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
Shifting the Affordable Housing Narrative Through Arts and Culture
Brandon Duong (No paywall)From United States ... Housing activists want to use this political moment to shift long-standing narratives surrounding housing. From film to theater, here are some arts strategies that might work. (Shelterforce)
https://shelterforce.org/2021/11/22/shifting-the-affordable-hous…
# International, Affordable housing, Renting culture.Foyer Oxford offers young people facing homelessness a bright future
Emma Wynne ABC (No paywall)When Kim graduates from Notre Dame University later this month with a double degree and majors in politics, social justice and behavioural science it will signal the start of a new chapter. But just over a year ago, her life wasn't going so well. Kim was trying to get through university without the parental support most young people rely on as they establish adult lives. "I have a childhood history of family domestic violence, and that definitely snowballed into a mental health crisis," she says. Thanks to "an amazing social worker" Kim heard about Foyer Oxford, an apartment building run by Anglicare, Foundation Housing and North Metropolitan TAFE in the Perth inner-city suburb of Leederville and was able to move in. Foyer Oxford provides secure, affordable housing to young people along with personalised support to help them get into work and study.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-04/foyer-oxford-helping-youn…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Homelessness, Personal stories, Young people.Home for now: Noe Valley family chooses eviction fight over SF flight
Denise Sullivan (No paywall)From San Francisco ... Whether you love or loathe the holiday season, few would choose to spend this time of the year fighting an eviction. Yet that’s how the year’s ending for Michelle Foy and Fernando Martí of Noe Valley as they prepare for a January trial. “If we win, the court will have ruled the eviction wasn’t intended in good faith. If we lose, we’ll have to leave, or tie ourselves down ‘til the sheriff arrives,” said Martí, who has lived in one of the Victorian’s two flats since 1998. Foy joined him in 2002, and it’s the only home their 12-year-old child has ever known. (San Francisco Examiner)
https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/home-for-now-noe-valley-family-c…
# International, Eviction, Housing market, Personal stories.What Sydney’s 2011 median house price can buy today
Kate Burke The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Sydney house prices have soared to new heights, with the cost of a typical home more than doubling over the past decade. The median house price in Sydney reached a record high of almost $1.5 million in the September quarter, Domain figures show, having climbed more than 30 per cent over the year to September. Prices are now about 40 per cent higher than they were five years ago in the previous boom
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/what-sydney-s-2011-median-h…
# NSW, Housing market.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.