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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
Homeowners warned to expect at least two further rate hikes as repayments soar
Paul Karp and Rafqa Touma The Guardian (No paywall)Homeowners have been warned to brace for a double whammy of interest rate rises on Tuesday and again in August, with total monthly repayments expected to be driven at least $333 higher on the latest predictions. Markets and economists are tipping a 50 basis point increase when the Reserve Bank meets on Tuesday, lifting the official cash rate from 0.85% to 1.35%, with further rises expected throughout 2022.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/05/homeowner…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Interest rates are rising: Is the RBA at fault for allowing Australians to take on too much debt?
Nassim Khadem ABC (No paywall)Can we blame Australians for being a little confused about the Reserve Bank's messaging on interest rates? Towards the end of 2020 and for nearly all of last year, Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe said interest rates would not likely rise until 2024. People like Sarah Ibrahim and her partner made life decisions based on that. Also, read Cait Kelly's article entitled: 'Interest rate hikes may send about 200,000 more households into mortgage stress, says analyst' in 'The Guardian' at:[https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/06/interest-rate-hikes-may-send-about-200000-more-households-into-mortgage-stress-says-analyst]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-06/interest-rates-are-rising…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.Corelogic data shows Melbourne is Australia's most affordable capital city for home rentals, followed by Adelaide
Josephine Lim ABC (No paywall)Melbourne has replaced Adelaide as Australia's most affordable city for renting a typical home, latest figures show. Rents in all eight capital cities rose in April to June 2022 and year-on-year, CoreLogic data released on Wednesday shows. At the same time, Australia's rental market continues to tighten as national vacancy rates fell to 1.2 per cent from 2.2 per cent this time last year. Also, read Sezen Bakan's article entitled: 'Shrinking households help drive up national rents at record pace' in 'The New Daily' at: [https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2022/07/06/rents-market-record-high/].
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-06/corelogic-data-melbourne-…
# Australia, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market.Interest rate hikes may send about 200,000 more households into mortgage stress, says analyst
Cait Kelly The Guardian (No paywall)Many homeowners may be forced to tighten their belts after the Reserve Bank of Australia lifted the cash rate by half a percentage point, sending an estimated 200,000 households into mortgage stress. On Tuesday, the RBA raised the official cash rate 50 basis points to 1.35% – the highest since May 2019. ... Determining the exact number of households suffering from mortgage stress is near impossible but founding principal of Digital Finance Analytics, Martin North, estimates the figure at about 1.69 million. “This is before the rate rise, which is going to put more pressure on households,” North said. “To put it another 50 basis points, we could see another 200,000 tipping over into mortgage stress in the next few months,” he said.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/06/interest-…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing affordability, Housing market.‘They shouldn’t have built houses here’: navigating disaster in the flood waters of Sydney’s north-west
Elias Visontay The Guardian (No paywall)Tracey stands with her young son looking at a pole above the Windsor Bridge marking historic flood events. The frequency has been such that two events earlier this year are yet to be inscribed. ... “They just shouldn’t have built houses here, I mean it’s a floodplain. What else can they do now to make it better?”
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/05/they-shou…
# NSW, Housing market.When the street threatens: Deb faced eviction after losing her job
Eileen Wood (No paywall)Deborah* was in her mid 50s, employed, and happily living in a modest, private rental unit in St Albans near Melbourne where she had friends and a busy social life, when the company she worked for went broke. Thrown onto the dole and reliant on NewStart (now called JobSeeker), Deborah found the going tough and her physical and mental health began to fail. ... The proud and independent, but now desperate woman, found herself in the situation more and more older women are experiencing. She had few savings and those she had were quickly used up; she had no one to fall back on for help and she was facing eviction. "I expected I would be living on the street," she said. "I started making plans for where I would sleep." (The Senior)
https://www.thesenior.com.au/story/7781885/new-housing-plan-need…
# Australia, Eviction, Public and community housing, Homelessness, Housing market, Older people, Women, Work, employment.What Australia’s 2021 Census reveals about the changing face of our neighbourhoods
Inga Ting, Alex Palmer, and Katia Shatoba ABC (No paywall)The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) began releasing the results of the 2021 Census last week, with more on the way in October. We’ve poured over the data to answer some of the burning questions you might have about your local area.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-05/what-australias-2021-cens…
# Australia, Families, Home, Women, Work, employment.Co-housing project in Hobart offers affordable rentals and sense of community
Will Murray ABC (No paywall)our years ago, Kate Kelly was under such severe rental stress she went searching for a van to live in with her son. The single mother with a disability was spending 70 per cent of her income on rent, and had been on the waiting list for public housing for years. ... By chance, Ms Kelly ran into someone who lived at the South Hobart Co-housing Co-operative who offered her the chance to house-sit for one of the tenants.
At the co-operative she had a house of her own with a garden and views of kunanyi/Mount Wellington. Her rent was set to never exceed 30 per cent of her income, and she had a ready-made community that welcomed both her and her son with open arms. After the house-sit, a permanent space became available. Years later, she is still there. "I kind of pinch myself every day when I wake up here," she said. "I have housing security, I have somewhere to raise my son, he has nice things because I can afford to buy them. He has a community and I have a community as well."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-06/tas-south-hobart-co-housi…
# Video Australia, Public and community housing, Affordable housing, Families, Housing market.