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.
Our main email newsletter, Tenant News is sent once every two months. You can subscribe or update your subscription preferences for any of our email newsletters here.
See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
We love sharing the news and hope you find it informative! We're very happy to deliver it for free, but if you find it valuable, can you help cover the extra costs incurred by making a donation?
Archive
Australian home values continue to rise, but pace of growth eases: Core Logic research
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)Australia’s rapidly rising property prices have started to slow, with new figures showing price growth eased last month after hitting a 32-year high in March.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/australian-home-values-continue-t…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.Hot housing market shows first signs of cooling off
Colin Brinsden The New Daily (No paywall)The rapid rise in house prices in recent months is showing signs of cooling as affordability constraints at a time of stagnant wage growth begins to dampen demand.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/05/03/real-esta…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.Property investors are back!
Lucy Battersby The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Property investors are rushing back into the market while first-home buyers are retreating, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. [Check this link at 2.17pm]
https://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/asx-futures-point-to-ear…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Brokers and banks overwhelmed as Australians rush for a mortgage
Shane Wright, Jennifer Duke and Charlotte Grieve The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The nation’s banks are struggling to process an unprecedented number of new mortgages as over-excited buyers snap up high-priced homes at Saturday auctions before they have locked in the funding to close the deal. ... A combination of record-low interest rates and government support programs at the state and federal level has driven home lending levels to record highs.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/brokers-and-banks-ov…
# Australia, Federal Government, Housing market, State Government.Renters edge towards cliff as Australia halts evictions bans and welfare support
Luke Henriques-Gomes The Guardian (No paywall)The warnings started not long after the pandemic began. First of the need for eviction bans and rental debt relief. Then, when state governments did come to the party on that, for assurances those protections wouldn’t be torn away too quickly. Some claimed that when the protections did end many people could be left with massive debts: a “ticking time bomb” that could sparks many thousands of evictions. In coming months, we will find out if they were right.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/may/02/renters-e…
# TUNSW in the media Australia, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market.Older women on path to risk of homelessness
ABC (No paywall)Sue, 67, spent years caring for her father - but when he died, she found herself looking for somewhere to live. Even before COVID, the census revealed women 55+ are the fastest growing cohort of homeless people in Australia. Check out the video on 'Homelessness Reality for Older Women'. (ABC The Drum)
https://www.facebook.com/abcthedrum/videos/2886359481608804/
# Must read, Video Australia, Rent, Homelessness, Housing market, Older people, Women.Should police address homelessness? One city is betting on a new model
Vivian Ho The Guardian (No paywall)It’s been some time now since Shanna Couper Orona has slept on the sidewalk, but she can’t forget the first time a police officer kicked the side of her tent in an encampment sweep in San Francisco. ... [But] San Francisco has an initiative to take police out of the response to the crisis of homelessness altogether.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/apr/29/san-francisco-ho…
# International, Homelessness, Human rights.Five-bedroom house to living in a car: The rise of our older homeless women
Anna Wall (No paywall)Fourteen years ago, Elizabeth* owned a business and was living in a five-bedroom home overlooking the beautiful Whitsunday Islands. Now, after a messy divorce, she’s lost her home and has even spent three months living in her car. Far from the image you’d expect of a homeless woman, she is one of a growing number of older Australian women who find themselves losing their financial security later in life, and is warning others to protect themselves. (Starts at 60)
https://startsat60.com/media/news/rise-of-homeless-older-women-i…
# Must read Australia, Homelessness, Older people, Women.