| Australian retail and office property prices fell in the three months to Dec. 31 as rents declined, a private survey showed. Retail property capital values dropped 1.4 percent in the last quarter of 2012, while industrial property values slipped 1.2 percent and offices weakened 0.6 percent, according to a National Australia Bank Ltd. survey released today. Rents eased in all markets in the period, led by a 2.1 percent decline in retail, NAB said.
Retail sales unexpectedly fell for a third month in December, the longest stretch of declines in 13 years, a government report showed Feb. 6. The Reserve Bank of Australia cut the benchmark interest rate to 3 percent in December, matching a half-century low, in a bid to spur non-mining areas of the economy.......................................Full Article: Source
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