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
Nation’s biggest superannuation lobbyist goes to war with government in new ad campaign
Jennifer Duke The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The nation’s biggest superannuation lobby group is on a collision course with the federal government, launching a digital campaign to tell 1 million voters their golden years could be in jeopardy from policy changes requiring them to work longer, sell their home or retire later. Read on ... Read the same story by Ben Butler in The Guardian at: [https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/feb/04/you-might-have-to-sell-your-home-industry-super-launches-social-media-blitz-to-fight-cuts]
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/nation-s-biggest-superan…
# Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership, Older people.Increased buyer demand, not a shortage of property listings, behind tight market
Rachel Wells Domain (Paywall)New figures have revealed there’s no significant shortage of property listings in Australia’s capital cities, despite many real estate and buyer agents claiming a lack of stock in some capital cities is contributing to fast-rising prices.
Instead, it’s the sheer number of buyers in the market right now – thanks to historic low interest rates – that’s making buyer conditions so competitive.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/increased-buyer-demand-not-a-shor…
# Australia, Housing market.Australia's housing market is boosted by policies designed to ensure prices keep rising
Greg Jericho The Guardian (No paywall)One thing you can count on in politics is that any government will look after home owners ... The latest housing loan figures show the housing market continues on its merry way. The market is still boosted by government policies designed to ensure prices keep rising, even in an environment where wages are unlikely to grow and interest rates look unlikely to rise significantly for many years. Read on ...
https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2021/feb/04/aus…
# Australia, Federal Government, Home ownership, Housing market.‘A seller’s market’: House values hit record high after strong January
Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)House values have climbed to their highest level on record with every capital city in the country experiencing an increase through the first month of the year. CoreLogic on Monday reported that house values lifted by 0.9 per cent through January, eclipsing its previous high recorded in September 2017. The index is now 1 per cent higher than its pre-coronavirus level. ... Dwelling values across Sydney increased by 0.4 per cent, driven by a 0.7 per cent increase in house values. Unit values actually edged down by 0.1 per cent.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/a-seller-s-market-house-…
# Australia, Housing market.‘Sickening to watch’: Scale of acquisitions for airport line upsets landowners
Matt O'Sullivan The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Small landowners near the new airport in western Sydney who will be forced to sell their homes to make way for an $11 billion rail line say the state government has failed to justify the scale of compulsory acquisitions planned for the construction of a train station.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sickening-to-watch-scale-of-…
# NSW, Eviction, Home ownership, Planning and development.NYC Apartment Landlords Getting Burned in Gentrification Crash
Prashant Gopal, John Gittelsohn and Oshrat Carmiel (No paywall)New York’s apartment investors are suddenly waist-deep in distress. By December, they were behind on $395 million of debt backed by mortgage bonds, almost 150 times the level a year earlier, according to Trepp data on commercial mortgage-backed securities. Tenants in rent-stabilized units owe at least $1 billion in rent and wealthier ones are fleeing the city, leaving behind vacancies and pushing newly-built luxury towers into foreclosure. For years, as crime dwindled and rent climbed in New York, investors gobbled up apartment buildings. But with the city’s economy and culture crushed by Covid-19, mounting job losses have derailed the gentrification boom and put financial pressure on landlords. Read on ... (yahoo!finance)
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nyc-apartment-landlords-getting-b…
# International, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Emergency preparedness handbook for people living in social housing
Inner Sydney Voice (No paywall)Knowing what emergencies could impact on you, planning what you will do, getting your home ready, being aware that something might happen, and looking out for each other are all important things to consider before an emergency happens. Read on ...
https://issuu.com/comms-innersydneyvoice.org/docs/handbook_a4_20…
# NSW, Public and community housing.Deaths among Rome's rough sleepers surge as shelters turn many away due to Covid
Angela Giuffrida The Guardian (No paywall)From Italy ... More people are sleeping on the streets in Rome after being turned away from shelters due to coronavirus restrictions, while the number of homeless people dying from the cold has surged this winter. There are about 8,000 homeless people in the Italian capital, of whom 3,000 have no shelter for the night, according to figures provided by the Catholic charity Community of Sant’Egidio.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/01/rome-covid-rough-s…
# International, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness.