Interest rates can fall 'a lot further' without housing bubble risk: Harry Triguboff

Meriton boss Harry Triguboff says there is room for the Reserve Bank to cut the cash rate by a lot more to help struggling property markets that have not been boosted by recent monetary policy easing.

Triguboff told Business Spectator’s Robert Gottliebsen that rate cuts had boosted the Sydney and Melbourne property markets, but he said markets like Queensland and the NSW central coast are still down around 20%.

“Think of these areas. They must rise. They need to rise desperately. We cannot have a country where only 20% of the properties go up and 60% go down while 20% are static.

“The interest rates have a lot further to go down without any fear of bubble,” said Triguboff.

Triguboff pointed to the example of the UK, where the current cash rate is 0.5% (since March 2009), but the country has not had a housing bubble due to cautious lending practices.

Meriton has no apartment projects on the NSW central coast, but has some of its biggest apartment projects are in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast.

Meriton's biggest project is the 81-storey Infinity residential tower in Brisbane, which is due for completion in late 2013.

According to the latest Midwood Report, Meriton has sold 287 of the 548 units at Infinity, with plans to keep 259 as serviced apartments – a growing component of the Meriton business.

Earlier this year Meriton completed the 74-floor Soleil, also in the Brisbane CBD. Of the 414 apartments, only 33 remain unsold.

On the Gold Coast Meriton is building Brighton on Broadwater at Southport, with all 216 apartments in Portia (stage E) sold out, according to the Midwood Report.

However the report also notes that Regatta (stage C) is not proceeding.

The most September RP-Data Rismark index shows Brisbane-Gold Coast apartment prices down 4.6% year-on-year to a median of $370,000.

The August Residex regional report shows Central Coast house prices up 2.19% year-on-year with a median value of $375,500.