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 high can house prices rise, with Australia’s combined capital median already near $1 million?
Elizabeth Redman Domain (No paywall)How high can house prices rise? The median house in Sydney will now set you back almost $1.5 million, and for that budget, don’t expect to live very close to the CBD. In Melbourne, it’s nearly $1.04 million, and in Canberra, $1.07 million, the latest Domain House Price Report for the September quarter found. The capital city average is nudging $1 million.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/how-high-can-house-prices-rise-wi…
# Australia, Strata, Housing market.Revealed: The 10 best (and worst) areas when saving for a house deposit
Matthew Elmas The New Daily (No paywall)The average Australian must now wait more than eight years to save a house deposit in Sydney after a pandemic surge in house prices. Meanwhile, the average national wait time has stretched out to five years and 10 months after tripling in length since the 1990s. Comparison site Finder released the data this week as part of an analysis that revealed the 10 most affordable and 10 least affordable areas in which to buy a house in Australia.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/10/27/house-dep…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.What documents do you need to apply for a rental property?
(No paywall)Ready to apply for a rental property? An agent may ask you to provide additional documents to help with the application process. (rent.com.au)
# Australia, Rent, Starting a tenancy.A new rent-to-own scheme presents a big gamble on the housing market
Zac Crellin The New Daily (No paywall)A new rent-to-buy scheme aims to make buying a first home more accessible, but financial commentators say buyers need to be wary of pitfalls before jumping at a deal.
The first customers of Sydney-based service OwnHome moved into their new house last week, and clients have also settled on two more properties. Unlike other rent-to-buy services, OwnHome allows prospective buyers to choose any freestanding home or terrace of their liking.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/10/26/ownhome-r…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.'World's greenest residential building' reduced to 20 storeys after Brisbane City Council questions size
Lucy Stone ABC (No paywall)A planned 32-storey apartment tower touted as the "world's greenest residential building" has been significantly scaled back after Brisbane City Council expressed concerns about its size.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-27/urban-forest-building-dow…
# Australia, Climate change, Local Government, Planning and development.Building more houses quickly is harder than it looks. Australia hasn’t done it in decades
Ehsan Gharaie and Ali Zolghadr The Conversation (No paywall)Thanks to HomeBuilder and the housing price boom, house building is experiencing its hottest year on the record. Over the space of a year the number of houses (not apartments) under construction has jumped from 56,060 in the June quarter 2020 to 88,445 in the June quarter 2021 — the biggest peak of all time. It would be entirely reasonable to expect the record number under construction to be converted to record completions. That’s the point of construction. But bizarrely, the same set of Bureau of Statistics figures show no such thing. Even after an enormous jump in construction, and all through previous jumps in construction, the number of houses completed each quarter has changed little.
https://theconversation.com/building-more-houses-quickly-is-hard…
# Australia, Housing market.Toowoomba property prices to explode by 15 % in three years
David Iliffe ABC (No paywall)It's official - Toowoomba's median house price has jumped 9 percent in the last 12 months. But a national report just released predicts a further rise of 15 percent by the middle of 2024. The report by BIS Oxford Economics attempts to map the next three years of property prices across the country. Toowoomba real estate agent of 36 years David Snow told the ABC's David Iliffe and Belinda Sanders the figures were backed up by what he's seeing on the ground. (On Breakfast)
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/southqld/programs/breakfast/toowoom…
# Audio Australia, Housing market.Report uncovers harassment and choking death at NT Regis Tiwi aged care home
Housnia Shams ABC (No paywall)[A] report by the federal government's Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) found national aged care provider Regis Aged Care breached eight quality standards at its Regis Tiwi facility in Darwin's northern suburbs, including not meeting the personal and clinical care needs of residents. ... In one instance, a resident ... choked to death after being given food that wasn't in accordance with their prescribed diet.The report also states that [another] resident's wound was "infested with maggots" on several occasions over a four-month period.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-24/nt-regis-tiwi-aged-care-r…
# Australia, Health, Housing market, Older people.