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
‘Significant turnaround’ in Australian house prices defies predictions as demand rises
Peter Hannam The Guardian (No paywall)A stronger than expected lift in demand over the past two months is nudging property prices higher and delivering the highest auction clearance rates in more than a year, data group CoreLogic says.
If the price rises are maintained for the rest of the year, home values will end up about 4% higher in 2023, defying earlier predictions of sharp falls of 10% or more for this year, CoreLogic says.
“Economists are shredding their previous price forecasts,” said Sally Tindall, research director for RateCity. “There’s been a significant turnaround.”
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/23/significa…
# Must read, Hot topic, Research alert Australia, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.International students faced with housing and cost-of-living stress say they were misled about Australia
Annika Burgess and Kelly Wu ABC (No paywall)Since moving to Melbourne to study, Kiki Zhang has been losing sleep, losing hair and suffering chest pains.
"I can't sleep every day and I constantly have anxiety, worrying about what to do if I don't have a place to stay," Ms Zhang told the ABC.
"The rent has gone up too far."
The 25-year-old from China said she was aware of "radical voices ranting hate speech" against international students, as the community is increasingly blamed for the rental crisis in Australia.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-19/international-students-mi…
# Must read, Hot topic Australia, Rent, Personal stories, Students.It’s not just about more homes: unpacking the housing challenges migrants face in Australia
Francesca Perugia, Omid Rezaei and Vicki Banham The Conversation (No paywall)Australia has long been a nation of migrants. Immigration is now being increased to make up for COVID-related labour shortages. The housing crisis means the new arrivals are likely to face major challenges in finding adequate housing and settling successfully.
The challenges will be particularly great for migrants and refugees from non-English-speaking backgrounds. Our recent research focused on the integration challenges faced by the millions of these migrants who have arrived in Australia since 1975. Our findings show the barriers they face, including discrimination, have not changed significantly since then.
In particular, their problems finding suitable housing and jobs have hampered their integration in Australian society.
https://theconversation.com/its-not-just-about-more-homes-unpack…
# Must read, Hot topic Australia, Federal Government, Housing affordability, Race and ethnicity.Nearly half of those seeking Australian homelessness charity’s help have jobs but can’t pay soaring rents
Jordyn Beazley The Guardian (No paywall)Four in 10 people who sought help from a major homelessness charity in the past three years were employed but could not meet skyrocketing rents, according to a report by Mission Australia.
The report comes as the demand for the organisation’s homelessness services, mainly based in New South Wales, jumped by 26% to 7,378 people between January 2020 to December last year.
The number of people seeking help who were already homeless increased by 50% in three years to more than 3,500 people – mainly due to inadequate supply or affordable housing, the report said.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/23/nearly-ha…
# Must read, Hot topic, Research alert Australia, Homelessness, Housing affordability, Housing market.Real estate agents push back against Australian privacy law changes designed to protect personal data
Paul Karp The Guardian (No paywall)Real estate agents are pushing back against proposed privacy law changes, saying small businesses should not face more red tape to keep customer and tenant data safe.
The Real Estate Institute of Australia president, Hayden Groves, said an “additional layer of responsibility is really not necessary” on top of agents’ existing duties and increased regulatory risks could be “the last straw” for smaller agencies.
Groves acknowledged in the wake of data breaches at Optus and Medibank that there was legitimate debate about the personal information collected by agents. Franchises of real estate agents Harcourts and LJ Hooker were hit by data breaches in 2022.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/19/real-esta…
# Must read, Hot topic, Legal significance Australia, Privacy and access, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Tom was given a 48% rent hike. But that’s not why he’s upset with his corporate landlord
Jim Malo Domain (No paywall)Tom French received a 48 per cent rent increase from his corporate landlord, but that’s not why he’s upset.
He says the property manager didn’t inform tenants of all their options and attempted to evade Victoria’s ban on no-grounds evictions.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/tom-was-given-a-48-percent-…
# Must read, Hot topic Australia, Eviction, Housing affordability, Personal stories.The real forces driving Australia’s rental crisis
Mike Seccombe The Saturday Paper (Paywall)Despite increases to JobSeeker and rent assistance, the national housing crisis has reached a flashpoint – and most Australians are affected in one way or another.
Four. That was the number of places available to rent in all of Australia, affordable for a single person on JobSeeker, according to Anglicare Australia’s 2023 survey of 45,895 listings. All four were for rooms in share houses.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/economy/2023/05/20/the-…
# Hot topic Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market, Planning and development.Housing crisis warrants vacancy tax on greedy investors
Mike Reddy The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Investing in some assets that may appreciate over time is a hobby that generally does not affect the greater good. If a non-art lover buys a Brett Whiteley canvas just because they may make a profit on their investment in a few years time, it does not hurt others. Similarly, a teetotaller buying a carton of Grange purely to sell at a profit later may be seen as a wise investment. If a property investor, however, buys a house or unit with the sole purpose of making a capital gain there is a risk that the wider community could be the loser.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/housing-crisis-warrants-vaca…
# Hot topic Australia, Campaigns and law reform, Housing affordability, Housing market.