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
Premium properties lead real estate revival, but is a double-dip housing downturn looming?
Michael Janda and Rachel Pupazzoni, with Tony Ibrahim ABC (No paywall)Sydney is continuing to lead a home price rebound, as property values close in on a return to pandemic boom peaks.
Two interest rate rises in a row appear to have done little to dent the market, particularly in the premium sector — the top quarter of homes by value.
CoreLogic data show a 1.1 per cent rise in national property values over June, backing up May's 1.2 per cent increase.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-03/house-prices-june-2023-co…
# Hot topic NSW, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.Health, education, jobs and housing: Burney to give Voice priorities on day one
Lisa Visentin Brisbane Times (No paywall)Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney says she will task the Voice with generating fresh ideas in health, education, jobs and housing from day one, in her strongest comments to date aimed at defining its purpose and agenda.
Burney will use a speech to the National Press Club on Wednesday to outline her vision of the body as being “active and engaged” on key policy challenges facing Indigenous communities if the public backs it in the upcoming referendum, pitching the Voice’s relationship with government as collaborative rather than combative.
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/federal/health-educati…
# Must read, Hot topic Australia, Aboriginal renters, Campaigns and law reform, Housing affordability.No relief for renters as median rents rise to $520 a week nationally
ABC ABC (No paywall)The latest data for the June quarter from Prop Track shows median rents have risen by 2% nationally, with Sydney and Melbourne leading the way.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-05/no-relief-for-renters-as-…
# Hot topic, Research alert Australia, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.PropTrack: Melbourne rents rising faster than any other capital, could get worse
Nathan Mawby realestate.com.au (No paywall)Melbourne rents are growing the fastest of any capital city in the nation and our most affordable homes are being hit the hardest.
And things are set to get worse for tenants with the state’s top real estate advocacy group warning they believe landlords are preparing to exit the market in droves.
New PropTrack figures show the city’s typical unit cost tenants $470 a week to lease at the end of June after a $20 (4.4 per cent) a week lift in the past three months.
https://www.realestate.com.au/news/proptrack-melbourne-rents-ris…
# Hot topic, Research alert Australia, Rent, Housing affordability, Personal stories.Mixed views over housing affordability measures
Catriona Stirrat SBS (No paywall)The debate continues over the federal government's stalled $10 billion housing fund proposal. The Greens and Coalition blocked the bill last week, citing their own issues with the fund. But industry experts and economists are also divided over the scheme.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/podcast-episode/mixed-views-over-hou…
# Must read, Hot topic, Audio Australia, Federal Government, Housing affordability, Planning and development.Outer suburbs’ housing cost advantage vanishes when you add in transport – it needs to be part of the affordability debate
Neil G Sipe The Conversation (No paywall)In all the debate about Australia’s housing crisis, the impact of transport has been largely overlooked.
When we talk about transport, it’s usually about time spent commuting and not the out-of-pocket costs. While housing is typically the biggest household cost, spending on transport is the second- or third-largest cost – and these costs are inextricably linked.
https://theconversation.com/outer-suburbs-housing-cost-advantage…
# Hot topic Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market, Planning and development.YIMBYs and NIMBYs unite! You can have both heritage protection and more housing
James Lesh The Conversation (No paywall)Heritage conservation has been blamed for making the housing crisis worse by standing in the way of new, higher-density housing. But protecting heritage and increasing housing should be complementary objectives. Heritage suffers when not enjoyed by our growing communities. Housing suffers when not shaped by our communal heritage.
YIMBYs and NIMBYs are usually on opposing sides of this debate. Yet what they agree on is the desirability of heritage areas. People in both the Not In My Back Yard and Yes In My Back Yard camps want to live in established suburbs, often in the inner city, with attractive historic urban landscapes.
https://theconversation.com/yimbys-and-nimbys-unite-you-can-have…
# Hot topic, History Australia, Heritage listings, Housing affordability, Planning and development.This student is sharing a bed with a stranger because she can't afford the rent
Sandra Fulloon SBS (No paywall)Priyanka (not her real name) is a 19-year-old international student who, at night, sleeps in a bed in a sharehouse on the outskirts of Melbourne.
But during the daytime, the bed has a different occupant; a man who works night shifts as a truck driver.
The practice is known as 'hot-bedding'.
Between them, the two strangers, who are both from India, split the $550 per month rent for one room. The other male tenants in the house are also truck drivers and from India.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/this-student-is-sharing-a-be…
# Must read, Hot topic Australia, Rent, Housing affordability, Personal stories.