Category: Social Trends

Another Fine Mess For Australian Housing!

Wherever you look, the news is not good for those wishing to see housing affordability relief.

First demand for rentals continues to be powered by the overseas influx. New data from the Department of Home Affairs shows that at the end of February, the number of international students in Australia hit a record high of 713,144, whereas the number of temporary migrants in Australia hit a record high of 2.8 million (nearly 2.4 million excluding visitors).

Or put it another way, the number of student visa holders in Australia is running around 80,000 above the pre-pandemic peak, while the number of temporary visa holders excluding visitors is around 400,000 above the pre-pandemic peak.

Then we can turn to the question of new housing supply. I have covered before the fact that the country is littered with half-completed construction projects, many of which are competing for labour and resources with the large number of government and commercial projects also currently running. This crowded out home builders as the major projects sucked in labour and drove up its cost.

But we also continue to see more building firms going under. In the light of this, perhaps we should not be surprised that the total number of dwellings approved fell 1.9 per cent in February (seasonally adjusted), after a 2.5 per cent fall in January, according to data released on Thursday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

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Today’s post is brought to you by Ribbon Property Consultants.

So Who Is Really Feeling The Pinch?

In today’s show we look at the latest from our surveys – how many households are really under financial pressure – because there are big differences between the “official” figures and those shown in other surveys, and data points, including the rise in calls to financial help lines and hardship supports.

This is the first in a series of shows, culminating with a live show on Tuesday 9th April 2024.

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Its Edwin’s Monday Evening Property Rant!

More from our Property Insider, Edwin Almeida, as we look at the latest property news, and also discuss dummy bidding, and how changes in China are impacting property here.

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Today’s post is brought to you by Ribbon Property Consultants.

Digital Tyranny Is One Step Closer!

Remember the parable of the frog, who slowly gets cooked to death, in a pot as the temperature rises – well, the same in true for Australians, as civil liberties such as the use of cash, are removed, even as the digital architecture for future control gets put in place. You can see parallels elsewhere round the world, and aligned with the agenda of several high profile non-elected bodies like the World Economic Forum – of “you will own nothing and be happy” fame.

Australia’s Digital ID Bill 2023 was initially introduced to the Senate on November 30, 2023, and has since undergone a Senate inquiry and brief consultation period before this week being pushed through the Senate without debate. Despite assurances of voluntariness and promises to simplify citizens’ lives, the Labor government has faced backlash for the lack of scrutiny given to the bill.

And there is of course the wider, story here potentially linking digital ID with Central Bank Digital Currency and Social Scores, perhaps enabling the idea peddled by the World Economic Forum and other non-elected global entities, that we the people can be better controlled in terms of what we can, say, or even purchase. So you value your privacy, liberty and the rule of law, the Digital ID Bill must be defeated, time to put pressure back on the house of representatives when the amended bill comes back.

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Pressure: Retail Spending Stagnates, Despite “Growth” In Wealth!

The ABS released more data on Thursday from which we can deduce that despite some headline growth in spending thanks to the Taylor Swift events, underlying growth in retail turnover was up only 0.1 per cent in trend terms so after a period of higher volatility from November through to January, underlying spending has stagnated.

This is despite a growth in paper wealth – up which was 7.8 per cent over the past year, thanks to a large boost from rising house prices and domestic and overseas share markets. But we also saw a rise in household borrowing driven by continuing demand for housing amid strong population growth and a seasonal boost from spring housing market sales also drove household borrowing in the December quarter.

Under the hood, we see continued pressure on many households whose wages are not keeping up with living costs – inflation as I discussed yesterday remains too high, while the asset distribution across households is further distorting between the haves and have nots. Many consumers are clearly struggling under the weight of soft income growth, mortgage repayments, rents, income taxes, and overall cost-of-living pressures.

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Today’s post is brought to you by Ribbon Property Consultants.

No Hope And Massive Debt Is Not A Good Recipe For The Future!

BlackRock co-founder and CEO Larry Fink, in his annual letter to shareholders has rattled some important cages, even if you can see self-interest shining through.

He highlights a couple of not necessarily unrelated issues. First, he is frightened by the US public debt situation, and second he warns of a looming “retirement crisis” facing the US and called on baby boomers to help younger generations save enough for their own futures.

Young people “have lost trust in older generations,” Fink wrote. “The burden is on us to get it back. And maybe investing for their long-term goals, including retirement, isn’t such a bad place to begin.”

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DFA Live Q&A HD Replay: Fixing Housing After The Hijack: With Cameron Murray

This is an edited version of a live discussion with Cameron K. Murray, Author of The Great Housing Hijack which reveals how vested interests pull the strings on the property market in Australia, and offers a solution for genuinely affordable housing for those who need it.

With 120,000 people homeless each night and one in five low-income private renters spending more than half their income on rent, it is clear Australia urgently needs a housing policy change.

For anyone who wants to truly understand the housing market in Australia, The Great Housing Hijack is essential reading. Drawing on the best housing policies around the world, Murray shows how Australia could create a genuinely affordable housing program without compromising the interests of existing property owners.

Murray argues that even if more housing were built, the average household would not end up spending any less on housing.

Murray proposes bypassing the private market altogether with a scheme called HouseMate. The federal government would buy or repurpose land, build homes, then sell them at a discounted price to Australians who do not own property.

Perhaps the most controversial argument in The Great Housing Hijack is that planning and zoning rules do not change how much new housing is built, just the location.

Join the debate – you can ask a question live.

https://www.fresheconomicthinking.com/

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Its Edwin’s Monday Evening Property Rant!

Another important discussion with Edwin Almeida, our property insider. Not only has the price of coco tripled ahead of Easter, but listings are down, despite more property investors listing, while the gap between property demand and supply widens, as more migrants seek to buy.

https://www.ribbonproperty.com.au/

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Today’s post is brought to you by Ribbon Property Consultants.

RBA Admits Around 175,000 Mortgaged Households Have A Cash Flow Problem!

Last week has turned out to be an important one in terms of household finances and mortgage rates. The RBA this week said households are generally weathering the record run of interest rate rises but one in twenty owner occupied mortgage holders are in a dire financial position because of the higher interest rates and cost-of-living increases.

On average, debt servicing costs have risen about 30-60% since the RBA started hiking its cash rate in May 2022. That said, less than 1% of all housing loans were 90 or more days in arrears, through loans with payments overdue for less than 90 days have “continued to tick up gradually” and are expected to continue to increase in part because of weak household consumption.

Despite the trajectory of interest rates, on-going strength in the labour market enables most people to keep up with rising debt repayment levels, the Reserve Bank said in its quarterly financial stability report. These challenges would intensify if economic conditions were to deteriorate by more than expected or if inflation is more persistent than forecast in the out of date RBA’s February Statement.

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The Aussie Housing Crisis Out To 2030 And Beyond? With Tarric Brooker…

Journalist Tarric Brooker and I deep dive on the Australian Housing Crisis, as conclude that there is no easy fix, thanks to generations of bad policy and active intervention. So who are the winners and losers?

Tarric slides are here if you want to follow along: https://avidcom.substack.com/p/dfa-chart-pack-22nd-march-2024

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