Housing News Digest
Housing News Digest
The Tenants' Union Housing News Digest compiles our pick of items from all the latest tenancy and housing media, sent once per week, on Thursdays.
Below is the Digest archive from November 2020 onwards. From time to time you will find additional items in the archive that did not make it into the weekly Digest email. Earlier archives are here, where you can also find additional digests by other organisations.
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Archive
Clothing Store Precinct preparing for sale
Geoff Turnbull (No paywall)The Clothing Store Precinct between Carriageworks and Pines Estate in Newtown may be the first part of North Eveleigh to be redeveloped. Also, flick down to item entitled: 'ALP NSW Conference supports public housing'. (South Sydney Herald)
https://southsydneyherald.com.au/clothing-store-precinct-prepari…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Planning and development.Now that Australia’s house prices are falling, does the RBA really need to raise rates yet again?
Greg Jericho The Guardian (No paywall)The Reserve Bank continues to signal it wants to kill inflation and yet what exactly still needs to be put to the sword? With falling house prices, will further rate rises now do more harm than good?
https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2022/nov/02/now…
# Australia, Housing market.Workers feel mortgage, insurance pain as inflation and interest rates rise
Rachel Clun The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The rising costs of mortgages, groceries and insurance are squeezing workers and putting some households under increasing financial stress as they face growing inflation and the Reserve Bank’s continued interest rate rises. The value of new owner-occupier loans fell for the fourth month in a row as households around the country tightened their budget belts over October, and inflation reached 7.3 per cent.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/workers-feel-mortgage-in…
# Australia, Families, Housing market, Work, employment.The eye of the storm: House prices still have a long way to fall
Elizabeth Knight The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)It’s a nail-biting period for homeowners. The rate of decline in house prices eased again in September suggesting a softer landing for the market but if the consensus of economists is to be believed, it’s not over yet. We could be in the eye of the storm. And if house prices experience a peak to trough fall of between 15 per cent and 20 per cent, as many economists expect, we are less than half way there given the national market is off only circa 6 per cent. Even if the Reserve Bank of Australia, which places a more conservative 11 per cent estimate on house price devaluation, is closer to the mark, there is still a long way to go before the market cools down.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/the-eye-of-the-storm…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.House prices in mining towns rise as other areas of Australia fall
Andrew Chounding ABC (No paywall)House prices across Australia have fallen since their mid-year peak, but in some regional towns, the cost of buying a house has continued to rise. In the Goldfields town of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, demand for accommodation has been stretched by workers in the mining and resources sector. Almost half of all homes in Kalgoorlie were occupied by renters, with the vacancy rate at 0.3 per cent. Local realtor Gavin Gilmore said the demand for rentals had pushed prices rise to the point where buying a property could be more affordable than renting. "Our rental vacancy rate is hovering around zero per cent, that puts enormous pressure on companies in one respect, but also employees to find accommodation," he said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-02/regional-house-prices-min…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market, Work, employment.Australian home prices fall for six months in a row as interest rate rises bite
Sue Lannin and Rhiana Whitson ABC (No paywall)National property prices have fallen for the sixth month in a row as higher interest rates make the cost of borrowing more expensive.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-01/home-prices-property-inte…
# Australia, Housing market.Glimmer of good news for homeowners facing a mortgage cliff
Melissa Heagney Domain (No paywall)Homeowners who fixed their mortgage rate at rock-bottom levels will save as much as $20,000 compared to if they had stayed on a variable loan, new modelling shows, a boost to mortgage holders preparing for higher repayments. Much has been made of the looming cliff, as many owners prepare to refinance next year and pay hundreds of dollars more per month. But new analysis shows the benefit to those who chose fixed instead of variable after the pandemic hit.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/glimmer-of-good-news-for-ho…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.As rates rise again, Australia's average property prices are falling. Here's how steeply home prices are dropping across the nation
Angelica Silva and Dinah Lewis Boucher ABC (No paywall)Australia's median property values dropped 1.2 per cent in October, to $721,018, a figure including both houses and apartments. The rate of falls has eased in Sydney and in Melbourne but has "gathered momentum" in Brisbane, where home values are now falling the most rapidly of any capital city or rest-of-state region, according to Tim Lawless, the research director for property data and analytics firm CoreLogic.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-01/australian-property-price…
# Australia, Housing market.