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
‘Lists and sags’: Questions around PEXA’s $3.3b valuation
Charlotte Grieve and Colin Kruger The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Property settlements platform PEXA is set to become the largest float in almost three years after its majority shareholder Link Administration opted to maximise the company’s potential value. ... PEXA is a private company owned by Link, Commonwealth Bank and Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners that has gained a dominant market share in online property lodgements and settlements since launching in 2010.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/link-confirm…
# Australia, Housing market.Australia still in a property boom as values rise by 2.2 per cent in just one month
Melissa Heagney Domain (No paywall)Australia’s property boom has picked up pace again, with national housing values rising 2.2 per cent in May, new data shows.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/australias-housing-boom-rolls-on-…
# Australia, Housing market.RBA keeps interest rates at record low of 0.1% as housing prices hit record highs
Naaman Zhou The Guardian (No paywall)The reserve bank has continued to hold interest rates at a record low of 0.1% as house prices across Australia keep rising. The national housing market rose 2.2% in May, according to the latest data from CoreLogic, following on from a 1.8% rise in April and a 32-year record rise in March of 2.8%.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jun/01/rba-keeps…
# Australia, Housing market.Property prices jump 2.2 per cent as housing boom rolls on
Euan Black The New Daily (No paywall)Australia’s housing boom continued apace in May as buyers buoyed by the economic recovery rushed to take advantage of record-low interest rates. National property values surged 2.2 per cent over the month and ended it 10.6 per cent higher than the same time last year. The sharp rise was stronger than expected as analysts had thought a rise in the number of properties listed for sale combined with growing affordability concerns would curb the pace of growth.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/06/01/house-pri…
# Australia, Housing market.Supply failing to keep up with demand in red-hot property market
Euan Black The New Daily (No paywall)Buyers are snapping up properties faster than vendors can list them for sale in a housing market that barely noticed the recession and has now recorded eight consecutive months of price rises. Demand for housing is so strong that even a jump in the number of new listings to 15 per cent above the five-year average was not enough to cool the market in May. National property values increased 2.2 per cent over the month and are now 10.6 per cent higher than the same time last year – with new data from CoreLogic showing that for every new property added to the market, more than one property is exchanging hands.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/06/01/housing-m…
# Australia, Housing market.Tomorrow? The future being sold at our weekend auctions
Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)It’s a sign of how unhinged the national property market has become that a friend who bought a house last Friday was told his new home had risen $20,000 in value by Tuesday.
He hasn’t even got the keys to the place but so separated from reality has the national parlour game that is bricks and mortar become that it is showing increasing similarities to a Ponzi scheme.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/tomorrow-the-future-bein…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Renters short by £360m as pandemic protection disappears
Kate Hughes (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Tenants caught between the pandemic fallout and rising housing costs are now more likely to lose their homes after the ban on evictions expired this week leaving £360m of rent unpaid, poverty activists warn. Evictions can now resume again in England after a pandemic hiatus that had protected up to a million people from being forced to leave their homes. Also, the required minimum period of notice will come down from six to four months, the housing ministry has confirmed. (Independent)
https://www.independent.co.uk/money/rent-arrears-eviction-help-l…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.McGowan reveals $377 million to target household fees and charges
Peter de Kruijff The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)West Australian Premier and Treasurer Mark McGowan says the state government will commit $377 million to keeping household charges low with a 1.6 per cent increase for the coming financial year – or $99.37 for the average household. ... Electricity and water charges for households will go up in line with the projected increase to the consumer price index, a rise of 1.75 per cent, as per an election commitment made by the Premier. “We have been very focused on keeping costs and living pressures down for families across Western Australia and this budget will continue that course,” Mr McGowan said.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/western-australia/watch-live-mcg…
# Australia, Utilities water energy internet.