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.
Our main email newsletter, Tenant News is sent once every two months. You can subscribe or update your subscription preferences for any of our email newsletters here.
See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
We love sharing the news and hope you find it informative! We're very happy to deliver it for free, but if you find it valuable, can you help cover the extra costs incurred by making a donation?
Archive
Rental Market Trends in the U.S. — Price Growth Slackens, But Inflation Data Still Not Showing It
Anna Helhoski Nerd Wallet (No paywall)Annual rental price growth remains slightly below pre-pandemic averages, according to the latest rental data from Zillow, the real estate website, for March 2024. Rent prices are now 30% higher than they were before the pandemic, but rental growth seems to have slowed from the major spikes of 2021. In March, rents are 3.6% higher than at the same time last year. The average growth in 2018 and 2019 was 4.1%. The report also showed that rental vacancies were 6.6% for the entire fourth quarter of 2023 — the same as the pre-pandemic vacancy rate. “This indicates a market equilibrium,” according to the report. But vacancy rates were lower than the average in 22 of the largest metro areas in the U.S., which means rental housing availability is more difficult to come by in those places. As for single-family housing, rents are now 36.6% higher than pre-pandemic prices – compare that with multifamily apartment prices which have gone up 23.6% since before the pandemic.
https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/rental-market-trends
# Hot topic International, Rent.Residential Rents in U.S. Decline for Eighth Consecutive Month in March
WPJ Staff World Property Journal (No paywall)United States of America: According to the latest U.S. Rental Report from Realtor.com, residential rents in March 2024 continued to fall for the eighth month in a row, with a year-over-year decrease of 0.3% across various unit sizes. Despite this trend, the median rent stood at $1,722, just $36 below its peak in August 2022, yet $313 higher than in March 2019, before the pandemic began, demonstrating the rental market's ongoing strength.
https://www.worldpropertyjournal.com/real-estate-news/united-sta…
# Hot topic International, Rent.Telling the Truth about Living on Country
Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) (No paywall)PIAC’s Towards Truth project has released new research into laws and policies that have determined where and how Aboriginal people could hunt, fish and make a home, entitled ‘Living on Country’. The research reveals how governments since 1788 have forced assimilation through housing policies and restricted Aboriginal cultural fishing, with devastating consequences. The fight for traditional fishing rights: First Nations people have practiced sustainable fishing for tens of thousands of years, but research from Towards Truth demonstrates how these practices were almost immediately disrupted by colonial rules following invasion. In 1788, the first Governor of NSW, Arthur Phillip described how First Nations people found it ‘very difficult to support themselves,’ after colonisation began, and ordered naval officials to share a portion of any fishing catch with local Aboriginal people present.
https://piac.asn.au/2024/04/10/telling-the-truth-about-living-on…
# Must read NSW, Aboriginal renters.Lack of housing supply causes property prices to climb again as YIMBY movement gains pace
Nadia Daly ABC (No paywall)The disconnect between housing supply and demand has seen property prices climb for the 15th month in a row, with the worsening affordability crisis creating a development density divide between generations. The latest housing data from CoreLogic showed that house values increased by 0.6 per cent in April, with the national median property price rising to $779,817. "It kind of goes against a lot of what we're seeing in the Australian economy, which is low consumer sentiment, high interest rates, and depleted household savings," CoreLogic's Eliza Owen told the ABC. "But overall, it comes back to the fact that demand is still managing to outpace the supply of property in the market."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-01/rising-property-prices-ho…
# Hot topic, Research alert NSW, .Bri's Story
Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)Brianna and her wife used to share a two-bedroom apartment with another pair of roommates in Dulwich Hill. When they first moved in, the place wasn’t perfectly maintained, to say the least. The real estate agent took 117 photos of various defects, maintenance issues and existing damage to the property when the condition report was compiled at the beginning of the lease. Nevertheless, Brianna and the others liked their rental. The apartment was in a small building of 8 flats, conveniently located near buses and local shops. Things started to turn for the worse three years into their tenure. First, a newly appointed real estate agent placed the household on a fixed-term lease and increased their rent by 19%. Then, in the spring of 2023, an eviction notice came. The note arrived via email, backdated three weeks, and with no explanation or reason for the eviction provided.
# Must read NSW, Eviction, Rent.How an alternative way of living known as co-operative living could ease Australia's rental crisis
Miriah Davis 9 News (No paywall)As property prices skyrocket across Australia, an alternative housing option is growing in popularity as a potential solution to tackling the national housing crisis. When Tara Morelos was a university student in 1996 she paid $50 per week in rent for a three-bedroom house in Sydney's inner west. Fast forward almost four decades later, and Morelos leases a four-bedder in Petersham for as little as $210 per week, well under the current market value.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/a-solution-to-australias-housi…
# Hot topic NSW, .Rental affordability hits all time low, NSW tenants worst hit
Rebecca Riddle Newcastle Weekly (No paywall)If you’re renting a home in NSW, you might want to consider an interstate move. And, if you’re happy to change sporting codes and call your takeaway snack a potato cake instead of a potato scallop, then your move could be to the cheapest place to rent in Australia – Melbourne. The “Premier State” is now officially out of reach for a majority of Australian tenants. That includes the Hunter region. On Saturday 9 March, REA Group’s data business PropTrack launched a new comprehensive measure of the share of rental properties that households can afford to lease. The PropTrack Rental Affordability Index analyses rental affordability across different household income distributions and locations. It shows rental affordability is now at its worst level in at least 17 years, when PropTrack records began, with median wage income earners able to afford just 28% of advertised rental properties.
https://newcastleweekly.com.au/rental-affordability-hits-all-tim…
# NSW, Rent.Eye-watering Sydney suburbs where housing price averages don't drop below $3.9 million
Adam Vidler 9 News (No paywall)Property prices continue their march upwards around Australia. New data from Domain shows housing values increased for a fifth consecutive quarter as of March, driven by low supply, high construction costs, and strong population growth. Sydney remains the epicentre of ballooning property prices. In fact, in the 10 most expensive suburbs of the city, median prices barely drop below $4 million. Here's where those suburbs are, in case you have a whole lot of cash burning a hole in your pocket.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/property-prices-10-sydney-subu…
# NSW, .