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
Runaway house prices is this year’s looming issue no one wants to touch
Elizabeth Knight The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The sizzling hot housing market may be this year’s looming problem but doing something about it is something the government and regulators seem reluctant to engage with - yet. And no one is prepared to use the ‘B’ word as a descriptor for the state of the market - even in the face of house prices experiencing a monthly rise in February not seen for 17 years.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/runaway-hous…
# Australia, Federal Government, Housing market.‘High-risk endeavour’: Property investors warned on inner city units
John Collett The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Property investors buying inner-city apartments in the expectation of achieving some big capital gains once international borders re-open could be setting themselves up for disappointment.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/investing/inner-city-apartment-pric…
# Australia, Housing market.Australians face a hotter future if our cities don't do more to cool 'heat islands', report finds
Stephanie Zillman ABC (No paywall)Most major Australian cities will be far hotter than forecast in coming years, as a lack of vegetation creates "heat islands," especially in poorer areas, a new report warns. The report, Temperature Check: Greening Australia's Warming Cities, commissioned by the Australian Conservation Foundation, found green spaces in almost all major cities had declined in the last decade.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-11/australians-face-unliveab…
# Research alert Australia, Planning and development.Whose job is it to douse this home price bonfire? Actually, nobody’s
Jessica Irvine The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)... when interest rates fall, Australian home prices skyrocket, engulfing aspiring homeowners in their fiery rage. It is all too predictable. It’s happening again right now. And nothing is being done about it. ... It may not be the current job of our Reserve Bank or APRA to curb rising home values. But it really ought to be someone’s.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/whose-job-is-it-to-d…
# Hot topic Australia, Federal Government, Housing market.Zoning isn’t to blame for Australia’s soaring house prices
Mark Limb and Cameron Murray The Conversation (No paywall)Among the many explanations put forward for soaring home prices, one we hear repeatedly is zoning — the regulations that govern the purposes for which land can be used, including how densely people can be housed in different locations. The real estate industry says if only we relaxed the zoning rules and allowed more houses and apartments to be built on each block, housing would be cheaper, maybe A$355,000 per unit cheaper if the Reserve Bank is right. It’s a story as grounded in simplicity as it is (on the part of developers) in self-interest.
https://theconversation.com/zoning-isnt-to-blame-for-australias-…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market, Planning and development.Build-to-rent surge will change apartment living for Australians, but for better or worse?
Megan Nethercote The Conversation (No paywall)Australia’s emerging build-to-rent sector is growing — “booming” by some accounts with a 70% jump in value in the past year. Under this model, institutional investors develop purpose-built rental apartments to retain and operate under single ownership. In Australia, it will change how apartments are designed and developed, how we are housed and how our tenancies are managed.
https://theconversation.com/build-to-rent-surge-will-change-apar…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Housing market, Tax.Rising house prices putting at risk the economic stability of the nation
By Hal Pawson and Bill Randolph Pearls and Irritations (No paywall)Housing unaffordability is causing serious economic damage that governments must treat more seriously. Put simply, rising mortgage debt poses risks for national economic stability, while current housing policies contribute to stagnating economic productivity and growth. Furthermore, when lower income workers have access to affordable housing near innovation hot spots and growth industries, the economy benefits.
https://johnmenadue.com/rising-house-prices-putting-at-risk-the-…
# Hot topic Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.'Extremely dangerous': how much of the heat can western Sydney bear?
Mostafa Rachwani The Guardian (No paywall)Anyone who’s lived in western Sydney in summer will tell you the days of searing heat and burning bitumen feel very different from the rest of the city.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/mar/08/extremely…
# Hot topic NSW, Utilities water energy internet, Health, Local Government, Planning and development.