JLL has appointed two executives to its Canberra team, in anticipation of strengthening sales activity in the capital city as funds overflow from the tightly held Sydney and Melbourne markets.
Michael Heather has been appointed as JLL’s head of sales and investments for ACT. He was previously director of capital markets ACT at Colliers International.
Aaron Green has been appointed as sales and leasing executive for ACT and also comes from Colliers, with over six years of experience.
Heather has been involved in major deals in Canberra, including most recently the sale of major asset the New Acton building at 23 Marcus Clarke St during late 2014 for $45.1 million to Melbourne property syndicator Placer Property.
JLL’s ACT managing director Andrew Balzanelli said Canberra team is undergoing a period of growth and the new hires are part of their expansion strategy moving forward.
Heather also said the investment market in Canberra remains strong and he expects transaction volumes to increase in 2015.
“On the back of a solid 2014 in investment sales I anticipate an increase in transaction volumes in Canberra this year, driven by the weight of foreign capital in the market and the falling Australian dollar. In the last 12-24 months we have seen institutional buyers return to Canberra seeking assets with diversified cash flow and attractive yields, while private investors and syndicators continue to be on the hunt for yield.
“The Canberra yield cycle typically lags the Sydney and Melbourne cycles, so given the compression we’ve seen in those markets, we expect yields to tighten in Canberra over the next 12 months,” Heather said.
Australian Property Journal
