Why Smart Developers Are Ditching Traditional Brokers
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    HOUSE MEDIAN ASKING PRICES AND WEEKLY CHANGE     Sydney $1,736,779 (+1.11%)       Melbourne $1,057,340 (+0.67%)       Brisbane $1,151,226 (+0.91%)       Adelaide $1,015,559 (-0.31%)       Perth $1,005,131 (+1.51%)       Hobart $796,466 (+0.04%)       Darwin $882,186 (+3.28%)       Canberra $964,108 (-3.09%)       National $1,143,418 (+0.66%)                UNIT MEDIAN ASKING PRICES AND WEEKLY CHANGE     Sydney $795,054 (-0.05%)       Melbourne $519,602 (-0.44%)       Brisbane $725,709 (+0.28%)       Adelaide $576,859 (+0.27%)       Perth $556,364 (-0.30%)       Hobart $539,090 (+1.17%)       Darwin $431,601 (-3.46%)       Canberra $496,653 (+1.87%)       National $602,168 (+0.09%)                HOUSES FOR SALE AND WEEKLY CHANGE     Sydney 12,039 (+174)       Melbourne 12,993 (-35)       Brisbane 7,289 (-39)       Adelaide 2,335 (-40)       Perth 5,251 (-17)       Hobart 827 (+11)       Darwin 144 (+1)       Canberra 937 (+12)       National 41,815 (+67)                UNITS FOR SALE AND WEEKLY CHANGE     Sydney 9,101 (+9)       Melbourne 6,848 (-50)       Brisbane 1,320 (-17)       Adelaide 358 (+2)       Perth 1,221 (-32)       Hobart 171 (+4)       Darwin 244 (+4)       Canberra 1,120 (+13)       National 20,383 (-67)                HOUSE MEDIAN ASKING RENTS AND WEEKLY CHANGE     Sydney $800 ($0)       Melbourne $580 ($0)       Brisbane $670 ($0)       Adelaide $630 (-$10)       Perth $700 ($0)       Hobart $600 (+$8)       Darwin $750 ($0)       Canberra $690 (-$10)       National $685 (-$2)                UNIT MEDIAN ASKING RENTS AND WEEKLY CHANGE     Sydney $750 (-$10)       Melbourne $599 (-$1)       Brisbane $650 ($0)       Adelaide $535 (+$8)       Perth $650 (-$25)       Hobart $460 (-$5)       Darwin $595 (-$5)       Canberra $570 ($0)       National $612 (-$6)                HOUSES FOR RENT AND WEEKLY CHANGE     Sydney 5,374 (-74)       Melbourne 7,632 (-176)       Brisbane 3,997 (+12)       Adelaide 1,498 (-8)       Perth 2,385 (-46)       Hobart 156 (-18)       Darwin 100 (+7)       Canberra 417 (-34)       National 21,559 (-337)                UNITS FOR RENT AND WEEKLY CHANGE     Sydney 7,991 (-97)       Melbourne 5,949 (-41)       Brisbane 1,977 (-78)       Adelaide 411 (-13)       Perth 729 (-25)       Hobart 70 (-7)       Darwin 149 (+12)       Canberra 680 (-44)       National 17,956 (-293)                HOUSE ANNUAL GROSS YIELDS AND TREND         Sydney 2.40% (↓)       Melbourne 2.85% (↓)       Brisbane 3.03% (↓)       Adelaide 3.23% (↓)       Perth 3.62% (↓)     Hobart 3.92% (↑)        Darwin 4.42% (↓)     Canberra 3.72% (↑)        National 3.11% (↓)            UNIT ANNUAL GROSS YIELDS AND TREND         Sydney 4.91% (↓)     Melbourne 5.99% (↑)        Brisbane 4.66% (↓)     Adelaide 4.82% (↑)        Perth 6.08% (↓)       Hobart 4.44% (↓)     Darwin 7.17% (↑)        Canberra 5.97% (↓)       National 5.28% (↓)            HOUSE RENTAL VACANCY RATES AND TREND       Sydney 2.0% (↑)      Melbourne 1.9% (↑)      Brisbane 1.4% (↑)      Adelaide 1.3% (↑)      Perth 1.2% (↑)      Hobart 1.0% (↑)      Darwin 1.6% (↑)      Canberra 2.7% (↑)      National 1.7% (↑)             UNIT RENTAL VACANCY RATES AND TREND       Sydney 2.4% (↑)      Melbourne 3.8% (↑)      Brisbane 2.0% (↑)      Adelaide 1.1% (↑)      Perth 0.9% (↑)      Hobart 1.4% (↑)      Darwin 2.8% (↑)      Canberra 2.9% (↑)      National 2.2% (↑)             AVERAGE DAYS TO SELL HOUSES AND TREND       Sydney 26.8 (↑)        Melbourne 27.0 (↓)       Brisbane 29.6 (↓)       Adelaide 24.7 (↓)       Perth 34.3 (↓)       Hobart 27.7 (↓)       Darwin 25.7 (↓)       Canberra 26.9 (↓)       National 27.8 (↓)            AVERAGE DAYS TO SELL UNITS AND TREND         Sydney 27.1 (↓)       Melbourne 27.4 (↓)       Brisbane 29.3 (↓)       Adelaide 26.8 (↓)       Perth 34.5 (↓)       Hobart 26.7 (↓)     Darwin 31.3 (↑)      Canberra 39.7 (↑)        National 30.4 (↓)           
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Why Smart Developers Are Ditching Traditional Brokers

With capital markets more complex than ever, a new generation of developers is turning to specialist debt advisors for tailored funding strategies, long-term partnerships, and access to alternative capital others can’t reach.

By Faris Dedic, Opinion
Thu, Jun 12, 2025 10:14amGrey Clock 2 min

Debt advisors go beyond brokering deals—they design capital strategies. Acting as portfolio stewards and trusted intermediaries, they align developer objectives with lender requirements to deliver tailored, long-term funding solutions.

Broader Access to Capital Markets

With relationships across a vast network of banks, non-bank financiers, private credit funds, and family offices, debt advisors provide access to alternative capital sources.

This reach enables the construction of customised capital stacks that may include mezzanine facilities, preferred equity, hybrid instruments, and other structured solutions that align with a project’s risk profile and lifecycle.

Especially in a constrained credit environment, this breadth of access often delivers superior pricing, greater leverage, and more flexibility compared to traditional broker-led channels.

Terms That Matter

While headline interest rates draw attention, debt advisors focus on the full picture. They negotiate on critical elements such as covenant headroom, redraw mechanics, amortisation profiles, prepayment terms, and security structures—preserving flexibility and mitigating future risk to improve project outcomes and capital efficiency.

Strategic Portfolio Management

In volatile markets, static debt can become a liability. Debt advisors continuously reassess and recalibrate facilities in response to rate changes, shifting market conditions, and project developments.

They coordinate refinancing, lead repricing discussions, and identify early exit opportunities to safeguard returns, ensuring that developers maintain balance sheet agility and reduce refinancing risk.

Master Interpreters Between Developers & Lenders

One of the most valuable functions a debt advisor performs is acting as an interpreter between developers and lenders. They understand both perspectives. By positioning proposals to align with lender frameworks, including committee metrics, serviceability models, and concentration thresholds, debt advisors use their reputational equity to influence lender decisions in ways that principals often cannot..

Proactive Risk Management

Debt advisors monitor macroeconomic trends, interest rate movements, and evolving credit standards to proactively flag risks within a developer’s portfolio. They identify refinancing inflection points, highlight covenant sensitivities, and build risk-mitigation strategies into the capital stack from day one, leveraging expertise in derivatives, hedging, and alternative security structures.

Regulatory & Market Intelligence

Navigating Australia’s dynamic regulatory landscape, including issues around non-bank lending, capital adequacy, and AML/CTF, debt advisors provide developers with real-time market insights. This intelligence helps avoid pitfalls and seize opportunities in an ever-shifting capital environment.

Efficiency Through Specialisation

Outsourcing the capital function to a specialist debt advisor streamlines operations and reduces internal bandwidth requirements. From managing data rooms and leading negotiations to coordinating legal documentation, debt advisors take on the operational burden, allowing developers to focus on delivery, construction, sales, and execution.

A Long‑Term Partnership Model

With a deep understanding of a developer’s portfolio, including facility history and long-term objectives, debt advisors are well-positioned to secure faster approvals, better terms, and smoother execution. Their established relationships with capital providers, coupled with portfolio insight, lead to more efficient and favourable outcomes across future projects. Over time, this strategic partnership becomes a competitive edge.

In Summary

In today’s selective capital markets, simple transactional brokering is no longer enough. Developers require strategic insight, risk foresight, and a partner who speaks both the lender’s and borrower’s language. Having a trusted advisor is no longer a luxury; it’s a necessity.

Faris Dedic is the Founder and Managing Director of DIG Capital Advisory and COI Capital Management



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A divide has opened in the tech job market between those with artificial-intelligence skills and everyone else.

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In a Sea of Tech Talent, Companies Can’t Find the Workers They Want

A divide has opened in the tech job market between those with artificial-intelligence skills and everyone else.

By CALLUM BORCHERS
Thu, Oct 2, 2025 4 min

There has rarely, if ever, been so much tech talent available in the job market. Yet many tech companies say good help is hard to find.

What gives?

U.S. colleges more than doubled the number of computer-science degrees awarded from 2013 to 2022, according to federal data. Then came round after round of layoffs at Google, Meta, Amazon, and others.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts businesses will employ 6% fewer computer programmers in 2034 than they did last year.

All of this should, in theory, mean there is an ample supply of eager, capable engineers ready for hire.

But in their feverish pursuit of artificial-intelligence supremacy, employers say there aren’t enough people with the most in-demand skills. The few perceived as AI savants can command multimillion-dollar pay packages. On a second tier of AI savvy, workers can rake in close to $1 million a year .

Landing a job is tough for most everyone else.

Frustrated job seekers contend businesses could expand the AI talent pipeline with a little imagination. The argument is companies should accept that relatively few people have AI-specific experience because the technology is so new. They ought to focus on identifying candidates with transferable skills and let those people learn on the job.

Often, though, companies seem to hold out for dream candidates with deep backgrounds in machine learning. Many AI-related roles go unfilled for weeks or months—or get taken off job boards only to be reposted soon after.

Playing a different game

It is difficult to define what makes an AI all-star, but I’m sorry to report that it’s probably not whatever you’re doing.

Maybe you’re learning how to work more efficiently with the aid of ChatGPT and its robotic brethren. Perhaps you’re taking one of those innumerable AI certificate courses.

You might as well be playing pickup basketball at your local YMCA in hopes of being signed by the Los Angeles Lakers. The AI minds that companies truly covet are almost as rare as professional athletes.

“We’re talking about hundreds of people in the world, at the most,” says Cristóbal Valenzuela, chief executive of Runway, which makes AI image and video tools.

He describes it like this: Picture an AI model as a machine with 1,000 dials. The goal is to train the machine to detect patterns and predict outcomes. To do this, you have to feed it reams of data and know which dials to adjust—and by how much.

The universe of people with the right touch is confined to those with uncanny intuition, genius-level smarts or the foresight (possibly luck) to go into AI many years ago, before it was all the rage.

As a venture-backed startup with about 120 employees, Runway doesn’t necessarily vie with Silicon Valley giants for the AI job market’s version of LeBron James. But when I spoke with Valenzuela recently, his company was advertising base salaries of up to $440,000 for an engineering manager and $490,000 for a director of machine learning.

A job listing like one of these might attract 2,000 applicants in a week, Valenzuela says, and there is a decent chance he won’t pick any of them. A lot of people who claim to be AI literate merely produce “workslop”—generic, low-quality material. He spends a lot of time reading academic journals and browsing GitHub portfolios, and recruiting people whose work impresses him.

In addition to an uncommon skill set, companies trying to win in the hypercompetitive AI arena are scouting for commitment bordering on fanaticism .

Daniel Park is seeking three new members for his nine-person startup. He says he will wait a year or longer if that’s what it takes to fill roles with advertised base salaries of up to $500,000.

He’s looking for “prodigies” willing to work seven days a week. Much of the team lives together in a six-bedroom house in San Francisco.

If this sounds like a lonely existence, Park’s team members may be able to solve their own problem. His company, Pickle, aims to develop personalised AI companions akin to Tony Stark’s Jarvis in “Iron Man.”

Overlooked

James Strawn wasn’t an AI early adopter, and the father of two teenagers doesn’t want to sacrifice his personal life for a job. He is beginning to wonder whether there is still a place for people like him in the tech sector.

He was laid off over the summer after 25 years at Adobe , where he was a senior software quality-assurance engineer. Strawn, 55, started as a contractor and recalls his hiring as a leap of faith by the company.

He had been an artist and graphic designer. The managers who interviewed him figured he could use that background to help make Illustrator and other Adobe software more user-friendly.

Looking for work now, he doesn’t see the same willingness by companies to take a chance on someone whose résumé isn’t a perfect match to the job description. He’s had one interview since his layoff.

“I always thought my years of experience at a high-profile company would at least be enough to get me interviews where I could explain how I could contribute,” says Strawn, who is taking foundational AI courses. “It’s just not like that.”

The trouble for people starting out in AI—whether recent grads or job switchers like Strawn—is that companies see them as a dime a dozen.

“There’s this AI arms race, and the fact of the matter is entry-level people aren’t going to help you win it,” says Matt Massucci, CEO of the tech recruiting firm Hirewell. “There’s this concept of the 10x engineer—the one engineer who can do the work of 10. That’s what companies are really leaning into and paying for.”

He adds that companies can automate some low-level engineering tasks, which frees up more money to throw at high-end talent.

It’s a dynamic that creates a few handsomely paid haves and a lot more have-nots.

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