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
Distressed housing sales rise as owners succumb to Australia’s rising interest rates
Caitlin Cassidy The Guardian (No paywall)Distressed housing listings are on the rise as mortgage holders struggle under the weight of seven consecutive interest rate hikes. The number of homeowners selling properties under distressed conditions has risen by about 15% since interest rates began to increase in May, SQM Research found, at the same time the housing market is slowing. In the past month alone, distressed listings, where the seller is forced into making a loss or accepting a lower price than they usually would, jumped by 5.7% nationally, with increases of 7.8% in New South Wales and 7.5% in Queensland.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/nov/05/distresse…
# Australia, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Staff, housing shortages in WA prompt labour hire firm to book out tourist hostel for two years
Sam Bold ABC (No paywall)At this time of year, Cameron Morris would normally be gearing up for a busy summer playing host to backpackers from all over the world. But his Dunsborough Beach Lodge hostel, 300 kilometres south of Perth, is instead booked solid through to 2025 – not by backpackers, but a labour-hire firm looking to house workers locally. ... it's a symptom of a growing housing crisis plaguing holiday towns in WA's South West ...
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-03/staff-housing-shortage-wa…
# Australia, Housing market, Work, employment.Victorian Liberals pledge stamp duty cut for first-home buyers, Labor promises veterans card
Yara Murray-Atfield and Richard Willingham ABC (No paywall)The Victorian opposition has said it would scrap stamp duty for first-home buyers who purchase property worth less than $1 million if it wins the state election. ... "We want to get more Victorians into home ownership, not into long-term renting, but into owning their own home," Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-06/victorian-election-libera…
# Australia, Home ownership, State Government, Tax.How long after missing a mortgage payment does a home get repossessed? A financial counsellor says it doesn't have to come to that
Dannielle Maguire ABC (No paywall)With the Reserve Bank of Australia warning of more interest rate rises in the future, there are fears overextended borrowers might default on their mortgage repayments. It's a frightening prospect but Lody Stewart, a financial counsellor who works with Financial Counselling Australia, says there are ways to get yourself out of trouble. But before we get into that, let's run through the three steps of a bank repossessing a home.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-07/what-happens-when-your-de…
# Australia, Home ownership, Mortgagee repossession.Sydney’s plunging property prices leave potential sellers spooked
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Sydney’s fastest house price decline in decades has scared home sellers, who were less likely to list their properties for sale in October than the month before. A seasonal spring rush of properties for sale has failed to materialise and new listings fell 2.3 per cent last month from the previous month, SQM Research data shows.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/sydney-s-plunging-property-…
# NSW, Housing market.Only in Sydney: $15,000 a week rent to find cockroaches – and the landlady – on arrival
Lucy Macken The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)When the American director of the Illawarra Hawks basketball team, Jared Novelly, arrived at the penthouse of The Hyde tower last year ready to move into his $15,000 a week rental he was not expecting to find his landlady still in residence. Nor did he expect to find faulty finishes, a cockroach-infested kitchen, a spider-infested barbecue and pool area on the rooftop, spilled ointments in the bedroom, and bags of dirty underwear and clothes. ... Jared Novelly is seeking exemplary and aggravated damages, costs and rent revision in a dispute over the condition of his luxury penthouse rental. In his landlady Marie Bolton’s defence, she states the penthouse was clean and claims the repairs she knew about previously have been fixed, and that other jobs were not done because of limited access. The four-day hearing in the Supreme Court is set to start on Monday.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/only-in-sydney-15-000-a-wee…
# NSW, Rent, Starting a tenancy, Tribunal NCAT.The $100,000 hit to potential home buyers as cost of living soars
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Potential home buyers have had their budgets cut by as much as $100,000 as banks reassess their rising cost of living. Families are the hardest hit as they have more essential costs, which account for the majority of inflation pressures, and fewer ways of cutting back on non-discretionary spending.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/the-100-000-hit-to-potentia…
# Australia, Families, Home ownership, Housing market.Real estate market transitioning from 'seller to buyer' as Tasmania's property sales drop
Hayden Cornes ABC (No paywall)Interest rate increases are to blame for property sales falling by nearly 20 per cent over the past three months in Tasmania, a real estate body says.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-04/property-sales-fall-in-ta…
# Australia, Housing market.