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Above: The Sunshine Coast’s Northern Beaches property market has experienced strong growth.

The Sunshine Coast’s Northern Beaches property market has experienced strong growth according to new research from Place Advisory.

The Northern Beaches area includes Yaroomba, Coolum, Mount Coolum, Peregian and Point Arkwright.

Place Advisory spokesman Syd Walker said the area’s property market had experienced strong growth across all sectors including the land market which had recorded 13.9 per cent price growth over the 12 months, ending March this year.

Above: The luxury house market on the Northern Beaches has shown strong growth over the past 12 months.

“An increase of 25 per cent was also experienced from six months ago in our last land resale within Sekisui House’s Beachside development at Yaroomba and with limited stock available, we expect demand to remain high,” Mr Walker said.

“Our latest research into the area has indicated that the luxury house market on the Northern Beaches has shown strong growth over the past 12 months with homes sales over the $1 million mark experiencing 7.9 per cent price growth, recording a median price of $1,446,250.”

Sekisui House senior development manager Evan Aldridge said demand for land as well as house and land packages within the Beachside estate was driven by strong interest from owner-occupiers wanting to live in an exclusive beachside community.

Above:  Demand for land as well as house and land packages within the Beachside estate was driven by strong interest from owner-occupiers.

“There’s a real scarcity of vacant land within the Northern Beaches region so when you offer buyers the opportunity to live in a naturally harmonious environment with access to pristine beaches as well as Mt Coolum, then it’s easy to see why demand has continued to increase over the past few years,” he said.

“We have just sold out of the last vacant land lot in the Beachside estate which really reflects the popularity of what we have created. The last vacant lot sold for $696,000 while the first Affinity home has just sold off the plan for $1,320,000.

“The only product we currently have for sale are the Affinity homes in Beachside which are under construction and perfectly suited to their beachside lots.”

Each design maximises the natural light, ventilation and outdoor entertainment spaces while the interior features open-plan living allowing a seamless connectivity between all rooms.

“One of the key elements of the Affinity collection is its range of sustainability features, which is one of Sekisui House’s signature design incorporations. Each home has an 8-star energy rating and includes energy saving solutions such as a 3kW roof solar energy system,” he said.

Above: Each design maximises the natural light, ventilation and outdoor entertainment spaces.

Source: The Courier Mail

Recently, Alibaba announced that it will open its first office in Melbourne, Australia, as it plans to expand its presence internationally. This expansion is part of the company’s globalization strategy to reach two billion customers in the next two decades. 1300 Australian brands are already sold through Alibaba’s online stores and the company is well known in the region. By opening an office in the country, Alibaba plans to support existing merchants on its platform, encourage more companies to come onto its platform and develop relationships with the government and industry. Its strategy is two pronged: 1) Get more Australian sellers on its platform, which will increase foreign inventory for its Chinese buyers; and, 2) Expand its presence in the Australian e-commerce market to increase its user base. Alibaba also plans to go beyond its core business and introduce its cloud services and payment system (Alipay) in the region. We believe this expansion is important for Alibaba as it looks to become a global player and meet its ambitious growth target.

High Digital Penetration But Small Market Size

According to eMarketer, digital buyer penetration in Australia is the second highest in Asia Pacific. eMarketer estimates that nearly 80% of internet users in the region purchase via a digital channel, second only to Japan. However, due to its low population, digital buyers in the country are very low at around 12 million. While Alibaba has a presence in the region, it does not have a significant market share. In 2014, Alibaba’s Aliexpress hadless than 1% share in the total e-commerce retail sites in the region, capturing the ninth place. eBay (including eBay Australia) had a nearly 20% market share. E-commerce in Australia is growing at a fast pace, outstripping growth in physical stores with most transactions happening between 6pm and 9 pm.

As per our estimates, international commerce accounts for around 6% of Alibaba’s valuation and we expect its international commerce retail revenue to increase nearly fourfold from RMB 2.5 billion to more than RMB 10 billion by the end of our forecast period.

Australia can contribute to this growth and the company’s increased focus on the region can lead to higher growth. The company plans to expand in Australia beyond its core business. In e-commerce it plans to export from Australia to foreign markets and import to Australia. It also plans to build Alipay (its payment business) for Australian residents and tourists. Alibaba also plans to expand its cloud business in Australia, where it plans to target smaller companies, and is also looking at building a logistics infrastructure in the region.

We believe, global expansion is critical for Alibaba’s sustained growth. The company’s strategy to target regions that are familiar with its platform and already use its products will work well to establish its presence outside China. Australia is a small region, but should provide Alibaba a significant boost in its international e-commerce.

Source:Forbes

The outcome of the referendum means visiting Britain is a whole lot cheaper.

U.S. and Chinese online travel sites have reported a jump in queries about U.K. holidays since Britain voted to leave the European Union last week, a sign that “Brexit” and the resulting dramatic drop in the pound could boost tourism.

Travel agents, hotel chains, and airlines say it is too early to tell if the vote will impact bookings in the longer term, but inquiries jumped as travelers hunt for cheaper breaks.

Britain’s decision to pull out of the European Union leaves the world’s fifth-largest economy facing deep uncertainty.The pound has dropped to its lowest level in over three decades.

But for travelers like Wen Zhihong, from China’s western Chengdu, that means lower prices. She had been planning to spend her vacation traveling with her daughter in France and Italy, but said she changed her mind after the vote.

“Now it seems a better idea to travel to England,” Wen, a university official, said. “With the depreciation of the pound, hotels, plane tickets and shopping are all much cheaper.”

Ctrip.com, China’s biggest online travel agency, has already sought to capitalize on the surge in interest, arguing this week that a summer vacation in Britain could now be a third cheaper, helping U.K. searches on its app triple.

The company put out flyers with a dancing, winking figure in a Union Jack t-shirt, under the slogan, in Chinese, “Brexit: travel on the drop,” in reference to the weaker pound. In the background, a weeping figure in a European Union flag waves “bye.”

In the United States, online portals also reported a surge.

On June 24, as the result of the Brexit vote came through, Priceline Group’s PCLN 1.56% Kayak said it saw a 54% increase in U.S. searches exploring fares to the United Kingdom, compared with other Fridays in the month of June.

Flight searches from the U.K. for U.S. travel also rose 46%, according to Kayak.

“Americans may want to secure a great fare, while British may be worried that higher fares will soon hit the market,” said Billy Sanez, vice president of marketing and communications at FareCompare.com, which analyzes airfares.

Search site Travelzoo saw a 35.3% increase in travel searches from the U.S. to the U.K. from June 24 to June 27, and StudentUniverse, a travel booking site popular among young people, saw searches for flights from the U.S. to the U.K. double from a year ago.

“(People) are changing their mind and choosing to visit Britain, because with the depreciation of the pound it’s cheaper for them to go there to buy things,” said a senior executive at Beijing Utour International Travel Service.

He said the company was applying for more airline seats to accommodate tour bookings.

Souce:Fortune

Australia has always been one of the top favorite countries for immigration due to its reputable education institutions, moderate climates, and relaxed lifestyle. There are a variety of visa options for applicants to consider, and navigating the application process can be tricky. Golden Emperor invited Mr. Alan Ng (Legal Principal Director of AE & Associates), a migration law firm in Brisbane, Australia, to host a seminar on this topic. Vista on Riverview, a premium development in Brisbane’s Indooroopilly was featured.

Above: Cubie Chan, the Product Development Director of Golden Emperor Properties, provided a presentation on the Australian property market

Above: Mr. Alan Ng (Legal Principal Director of AE & Associates), a migration law firm in Brisbane, Australia, presented insights on Australian immigration

Oceans on all sides

Australia is surrounded by three oceans – the Pacific, the Indian and the Southern. There are 7000 officially identified beaches around Australia’s coastline, more than in any other country in the world, and every single one of them is accessible to the general public.

What is surprising is that given Australia’s size and landmass, 80% of the Australian population lives within 50 kilometres of the coast, clearly choosing to make the beach a real part of their lives.

A true beach culture

Australia’s beaches are some of the most beautiful in the world. With white sand, warm turquoise seas, blue skies, spectacular wild and marine life, it is a testament to Australia’s sheer size that many of its beaches remain nearly empty year-round, especially on the west coast of the continent.

As a society, Australia has claimed the ‘beach culture’ as its own, and the rest of the world honours the claim. Fashion labels, recreational sports, careers, music, arts and lifestyles revolve around the beach.

Where to go?

The beaches along the eastern side of the country are significantly more populated and well-known globally, leaving unspoiled havens to those willing to travel west.

World-famous Bondi Beach in Sydney is known for its surf and provides a fantastic arena for people-watching.

Queensland’s Mission Beach, in contrast, is almost totally deserted, with rainforest edging the blindingly white sand.

Monkey Beach, and its resort Monkey Mia in Western Australia, is famous for its friendly bottlenose dolphins, which happily interact with humans.

The largest sand island in the world, Fraser Island, is home to 75 Mile Beach, surrounded by some of the world’s most shark-infested waters on one side and one of Australia’s largest wild dingo colonies on the other. But it’s not all wild and scary on Fraser Island – it is here visitors can see, and swim in, what are arguably the most beautiful and spectacular freshwater lakes in the world.

Bells Beach, on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, is home to legendary surf. On Cable Beach at Broome you’ll find camels loping through idyllic sunsets. And out-of-the-way Hyams Beach, near Jervis Bay, is said to have the whitest sand in the world – so clean it squeaks as you walk.

Each Australian state proudly declares its beaches to be the most beautiful, the most pristine, the least visited, the most visited, the safest or the best. The truth is, they are all incredible, and offer unmatched beauty and lifestyle.

Source：Working in Australia