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
One in three renters lose their bond, but some are fighting back
Henrietta Cook The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)One in three renters lost all or part of their bond last year, with legal and tenants groups warning that the situation is leaving many Victorians struggling to pay rent and basic living expenses at their next home. ... Renters and Housing Union secretary Eirene Tsolidis-Noyce said it was “unacceptable” that real estate agents were routinely keeping renters’ bonds. “Recent reports show the average cost for moving house is $4000, and renters have every right to have their bond returned when they decide they want to move,” she said.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/one-in-three-renters-lo…
# TUNSW in the media Australia, Bond, Rent.This graph shows why it’s so hard to save a house deposit
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)Australian home values rose almost 10 times faster than wages last year, with the market boom pushing the dream of homeownership further out of reach for more Australians.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/this-graph-shows-why-it-s-s…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market, Work, employment.‘It hurts’: Homebuyers already paying hundreds per month extra for the average house
Melissa Heagney and Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)The cost of a typical house has risen by hundreds of dollars a month for someone buying now compared with those who bought a year ago, as property prices rise and banks lift mortgage rates. An average new borrower’s regular repayments are as much as $1359 a month higher than if they bought a year ago despite no official interest rate hike, due to a skyrocketing property market and an increase in fixed mortgage rates by major lenders.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/it-hurts-homebuyers-already…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.How will Australia's property markets be impacted by the return of overseas arrivals?
Gareth Hutchens ABC (No paywall)As Australia's borders reopen, the return of overseas arrivals and subsequent demand for housing is expected to be slow. But a CoreLogic analyst says historical housing patterns show which segments of the property market could see changes in values as arrival numbers increase. And we're seeing some developments already. {read on]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-25/how-will-property-markets…
# Australia, Rent, Housing market, Students.How Jodie bought her mum a home at the age of 22
Rachael Evans ABC (No paywall)Growing up in south-western Sydney, Jodie's mother, Teresa, worked long hours earning minimum wage. After a string of injuries and, later, an osteoporosis diagnosis, Teresa was no longer able to easily access the family home. Once Jodie graduated from uni her first goal wasn't to travel — it was to buy her mum a home that she could live in comfortably. (ABC Everyday)
https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/how-jodie-bought-her-mum-a-home/…
# NSW, Families, Home ownership, Personal stories.Relief for home buyers: Price boom may be over
John Collett The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Property price growth in Melbourne and Sydney has stalled, as affordability constraints and higher fixed-interest rate mortgage rates start to bite and crimp demand. That will be good news for first home buyers struggling to save fast enough for a deposit. The property price boom has pushed 70 per cent of homes out of reach of buyers on middle incomes, despite record-low interest rates, with those able to buy forced to save for an extra year to have a big enough deposit.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/investing/relief-for-home-buyers-pr…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.What you need to know before renovating an investment property
Sue Williams Domain (No paywall)Because while it can be good fun with an investment property to pull out a rickety old kitchen and replace it with acres of gleaming marble, and to transform a grotty bathroom into a dazzling white spa, many amateurs discover that they’ve spent far more than they could ever recoup. “It’s easy to get carried away and overcapitalise on an investment property,” Belinda Botzolis, valuer and senior property strategist at Metropole Property, says.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/what-you-need-to-know-befor…
# Australia, Housing market, Landlords and agents.RBA to gradually increase rates to avoid mortgage shock, top economists predict
Shane Wright and Jennifer Duke The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)An increase in household debt during the COVID-19 recession will force the Reserve Bank to only gradually increase borrowing costs, the nation’s leading economists believe, although they warn official interest rates could easily climb above 3 per cent.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/rba-to-gradually-increas…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.