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
How profit-hungry developers broke the housing system
Iasabel Ringrose (No paywall)House hunters can buy a two-bedroom flat for as much as £1,990,000 at Embassy Gardens, Nine Elms. And many are bought as investments, rather than to live in.... Housing exposes obscene wealth and hard poverty in Britain today. Behind it all is a system where houses are built for profit, not homes. (Socialist Worker)
https://socialistworker.co.uk/art/51909/How+profit+hungry+develo…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Housing debt ‘explosion’ looms over the horizon: Judo Bank
Clancy Yeates The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Judo Bank chief executive Joseph Healy has sounded a warning over the ongoing build-up in housing debt, saying it would be foolhardy to assume interest rates will stay at record lows for an extended period of time. Mr Healy, who previously ran National Australia Bank’s flagship business bank, on Monday said one of his key concerns over the medium to long-term was the “almost uncontrollable rise in household debt”.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/housing-debt…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.Banks beware: Fast, cheap loans set to disrupt $1.9 trillion mortgage market
Clancy Yeates The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Is digital disruption a threat to the banks’ mortgage engine rooms, which are a pillar of bank profitability? Some think so, such as Evans and Partners analyst Matthew Wilson. He says Macquarie’s rapid growth in home loans is clear evidence that disruption is already occurring in the market. But over the longer term, he says a bigger change is likely, as a new breed of fintechs that offer low-cost digital loans compete for a slice of the profit pool.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/banks-beware…
# Australia, Housing market.Australian house price growth to slow by the end of 2021: economists
Melissa Heagney Domain (No paywall)The rapid pace of Australian house price growth is set to slow by the end of the year, economists predict, as affordability pressures bite and more homes are offered for sale.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/australian-house-price-growth-to-…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.Developer who owns Hamilton site where two houses were set alight had company go into administration last year
Rory Callinan ABC (No paywall)Controversy over two old houses catching fire on a block sited for a Brisbane townhouse development has come at a bad time for the developer – high-profile property investor Sasha Hopkins.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-05/brisbane-hamilton-house-f…
# Australia, Housing market, Landlords and agents.The Sydney and Melbourne suburbs where every house sells for $1 million plus
Jennifer Duke and Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)There are 156 suburbs in Sydney and 15 in Melbourne where every house sold this year has changed hands for more than $1 million as first-home buyers start to retreat from the hot property markets.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-sydney-and-melbourne…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Only 11 regions in Australia recorded falls in property values over past quarter: CoreLogic
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)The handful of neighbourhoods escaping Australia’s soaring house prices have been revealed, with just 11 areas across the country recording price falls in recent months.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/only-11-regions-in-australia-reco…
# Australia, Housing market.Darwin rental 'pressure cooker' pushes residents to look interstate for affordable housing
Felicity James ABC (No paywall)Vanessa Royal-Gray and her husband Alistair need a home for five children and a dog but fear a caravan park may soon be their only option. The family has filled out at least 50 rental applications since December last year, after finding out their landlord would be selling their house in Darwin's northern suburbs. "It's hard waking up every day knowing that you're one day closer to not having a roof over your head," Mr Royal-Gray said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-05/darwin-rental-crisis-forc…
# Australia, Eviction, Rent, Homelessness, Housing affordability, Housing market.