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
Property sales to foreigners down as new type of buyer emerges
Melissa Heagney Domain (No paywall)The number of foreign buyers snapping up Australian property has taken a significant hit, new figures show, but those that are buying here are much more likely to stay for the long term.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/property-sales-to-foreigner…
# Australia, Housing market.Why fear of missing out in the property market should ease this year
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Aspiring Sydney property buyers are set to have more choice this year as sellers try to take advantage of favourable conditions, resulting in an expected glut of listings. At the end of last year, Sydney recorded the highest number of new homes on the market since 2015, CoreLogic data shows.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/why-fear-of-missing-out-in-…
# NSW, Home ownership, Housing market.Auction market off to early start as listings spike
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)Australia’s auction market got off to a busier start than usual, with more sellers hitting the market over the traditionally quieter summer holiday period in a bid to get ahead of the competition before an increase in listings gives buyers more choice.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/auction-market-off-to-early…
# Australia, Housing market.With house prices through the roof, is it time for Plan B?
Tawar Razaghi Domain (No paywall)Units are poised to pick up in popularity, as last year’s runaway house price growth is tipped to force buyers into more affordable properties and some investors jump back into the market.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/with-house-prices-through-t…
# Australia, Strata, Housing affordability, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Inner West rents rise as prices across Sydney record steep increase
Daniel Lo Surdo (No paywall)House rents across Sydney increased by over $20 in the final quarter of 2021, according to a new report confirming the steepest annual increase since 2009. Data from Domain’s December 2021 rental report has revealed that house rents in Sydney jumped a record 9.1 per cent last year, hitting a record high of $600 a week. This increase was also felt in the Inner West (though not as strongly), with annual house rents in the area rising by only 2.7 per cent since the end of 2020. A select few suburbs experienced a more significant increase, with rents in Balmain East and Haberfield jumping by 11.7 and 12.2 per cent respectively. Unit rents also saw an increase, albeit by only one per cent, marking the first annual increase for units in almost four years. The report noted that although rents are rising, the pace of quarterly growth had eased for both houses and units. ... While speaking to City Hub in June, Leo Patterson Ross, CEO of the Tenants’ Union of NSW, expressed doubts of the sustainability of a perceived shift in the market, saying that landlords were not offering tenants better maintenance, “longer leases [or] pets by default” in their agreements, adding that “people were being offered basically the same deal, just a little bit less expensive”. (City Hub)
https://cityhubsydney.com.au/2022/01/inner-west-rents-rise-as-pr…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, Rent, Housing market.Rate hike warning makes home owners nervous
John Collett The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Home owners who have already switched from variable interest-rate mortgages to fixed rates appear to have made the right call. That is particularly so for those who fixed for a term of three years between the start of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020 and September of last year, just before fixed rates started to rise.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/borrowing/rate-hike-warning-makes-h…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.3 ways to reinvent affordable housing in a post-pandemic world
Jonathon T.M. Reckford (No paywall)When more than 90 countries issued stay-at-home orders during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, over 1 billion people across the globe sheltered in slums and informal settlements. Yet, these necessary public health measures offer scant defence against this potentially deadly virus if housing conditions are unsafe. The urgency of the pandemic response spotlighted an inescapable truth: chronic lack of safe and affordable housing in both advanced economies and developing nations is one of the biggest drivers of health and wealth disparities in our world. As we grapple with how to adapt to ongoing waves of the virus and move towards rebuilding healthier, more equitable societies, we must expand the global supply of affordable housing by focusing on innovations that champion public health, sustainability and scalability. These three inextricably linked pillars can drive a new global housing framework that creates more equitable access to affordable housing and, as a result, improves health outcomes, fortifies disaster resilience and mitigates environmental impact. (World Economic Forum)
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/01/reinvent-affordable-housi…
# Must read International, Affordable housing, Climate change, Coronavirus COVID-19, Families, Health, Housing market, Human rights.Rental ‘tragedy’ pricing out the essential workers who are keeping cities running
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)Rents have reached record highs in our biggest cities and many regional areas, leaving lower income earners and essential workers – many of whom are keeping the country going amid surging coronavirus case numbers – struggling to find affordable rental properties. A comparison of Domain rental data and the latest employee earnings data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, released on Wednesday, shows not one suburb in NSW or Victoria would be considered affordable for essential workers such as checkout operators, pharmacy sales assistants or kitchen hands. ... Rising rental prices across much of the country - which saw house rents in most capital cities hit record highs in the December quarter - were pushing essential workers further away from workplaces and into poorer quality accommodation, said National Shelter executive officer Adrian Pisarski. ... Nicole Gurran, a professor of urban planning at the University of Sydney, said poor housing affordability meant a not insignificant proportion of key workers were living in overcrowded conditions, which had become a significant risk factor during the pandemic, as it made it more difficult for key workers - who typically cannot work from home - to isolate if they caught COVID-19. ... Farah Farouque, director of community engagement at Tenants Victoria, said there was a real mismatch between where affordable homes were located and where the bulk of jobs were. In addition to concerns about overcrowding, she noted there were reports of priced-out hospitality workers camping along the state’s surf coast, unable to keep up with rapidly climbing demand and rents during the pandemic.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/rental-tragedy-pricing-out-…
# Hot topic Australia, Rent, Housing affordability, Housing market, Work, employment.