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
Home values drop as interest rates, costs of living squeeze buyers
Rachel Clun Domain (No paywall)Home values fell nationally for the second month in a row, driven by declines in Sydney and Melbourne, and are expected to fall further as interest rates rise, reducing buyers’ borrowing power and stifling consumer spending. Also, read Sue Lannin's and Rhiana Whitson's article entitled: 'Home prices drop for the second month in a row as Reserve Bank's aggressive interest rate rises hit hard' on the ABC at: [https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-01/property-prices-interest-rates-home-values-reserve-bank/101198708] Read Sezen Bakan's article entitled: 'Sydney and Melbourne lead accelerating housing downturn' in 'The New Daily' at: [https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2022/07/01/house-prices-fall-cities/]
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/home-values-drop-as-interes…
# Australia, Housing market.How first home buyers can get help to spend $100,000 more at auction
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)Forty thousand more first home buyers and single parents can now purchase a home with a minimal deposit under an expanded scheme that experts say will prop up prices. Aspiring home owners can get into the market sooner, and purchase more expensive homes with a smaller deposit, under the federal government’s expanded Home Guarantee Scheme and increased property price caps that start on Friday.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/how-first-home-buyers-can-g…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Will housing become any more affordable this year?
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Home buyers are unlikely to see housing affordability improve because rising interest rates will cancel the benefit of modest price falls, economists said. So far, dwelling values have slipped only modestly even though the cash rate has jumped and fast-rising rates and their impact on repayments are outpacing any affordability improvements from falling prices.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/will-housing-become-any-mor…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.Power prices are going up: What can you do about it?
Joel Gibson The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)We have seen numerous firsts in the past month in the Australian energy market. Price increases from small electricity providers have soared on the back of wholesale prices that are six times higher than they were in April last year.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/planning-and-budgeting/power-prices…
# Australia, Utilities water energy internet.Census and the city: Inner Sydney’s wealth is wildly outside the Australian norm
Matt Wade The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Things are different in Sydney. The national census, released last week, showed the city is younger, more religious and more culturally diverse than Australia as a whole.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/census-and-the-city-inner-sy…
# NSW, Housing market, Sydney.New Victorian homes no longer required to have gas
Ashleigh McMillan The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)New homes built in Victoria will no longer have to be connected to gas, as the state government plans to halve carbon emissions by 2030 and drive down the cost of living.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/new-victorian-homes-no-…
# Australia, Utilities water energy internet, Climate change, Planning and development.Melbourne Has Been Named Australia’s Most Liveable City
Emma Joyce (No paywall)It may have endured 246 days of cumulative stay-at-home orders in 2021, but that hasn’t stopped the judges at the Economist from recognising Melbourne as Australia’s most livable city in its Global Liveability Index report. Melbourne came 10th in the report, tying with Japan’s Osaka, and the top spot was taken out by Austrian capital Vienna. Last year, Adelaide ranked the third best city to live in in the world, but only 12 months later it’s dropped all the way to 30th place. (Broadsheet)
https://www.broadsheet.com.au/national/city-file/article/melbour…
# Australia, Planning and development.For the first time, the population of capital cities has declined, with Covid the final straw for many to move to the regions
Sophie Black The Guardian (No paywall)Jake Cassar grew up in the tiny seaside village of Port Fairy in Victoria. At 18, he packed his bags for overseas and swore he would never live in a small coastal town again. It took a pandemic and a “ring of steel” lockdown policing movement in and out of Melbourne to convince him to reconsider regional life. Fast forward 18 months and he’s bought a house and started a business in Torquay on Victoria’s Surf Coast.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/02/to-the-se…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Planning and development.