Biggest Drop In Aussie Property In 18 Yrs

Source : The Business Times, August 20, 2009

(SYDNEY) Capital values in the Australian property market plumbed 18-year lows in the year to end-June 2009, as increasing numbers of fund managers bit the bullet and marked down assets, property research firm IPD said.

The IPD and the Australian Property Council index showed capital values for all property sectors fell 13.3 per cent in the period.

This was the largest fall in asset values since the trough of the property crash in 1991, property research firm IPD said.

'There is a clear move by the industry towards stronger governance and reporting, with many more organisations now valuing all of their assets each quarter,' Adrian Harrington, non-executive chairman of IPD Australia's Board, said in a statement on Tuesday.

About 80 per cent of the 1,100 assets in the IPD database were revalued in June, up from about 60 per cent in June 2007 and June 2008. - Reuters