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
Competition at auctions drops as more homes hit the market
Kate Burke The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A cool change has swept through Australia’s biggest auction markets, with bidder competition easing as more homes go under the hammer and buyer fatigue sets in. New figures show bidder numbers at auctions have dropped to their lowest level in a year in both Sydney and Melbourne, as an increase in homes for sale gives buyers more choice.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/competition-at-auctions-dro…
# Australia, Housing affordability, Housing market.The ‘bank’ first-home buyers are relying on to keep up with prices
Kate Burke The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)When Sydney first-home buyer Josh Kidd picked up the keys to his new apartment this week, he knew it would not have been possible without financial help from his family. ... He's not alone with agents and mortgage brokers reporting a growing number of first-home buyers, and even second-home buyers, are turning to help from the bank of mum and dad as they struggle to keep up with rapidly rising property prices.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/the-bank-first-home-buyers-…
# Australia, Home ownership.The cheapest mortgage interest rates for property investors
Nicole Pederson-McKinnon The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The COVID-19 economy has been a game of two halves for property investors. Australian Bureau of Statistics data initially showed a dearth of new loans for investment properties in 2020, before lending values in the past 12 months almost doubled. ... An over-heated property market and unsustainable frenzy? Investors don’t think so, essentially squeezing out many first homebuyers.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/borrowing/the-cheapest-mortgage-int…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Why property prices rose while the economy contracted
Elizabeth Redman Domain (No paywall)Why did house prices soar while the economy was weak amid multiple lockdowns and a pandemic-induced recession? ... The rise in prices has created an affordability issue, and first-home buyer activity has declined after buyers brought forward purchases last year to take advantage of government incentives, ... said [ANZ senior economist Felicity Emmett], adding the affordability worries show up in the Melbourne Institute survey that shows consumers think now is not a good time to buy a home.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/why-property-prices-rose-wh…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing affordability, Housing market.How to avoid costly mistakes in the rush to buy property
Melissa Jenkins The New Daily (No paywall)It’s a hot property market right now, but mistakes fuelled by desperation to snare a home can be costly.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2021/12/05/property-…
# Australia, Housing market.Randwick manor sells for $8.97 million at auction, breaking suburb record
Tawar Razaghi The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A Victorian manor in Randwick sold for $8.97 million at auction on Saturday, breaking the suburb record.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/randwick-victorian-manor-se…
# NSW, Housing market.Missed the boom? Quality properties can still appreciate
George Cochrane The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)I am aged 54, employed, own my home and several small, paid-off apartments. ... As I approach retirement, I wonder what to do with them. Would it be usual to sell them at a suitable time for capital gains tax (CGT) purposes and avoid all the hassles with tenants and property managers etc. when I retire?
https://www.smh.com.au/money/super-and-retirement/missed-the-boo…
# NSW, Housing market, Landlords and agents.When house prices soar, everyone forgets who suffers most
Ross Gittins The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Because the pollies believe us all to be self-centred, they never try to appeal to the greater good. If the world worked the way it should, you’d expect housing affordability – and what each side was promising to do about it – to be a big issue in the coming campaign, but I doubt it will be. The Libs won’t want to draw attention to it, and though Labor will make noises about how terrible it is for young people, it’s unlikely to have any serious proposal to take the heat out of house prices. It did take a plan to discourage negatively geared property investment to the last election, but now believes this contributed to its defeat, so has dropped it. ... In all the agonising over house prices and home ownership – which has gone on for as long as I’ve been a journalist – we always forget the renters.If you define housing as having a place to live rather than to own, renters also suffer when house prices soar. ... If, under pressure from all us affluent home owners, neither side of politics is willing to make home ownership more affordable by removing the many tax breaks that make it so attractive as a form of investment, then the least they – and we – can do is reduce the housing pain of those who really struggle to rent a place.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/when-house-prices-so…
# Must read Australia, Public and community housing, Rent, Federal Government, Homelessness, Housing affordability, Housing market, Older people, Tax.