Building cost rises create horror year for Mirvac

One of the country’s largest property developers says an unrelenting rise in labour and material costs has halved its profit margins on some big apartment projects and will lead to significantly lower earnings this year.

Mirvac – which is diversified into property investment and funds management as well – also chalked up $1.1 billion writedowns across its commercial real estate portfolio, mostly in its office towers. It booked a $805 million statutory loss for the 12 months to the end of June.