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
First home buyers tap the bank of mum and dad
John Collettt The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The portion of first home buyers receiving financial assistance from their parents has hit a record high, as soaring house prices push up the deposit needing to be saved beyond the reach of many young buyers. ... The average financial contribution of parents is just under $90,000 – about the same as in 2017. Martin North, founder of Digital Finance Analytics (DFA), estimates that just over 60 per cent of first home buyers are receiving financial assistance from their parents
https://www.smh.com.au/money/borrowing/first-home-buyers-tap-the…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Runaway land prices undermine housing utility
Karl Fitzgerald The Fifth Estate (No paywall)Australia’s runaway land prices are akin to a national emergency. An increase of $4 trillion in just the next five years is highly likely. While meeting the weekly housing payment is our most essential financial commitment, why isn’t housing affordability the most pressing policy issue?
https://thefifthestate.com.au/columns/spinifex/runaway-land-pric…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.Frustrated home buyers leave the market unable to make a winning bid
Melissa Heagney Domain (No paywall)Defeated house-hunters across the country are giving up on buying property as skyrocketing house prices and intense competition continually knock them out of the market.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/frustrated-home-buyers-leave-the-…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Federal budget 2021: $18 billion is a step towards closing gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities
Kerry Blck The Conversation (No paywall)From Canada ... There is no denying that the landscape of our collective reality has shifted dramatically since the pandemic began. Budget 2021 reveals significant investments in COVID-19 relief efforts, job creation and building a resilient economy. But where does the 2021 budget stand on investments in Indigenous people and communities? ... Targeted investments in housing for First Nations living within their Nations are essential, and help to balance the housing needs on- and off-reserve. The 2016 Clatworthy report estimated capital investment needs of $20 billion. This value has only increased since then.
https://theconversation.com/federal-budget-2021-18-billion-is-a-…
# International, Federal Government, Housing market, Planning and development, Race and ethnicity.Why regulators aren’t alarmed by the housing boom... yet
Clancy Yeates The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)It’s sometimes said credit is the oil that greases the wheels of commerce and economic activity. So, what do you do when you want to slow things down a bit? You throw some sand in the gears. Whether the red-hot housing market needs this treatment is an important question facing financial regulators, who are committed to keeping interest rates low for years, but also wary of allowing the property market to overheat.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/borrowing/why-regulators-aren-t-ala…
# Australia, Housing market.Real estate faces macroprudential risks and some analysts suggest the multi-decade housing boom could be nearing its end
Gareth Hutchens ABC (No paywall)Despite concerns about the pace of property price growth in Australia, regulators may not step in this year, analysts have warned. But looking further ahead, analysts also suggest Australia's multi-decade housing upswing could be nearing its end and that prices could ease through the decade once this short-term price surge has ended. However, they say much depends on the future level of immigration, the persistence of the working-from-home phenomenon and the levels of interest rates in coming years.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-22/real-estate-faces-macropr…
# Australia, Housing market.Slow down and embrace nature – how to create better cities when the pandemic is over
Bjorn Wickenberg The Conversation (No paywall)This kind of multifunctional infrastructure is becoming increasingly popular, with many cities adopting so-called “nature-based solutions” to not just solve environmental problems and safeguard biodiversity, but to also provide local people with recreation space.
https://theconversation.com/slow-down-and-embrace-nature-how-to-…
# International, Coronavirus COVID-19, Planning and development.It feels like winning the lottery’: confessions of a Sydney homeowner
Jessica Irvine The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)This is the first time I’ve been on the receiving end of such ill-gotten gains, after nearly two decades of railing against declining housing affordability in Australia. ... And, as exciting as that is, it’s not right. I believe those of us fortunate enough to have found our way on to the property ladder have a moral responsibility to consider the plight of those to come. So, what can we do?
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/it-feels-like-winnin…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market, Local Government, Planning and development, Tax.