Search Results for: housing affordability

Australia’s soaring housing costs signal need for a new economic consensus

From The Conversation. The deeper issue behind Australia’s current housing debates is how housing investment will impact on our long-term prosperity. The International Monetary Fund estimates that Australia’s houses are overvalued by around 10%. The special place of housing arises from a distinctive policy consensus about how the overall economy should be managed and governed, … Continue reading “Australia’s soaring housing costs signal need for a new economic consensus”

Negative gearing distorting Sydney housing market: Report

From Australian Broker. Sydney’s housing affordability crisis is being artificially exacerbated by “lunacy” tax incentives, a new report has claimed. According to the analysis by the UNSW’s City Futures Research Centre, up to 90,000 properties are sitting empty in some of Sydney’s most sought-after suburbs as investors chase capital gains over rental returns. The analysis’ … Continue reading “Negative gearing distorting Sydney housing market: Report”

How policy success, not failure, has driven Australia’s housing crisis

From The Conversation. To see Australia’s shortage of affordable housing as a failure of government is to misunderstand the politics that underpin housing. The vast proportion of government money spent on housing directly benefits the well-off at the expense of private renters and public housing tenants. Government policy has not, on the whole, failed. It … Continue reading “How policy success, not failure, has driven Australia’s housing crisis”

Banks’ Mortgage Rate Rise hits Affordability – HIA

November’s increase in the major banks’ variable mortgage interest rate was a setback for housing affordability, according to the latest Affordability Report from the Housing Industry Association. Affordability deteriorated by some 6.4 per cent during the December 2015 quarter. Canberra saw the most unfavourable change in affordability (-11.4 per cent), with affordability worsening by 10.5 … Continue reading “Banks’ Mortgage Rate Rise hits Affordability – HIA”

Australian Housing Unaffordable – Demographia

The 2016 Demographia survey (the 12th edition)  is out using data from Q3 2015. Once again Australians are shown to be exposed to highly unafforable housing, with all the downstream economic consequences which follow. Policy, regulation, and vision have all failed us. Whilst inflated prices bloat banks’ balance sheets thanks to massive lending for housing, … Continue reading “Australian Housing Unaffordable – Demographia”

Was the housing boom in Sydney and Melbourne driven by foreign buyers?

From The Conversation. House prices rose by an average of 64% in Sydney and Melbourne in the decade from 2004 to 2014. At the same time foreign investment proposals in developed real estate rose by almost tenfold. This correlation led to a lot of anecdotal stories of Chinese buyers driving up prices and to a … Continue reading “Was the housing boom in Sydney and Melbourne driven by foreign buyers?”

Are we seeing a new dawn for affordable housing?

From The Conversation. Potentially trailblazing plans for state-assisted financing of affordable housing are emerging in New South Wales. In what looks to be a landmark policy announcement with possible national ramifications, the NSW government last week outlined the first phase of Premier Mike Baird’s March 2015 election commitment to establish a A$1 billion fund for … Continue reading “Are we seeing a new dawn for affordable housing?”

Home values fall in Sydney and Melbourne as housing market moves through peak of cycle – CoreLogic RP Data

The CoreLogic November Home Value Index out today confirmed dwelling values fell across five of the eight capital cities in Australia over the month, taking the combined capitals index 1.5% lower. According to CoreLogic RP Data head of research Tim Lawless, slower housing market conditions for Sydney and Melbourne became evident earlier in the year … Continue reading “Home values fall in Sydney and Melbourne as housing market moves through peak of cycle – CoreLogic RP Data”

A land value tax could fix Australasia’s housing crisis

From The Conversation. The major cities of Australia and New Zealand are experiencing an extraordinary wave of speculation in their respective real estate markets. Over the past three years, the median house price to median income ratio has increased by 21.2% in Australia and 18.1% in New Zealand, a rate reminiscent of Ireland’s 20.5% before … Continue reading “A land value tax could fix Australasia’s housing crisis”

The root of Sydney and Melbourne’s housing crisis

From The Conversation. As is well known, the shortage of affordable separate housing in Sydney and Melbourne means that most first home buyers and renters cannot currently find housing suited to their needs in locations of their choice. The dominant response from the housing industry and commentators is that governments must unlock the potential for … Continue reading “The root of Sydney and Melbourne’s housing crisis”