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
Policy coordination and housing outcomes during COVID-19
Chris Mason and colleagues AHURI (No paywall)A new report by Chris Mason and colleagues at Swinburne University of Technology gathered data on the scale and scope of policy interventions in the housing system during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. This study is a critical first step for on-going assessment of the outcomes and impacts of the broad suite of initiatives deployed by governments in response to the pandemic. The report found that four billion dollars in new or expedited funding for 98 housing program initiatives were announced by Australian governments due to the coronavirus pandemic between March and June 2020. A very successful government response to the pandemic was that around 8,000 homeless people across Australia were provided with accommodation to self-isolate.
https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/343/_nocache?utm…
# Must read Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness.Investors rebound to pre-pandemic levels but head to the suburbs
Ellen Lutton Domain (No paywall)Investors are abandoning the inner-city markets and looking to the suburbs, as new data shows the number of investor loan commitments has already returned to pre-pandemic levels.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/investors-rebound-to-pre-pandemic…
# Hot topic Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Sydney, Housing market.Paul Whyte used money for affordable housing to pay off Mosman Park mansion, CCC hears
Nicholas Perpitch ABC (No paywall)Western Australia's corruption watchdog has exposed the alleged complex money trail through which disgraced senior public servant Paul Whyte obtained cash for a deposit on a $2.9 million luxury riverside home in Perth.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-04/ccc-probes-corrupt-wa-bur…
# Australia, State Government, Affordable housing.Latest interest rate cut could put more upward pressure on housing prices, bank economists say
Elizabeth Redman Domain (No paywall)The most recent interest rate cut could put upward pressure on house prices despite the weak jobs market and collapse in immigration, bank economists warn.
https://www.domain.com.au/money-markets/latest-interest-rate-cut…
# Australia, Housing market.The suburbs in east coast cities where property prices are at 2015 levels
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)Property prices across a string of suburbs in Australia’s east coast cities have remained virtually unchanged in the past five years, with an oversupply of homes and weaker market conditions leaving their median prices at 2015 levels.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/the-suburbs-in-east-coast-cities-…
# Australia, Housing market.Property market gallops into October with first national price rise since April
Matt Johnson The New Daily (No paywall)The property horse has bolted, with national house prices rising for the first time since the pandemic-induced spiral began in April. Analysts say the turnaround is due to record-low interest rates and government stimulus, with the Reserve Bank expected to take rates even lower on Tuesday afternoon. But they said the house of cards might come tumbling down when home loan deferrals and government support payments end next year.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2020/11/02/house-pri…
# Australia, Housing market.Price falls slow in Melbourne, values on the rise in other cities: CoreLogic
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)Australian property prices are rebounding after five months of price declines, new figures show, with values back on the rise in all cities bar Melbourne.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/price-falls-slow-in-melbourne-on-…
# Australia, Housing market.CBA launches moratorium on forced home sales until September 2021
Charlotte Grieve The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The Commonwealth Bank of Australia is the first major bank that has committed to a moratorium on home foreclosures until September 2021 after pressure from the financial counselling services body. Financial Counselling Australia chief executive Fiona Guthrie published an open letter to banks in September calling for lenders to avoid forced home sales for borrowers affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/cba-launches…
# Hot topic Australia, Mortgagee repossession, Coronavirus COVID-19.