• The key to customer satisfaction is to surprise and delight. By answering questions before they are asked, you can instil confidence, comfort and above all trust in your customers, giving them a positive experience.
• By preparing and prompting the customer in advance of settlement to understand the process, roles and responsibilities of all parties, you can relive unnecessary stress and anxiety. Never expect the customer to know what is expected of them.
• Get proactive with valuations, engage local Valuers, introduce the project, prepare effective reports and facilitate informed inspections. Finance is the number one reason for cancellation, investing the time and paying attention to the market will give your project the best chance of standing out from the crowd.

Contact Cue today to find out how your project could benefit from our tailored services.  

by Leah Kent

• Consider who is representing your business and brand to your customer. Customer service is paramount but there are also contractual and legal landmines in every conversation and piece of correspondence between you and the customer. Can you be confident that you are not being misrepresented or misleading?
• Equip your dedicated customer relations representative with the information and authority to support the team and the customer efficiently and accurately. An experienced interface can manage all aspects of the process on behalf of your business.
• Don’t elect a resource distracted by contending priorities such as the next sale, the completion of a project or worse, the next development from your competition. By managing priorities and best utilising your team's skills, the risk and reward of settlements is always in focus.

          Contact Cue to day to find out how your project could benefit from our tailored services. 
 
          by Leah Kent 

• Introduce a single point of contact for your customers and key stakeholders to deal with directly. Matching a friendly and familiar face to the name will make the customer journey more personal and memorable.​
• Keep communication regular, interesting and consistent for greater engagement, this will give customers comfort and reassurance that the development is progressing.
• Be sure to keep the messaging consistent, if it isn’t confirmed and correct, don’t include it. Moving dates and mixed messages will create unnecessary anxiety and frustration for all parties involved.

           Contact Cue today to find out how your project could benefit from our tailored services.  

           by Leah Kent

Whichever side of the fence you sit on Brisbane’s apartment supply debate, don’t bury your head in the sand when it comes to settlement risk.
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Let me share with you, my top five tips for reducing the risk of cancellation while promoting my other two key objectives, increasing referrals and encouraging repeat purchases. 

Standard & Poor’s has waded into the volatile debate on Australian apartment prices, noting a rising shadow of depreciation.

The ratings agency, in its latest report into the state of the Australian housing market, echoed statements from the Reserve Bank in saying “settlement risk” was on the rise, particularly in two of the nation’s top three markets.

“There is growing concern over the large volume of new unit stock coming to the market, in addition to the already-existing supply, particularly in inner-city postcodes. This is more pronounced in Melbourne and Brisbane,” S&P said. “The increase in supply of units, coming at a time of tightening in lending conditions, could raise settlement risk.”

The S&P report came as building approvals data released yesterday revealed the apartment building boom had yet to fade. The Australian Bureau of Statistics data showing an 8.1 per cent jump in multi-unit dwellings during April.

The Housing Industry Association said apartment approvals were driven by the eastern seaboard states with approvals jumping by 20 per cent in Queensland, 19 per cent in NSW, and 7 per cent in Victoria. South Australia also posted an increase of 3 per cent.

Off-the-plan developments were the primary source of concern for S&P, with the lag between the contract being signed and final settlement potentially seeing some buyers walk away.

S&P said property prices could be affected by the spectre of oversupply along with the tighter lending standards.

“While some of the decline in investment demand has been offset by increased demand from owner-occupiers, we believe falling participation by investors in the property market has affected property price growth to some extent,” the report said.

However, the ratings agency sees little chance of a “sharp correction” in the near-term and believes the market is more immune to an economic downturn than the average, given incentives pushing Australians to pay off their home loans quicker, robust regulatory standards and a strong local culture to pay off debts.

Source: The Australian by Daniel Palmer

Inner-city apartment prices could be affected by a wave of new properties coming onto the market at the same time as some off-the-plan buyers struggle to settle on their purchases, Standard & Poor's says.

The credit ratings agency has highlighted fears of an oversupply of apartments in Melbourne and Brisbane especially, alongside "settlement risk", caused by tougher bank lending rules.

Despite the commentary, which comes after the Reserve Bank warned about the risks to bank loans of property developers building apartments, S&P said it did not expect an increase in home loan defaults.

Reserve Bank figures, published on Tuesday, also showed further slowing in housing credit growth in the year to April, led by weaker growth in lending to investors.

Amid an apartment building boom in many of Australia's biggest cities, S&P analysts said in a report published on Tuesday that the balance between supply and demand for property, appeared to be narrowing, especially in the apartment market.

"There is growing concern over the large volume of new unit stock coming onto the market, in addition to the already-existing supply, particularly in inner-city postcodes. This is more pronounced in Melbourne and Brisbane," the S&P report said.

Settlement risk increases
The  new units will be coming onto the market at the same time as banks have tightened their lending to property investors, especially those from overseas and buyers of high-rise apartments.

Many banks are requiring investors to stump up bigger deposits, which raises "settlement risk" if off-the-plan buyers had assumed they could get a bigger loan when they put down their 10 per cent deposit.

"This is of particular concern for off-the-plan developments, which have a lag between the contract being signed and final settlement. Property prices could be affected, particularly if new units coming up for settlement are in competition with existing supply," S&P said.
Moody's also said last week that settlement risk had increased because of a fall in inward investment in residential property from China.

Westpac, ANZ Bank, Commonwealth Bank and  National Australia Bank have all in recent months tightened or stopped lending to overseas buyers, who tend to be big buyers of off-the-plan apartments.

Banks also cracked down last year on lending to domestic property investors, in response to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority's 10 per cent cap on housing investor credit growth.
Figures from the RBA on Tuesday showed housing investor credit growth slowed to 6.5 per cent in the year to April, from 7.1 per cent.

ANZ Bank economists said the slower growth in mortgage lending would be welcome news to officials who had been concerned last year about the market overheating, especially as the May interest rate cut was likely to stimulate the property market.

Mortgage risk 
Lending to owner-occupiers rose to 7.3 per cent, while business credit also strengthened, lifting to 7 per cent, its quickest annual pace since early 2009.

The Reserve Bank also said in April there was potential for banks to make "large losses" from soured loans to property developers, amid concerns of a looming glut of apartments in parts of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Even so, the latest round of financial results showed low levels of mortgage stress, despite some lift in troubled loans in mining areas. 

S&P's report, an annual overview of the market for mortgage bonds, which lenders issue to raise money, says the proportion of mortgage borrowers falling behind on their repayments has drifted higher for the past five months, especially in mining states Western Australia and Queensland.

The rise in arrears was the result of mining workers moving into lower-paid jobs, it said, adding that as the jobs market was "relatively stable" it did not expect higher arrears to translate into a rise in mortgage defaults.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald by Clancy Yeates