy of investing began. Then it burst.

Part 2 of our asset bubble series transports us to the Land of the Rising Sun. We explore the Japanese real estate bubble of the late 1980s. We’ll be exploring its origins, dynamics, and consequences. Whilst offering insights into its enduring relevance in today’s economic landscape.

The story of the Dutch Tulip Mania is one of quintessential irrationality. It was in the early 1600s that tulips, introduced to Europe from the Ottoman Empire, began to capture the imagination of the Dutch elite. With their vibrant colours and patterns, tulips became status symbols for the wealthy and influential.

Australia is in the grip of a housing affordability crisis. Without change it will worsen, but proposed solutions are varied, contentious and untested. Solutions though are essential if we are to narrow the widening gulf between those who can afford to own their home, and those who cannot. Doing so is not just a social imperative, it is essential to our economic competitiveness and avoiding civic unrest.

Globally and in Australia, office markets are reeling as CBD vacancy hits record highs. Meta stumping up AU$238m to exit their London lease (see here) is just the latest high profile office casualty of hybrid working. Whether we are in the office end times or experiencing a passing working from home (WFH) fad divides opinion.

To date most office prophecies have been based on personal perspectives, experiences and hopes rather than facts. In order to provide a more balanced understanding of what is happening in reality and what the future for offices is likely to be using objective facts and evidence, we have crunched an array of non-real estate data sourced globally and within Australia on the factors which influence the home versus office working balance.

Globally and in Australia, office markets are reeling as CBD vacancy hits record highs. Meta stumping up AU$238m to exit their London lease (see here) is just the latest high profile office casualty of hybrid working. Whether we are in the office end times or experiencing a passing working from home (WFH) fad divides opinion, which is usually determined by the age, living arrangements and vested interests in the office market of either side.

Australian ecommerce penetration has fallen from the dizzy heights achieved during the pandemic. Online accounted for 11.0% of total retail sales in June 2023 compared to 15.3% in September 2021 (Figure 1). Whilst online sales are still significantly higher than 2019 levels, the growth rate will be measured. Here we explore what the ecommerce slowdown means for its biggest real estate beneficiary – logistics.

The Path to Recovery

Sustainability and ESG are hot topics being pursued with vigour by the property industry. An oft overlooked aspect of this is embodied carbon.If Australian government policy follows the lead of other western countries, it will soon be mandatory for new development and refurbishments to consider and limit embodied carbon impacts.

Real estate facilitates economic and societal progress as it provides the physical infrastructure which enables change. The energy transition, for example, depends upon new power generation, storage and distribution mechanisms which requires physical space.The sheer pace of recent structural changes related to mega-themes such as demographics, technology and urbanisation means that new real estate segments are emerging faster than ever.

We’ve explored in the past how Australian retail floorspace has been at the epicentre of structural change. Stores must evolve or die and we will need less space in the future. This leaves a significant number of redundant stores, particularly in fringe areas, that are unfit for modern retail and require repurposing.

The rise of Australian e-commerce has been quick. Online sales accounted for less than 2% of the total retail sales in March 2013 when ABS first started tracking it. If Australia follows a similar path to other western countries, e-commerce penetration rates will continue to rise.

Back in the day power and energy use was an afterthought for real estate occupiers and investors. As long as the property had a functioning power supply, that was good enough. Times have changed.

As any high school student will tell you, the most fundamental human needs are physiological –shelter and sustenance (Figure 1). In real estate this means housing. It is a non-negotiable basic necessity which must be satisfied before anything else like a job, relationships or leisure activities become relevant.

Location, location, location are, as the old adage goes, the three most critical factors in real estate. Given its critical importance in determining what type of real estate is needed and where though, a more apt modern description might be talent, talent, talent.

Walk around any major Australia city these days and it is clear real estate uses are merging. Once cities had clear delineations between different types of uses – offices in the CBD, a retail district nearby, separate suburban residential and industrial, logistics districts. CBDs today contain a broad range of uses, both horizontally within a precinct, and vertically within a single building.

Unless you have been living under a rock you will be aware that Australia is experiencing a period of rapidly rising prices. The latest ABS data recorded annual inflation of 6.9% in October, down from September but still amongst the highest rates for over three decades.

Real estate is a major emitter, accounting for around 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the UN. Around three-quarters of this comes through building operation – heating, cooling, lighting and so on – and one-quarter from embodied carbon in the materials and construction process.

Industrial and logistics space provide critical enabling infrastructure for the modern economy. It oils the wheels of consumption, trade and economic activity by building and delivering the goods required by businesses and households. Tech is having a dramatic impact on both production and distribution with major real estate implications.

Technology has transformed every aspect of our economy and our society over the last decade. Given that pace of technological change is accelerating, what we have seen so far is just the tip of the iceberg.

Increased automation in the workforce is happening. While projecting the precise impacts of automation on employment is highly challenging, published estimates range from 2-5 million Australian jobs will be lost over the next 10-15 years.