This ‘ordinary home in ordinary location’ has sold for $4.3 million - $1 million above the reserve. A 696 square metre, three-bedroom house in Malvern, 13 kilometres south-east of Melbourne, was sold under the hammer for $4.3 million - $1 million above the reserve, said Emma Bloom, buyer’s agent with Morrell and Koren, who attended the auction this weekend.
Opinion Rent assistance: The ticking time bomb threatening future prime ministers Jessica Irvine Senior economics writer April 5, 2022 https://www.smh.com.au/business/the...g-future-prime-ministers-20220404-p5aaj5.html The Prime Minister’s comments on the Today Show when asked by journalist Allison Langdon what the recent budget does for renters were so problematic, it’s not hard to see why an entire generation is outraged. But outrage should be properly founded. Some renters buy homes, but most buyers are either investors or existing homeowners who are moving house.Creditomain It’s simply not accurate that Morrison said anyone struggling with rent should just go buy a house, akin to American heiress Paris Hilton’s “stop being poor” T-shirt or Kim Kardashian’s recent exhortation to people to just “work hard”. More accurately, Mr Morrison’s initial response was that the “best way to support people who are renting a house is to help them buy a house”. That is deeply problematic – which we will get to – but the exchange continued when Langdon interjected to clarify that she was not asking about homeownership policies but rather “rental relief”, specifically. “I know, but that’s my point,” the Prime Minister continued. “People who are buying houses are renters.” Well, no, actually, Prime Minister. According to the Bureau of Statistic’s latest housing finance figures, just 31 per cent of loans written to owner-occupiers in the month of February went to first-time buyers, ie renters becoming owners. And that’s not counting the rather substantial number of loans written to investors. By value, owner-occupiers took out $21.53 billion worth of loans in February, of which $4.85 billion went to first-time buyers. Investors, however, took out another $10.75 billion of housing loans on top of that – more than twice those of first time buyers. So, the accurate thing to say is that while some renters buy homes, most home purchasers in any given month are actually either investors or existing homeowners who are moving house. A more accurate response to the entirely reasonable question of what this budget does for renters would have been: “Not much, sorry, Ally. We didn’t actually think much about that issue in this budget.” And Morrison would be far from alone in that. Indeed, governments of both political stripes have failed over multiple decades to address the issues confronting renters, particularly low-income renters. But rental relief is now sorely needed, particularly for low-income Australians. It’s a ticking time bomb for both for renters and the budget. Let me explain. The federal government pays about $5.3 billion a year in Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA) to about 1.3 million non-homeowning welfare recipients, including the unemployed, disabled and age pensioners. Assistance is provided at a rate of 75 cents for every dollar in rent paid above a certain rent threshold, up to a maximum amount of $145.80 a fortnight for a single person with no children. The problem is both the rent threshold and maximum amounts are indexed to rise with consumer price inflation only, and not rents. According to a Productivity Commission analysis, consumer prices have increased about 75 per cent since 1995, but actual rents have almost tripled during that time. If the 1995 rate of rent assistance had instead risen with actual rents, it would be closer to $210 today. As the commission notes: “Over time ... the CRA maximum payment amount has not kept pace with the rise in rents, which has outpaced inflation. As a result, the average share of rents covered by CRA has fallen. Further, the share of CRA recipients who received the maximum payment has steadily increased from around 57 per cent (representing about 566 000 recipients) in 2001 to 80 per cent (representing just over 1 million recipients) in 2018.” As a direct result, fully two thirds of low-income renting households live in “rental stress”, spending more than 30 per cent of their income on rent. So, what would a budget that did help renters look like? It’s true that some renters do benefit from government assistance to let them borrow with smaller deposits. But those numbers are small each year compared to the total pool of renters. For many low-income renters, it is increasingly true they will never own a home – both throughout their working lives and in retirement. Home ownership has traditionally been a hidden pillar of our retirement system, but it is crumbling. More and more Australians are staring down the barrel of renting in retirement and the pressure to assist them will only grow. The Productivity Commission has called for a 15 per cent increase in the maximum rent amount to make up for lost ground. The Grattan Institute has called for a 40 per cent increase and for the amount to be indexed to rents rather than consumer prices. The Australian Council of Social Services is also calling for rent assistance to be benchmarked to actual rents by area and says a 50 per cent average increase in the maximum rent assistance rate is needed. According to Ben Phillips, an economist at the Australian National University, increasing rent assistance by $70 a fortnight would cost about $2 billion a year. The Productivity Commission praises rent assistance as “a well-targeted policy lever to assist low-income, low-wealth households who face the specific challenges associated with the private rental market”. Public pressure is only likely to grow from here for that lever to be pulled. Future prime ministers would do well to come armed to post-budget interviews with a better response.
Australia faces national rental crisis as vacancy rate falls again By Kate Burke April 5, 2022 Talking points Australia’s national rental vacancy rate had fallen to 1 per cent, down from 2 per cent a year ago. Sydney and Melbourne recorded the biggest drop in vacancy rates last month. Vacancies in multiple capital cities are at their lowest point since Domain records began in 2017. Australian tenants face a worsening rental crisis, with competition for homes soaring as the proportion of vacant rental properties falls to its lowest level in years. The national rental vacancy rate fell to 1 per cent in March, halving year-on-year, with all capital cities now operating in a landlord’s market, Domain’s latest Rental Vacancy Rate report found. Australia’s rental vacancy rate dropped to 1 per cent in March. Crediteter Rae Landlords in competitive markets are being inundated with applications amid the shortage of available rentals, and tenants are increasingly offering above the advertised price, or up to a year’s rent in advance, to try to secure a home, agents have reported. Domain’s chief of research and economics, Nicola Powell, said Australia was facing a rental crisis, with already strained rental markets under increased pressure following the reopening of international and domestic borders. “With many cities already sitting at record high asking rents, combined with the current tightening conditions, we’re likely to see rental price increases continue, causing worsened conditions for tenants,” Dr Powell said. Vacancy rates nationally, as well as in Sydney (1.4 per cent), Canberra (0.5), Brisbane (0.7), Adelaide (0.2) and Perth (0.5), have reached their lowest point since Domain records began in 2017, and Darwin (0.5) is close to a record low. Hobart recorded a marginal increase, but with a rate of 0.3 per cent it remains one of the most competitive capital city markets. “In some of our cities it is like finding a needle in a haystack when trying to find an available rental,” Dr Powell said. Sydney and Melbourne had the biggest monthly fall in vacancy rates, now at 1.4 per cent and 1.8 per cent respectively. Dr Powell said inner-city markets hard hit during the pandemic were subject to a resurgence in demand as borders reopened and tenants took advantage of lower rents. While demand had risen, supply had fallen, with some rental properties having been sold during the pandemic while others came back to the short-term rental market as tourism resumed. Inner Brisbane, which recorded a vacancy rate of 1.5 per cent, had one of the largest monthly falls of the capital city regions. As did areas such as Indooroopilly, Sherwood, Nathan and Salisbury. “There’s a lot of people out there searching right now; a lot of places are getting snapped up pretty fast,” said Kelsey Smith, a business development manager at Living Here Cush Partners. Rental demand had risen as Brisbane attracted more interstate arrivals and rapidly rising property prices left more aspiring homeowners renting for longer, Ms Smith said. The recent floods had further exacerbated the rental shortage in some markets, she added. While she did not want to encourage rent bidding, Ms Smith said strong competition was prompting more tenants to offer above the advertised rental price, noting that one Bulimba home recently leased for an additional $150 a week to tenants relocating from interstate. Landlords, meanwhile, were increasingly looking to test demand with above-market prices, which they would lower if they had no takers. Inner-city markets have registered large declines in vacancy rates, and the strongest competition is still being seen in middle to outer ring suburbs and lifestyle locations, which tenants flocked to while working and studying remotely during the pandemic. In the Maroondah region in Melbourne’s east, which has one of the city’s lowest vacancy rates of 0.6 per cent, nine out of 10 homes were being leased after the first open home, said senior property manager Anne Johnsen, of Fletchers Maroondah. In a bid to beat the competition, more tenants were offering to pay above the advertised price, typically up to $20 a week extra, and some were offering several months’ worth of rent upfront, sometimes a year in advance. “It’s crazy – that’s how desperate people are to secure a home,” Ms Johnsen said, adding that personalised letters appealing to landlords and property managers were also becoming more common. Declining vacancy rates and rising rents were making it harder for tenants to find, and hold on to, an affordable home, said Tenants’ Union of NSW chief executive Leo Patterson Ross. Renters were increasingly compromising on the size, location and quality of properties to secure a rental, while existing tenants were more likely to let unanswered repair requests or other breaches of the tenancy contract slide. “They know they are susceptible to being asked to move on and will have a hard time finding somewhere and likely face higher rent for a smaller place or have to move even further away,” Mr Patterson Ross said. Rents were on the rise for existing tenants, with even greater hikes between tenancies, and more properties were now leased above the advertised rate, with rent bidding on the rise. Increasing housing supply was key to addressing the crisis, Mr Patterson Ross said, particularly social and affordable housing targeted at helping those left behind by the private market. Such tenants would not be in a position to use first-home buyer assistance schemes to purchase a home – which Prime Minister Scott Morrison recently described as the best way to support renters. Boosting the supply of social and affordable rental housing would ease pressure for the most affordable rentals, which would then flow through to the broader market, he said. A national housing strategy was also needed, he said.
The message the Australian government wish to send prospective immigrants to Australia, "You need to think carefully before coming here as you are going to suffer being ripped off badly on accommodation costs when you get here."
Australians in grip of debt spiral as buy now, pay later loans increase to cover daily basics ABC North Qld By Sally Rafferty https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-05/debt-and-buy-now-pay-later-loans-increase/100962458 Consumer advocates are concerned a growing number of people will be forced into a debt spiral.(ABC News: Sally Rafferty) Australians are seeking out buy now, pay-later (BNPL) loans to cover basics such as food and rent at an alarming rate as their empty bank accounts make it a struggle to survive. "A lot of people are falling into hardship, they are using credit cards to pay off these loans, they're skipping meals, they are skipping other bills for essential goods or utility bills," Patrick Veyret, senior policy adviser for consumer group Choice, said. "Our concern is this is only going to get worse." One in five people have used a BNPL service to pay for household items like groceries and rent in the past year, according to the consumer advocacy group's data. Angliss Meats at Townsville only introduced the small loan scheme two weeks ago, but at least 50 people have already taken up the offer. "It's brought a few extra people in," butcher Ryan James said. "They are just genuinely happy that we have it now, they can make their groceries a bit easier." Ryan James says there has been a huge uptake in BNPL at his butcher shop.(ABC News: Sally Rafferty) There is a minimum spend of $100 in their Burdell shop, but with the soaring cost of meat, Mr James believed BNPL was a big selling point. "A lot of people don't even tell us they are using it, some of them just tap their card," he said. "We are changing our price tickets weekly. "It's ridiculous. "I've been in this company for 10 years now and our rump steaks have more than quadrupled in price." Calls to close the loopholes BNPL services are largely unregulated, with providers having no legal obligation to check borrowers can repay the loans. "We've heard from financial counsellors, who assist people with debt, that some people have 10 or 11 loans," Mr Veyret said. "One person had 11 loans to pay every fortnight and that's because these new lenders don't have to do proper credit checks." He said borrowers who failed to make payments on time faced hefty penalties. "Most providers charge people late fees and research we've seen has found that sometimes these late fees actually mean that buy now, pay later is more expensive than a credit card," he said. Shops with essential goods are now regularly offering buy now, pay later options in store.(ABC News: John Gunn) There are up to 15 different BNPL providers in Australia, each with their own terms and conditions. "A number of new players pop up every month," Mr Veyret said. "We are seeing this increasing trend of payday lender providers now rebrand as buy now, pay later providers because there is a halo effect. "There is some view that buy now, pay later is the golden child, when in actual fact they are an unregulated credit service and we're seeing payday lenders try and cash in on this." Choice has joined global calls to regulate the industry in light of growing costs of living. Making the rent The smaller loans have also been extended to include regular payments such as rent. Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) chief executive Antonia Mercorella said it was a concerning trend brought about by increasing rental costs. REIQ chief executive Antonia Mercorella says increasing rents are leading people to offer more than they can afford.(ABC News: Mark Leonardi) "We're starting to see people offering above and beyond the rental asking price, so that might result in people offering money that isn't necessarily affordable for them," she said. "As a result of the really tight rental market, we are seeing that rents are being put up at a much faster pace than what we are accustomed to, that does create rental affordability issues." Ms Mercorella said while reliance on BNPL loans to cover rent had not been widespread so far, she feared it would get worse. "These schemes are becoming more and more appealing," she said. "What's particularly concerning is the way these schemes are being used to pay for essentials."
It’s a landlords’ market as vacancy rates fall to 1pc nationally Nila Sweeney Reporter Apr 4, 2022 https://www.afr.com/property/reside...-rates-fall-to-1pc-nationally-20220404-p5aakf Vacancy rates fell to a record low of 1 per cent nationwide in March, as rental supply dwindles and demand ramps up following the return of international students, data from Domain shows. The proportion of available rental homes across all capitals has now dropped below 2 per cent, indicating a shift favouring investors, said Nicola Powell, Domain’s chief of research and economics. Vacancy rates have dropped to a record low of 1.4 per cent across Sydney, according to Domain. “All capital cities are now operating in a landlords’ market, the first time this has happened since Domain records began in 2017,” she said. “After just one month of international and all domestic borders opening, we are already seeing increased pressure on an already strained rental market. “Many tenants have also moved back to the inner cities where apartment rents were cheaper than houses and this caused a resurgence in rental demand, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne, which again have recorded the biggest drop in vacancy rates.” rental stock has plummeted in all capitals with Melbourne dropping by 56.9 per cent, Sydney by 48.9 per cent, Brisbane by 49.9 per cent and Adelaide by 68.6 per cent. Nationally, rental stock dropped by 52.2 per cent. As a result of the tightening rental conditions, asking rents have surged to record highs with rental prices likely to jump higher in the coming months, Dr Powell said. “Many cities are sitting at record high asking rents with the current tightening conditions swinging favour towards landlords and bolstering any future potential rental price increases,” she said. “The rise in overseas migrants, who will rent upon arrival, will spiral rental demand further and worsen conditions for tenants.” During the December quarter, median asking rents for houses jumped to record highs across the combined capitals. It climbed by 9.1 per cent to $600 in Sydney, it was up by 12.9 per cent to $480 in Brisbane and 9.8 per cent higher to $450 in Adelaide. In some areas, such as in Sydney’s eastern suburbs Vaucluse and Double Bay, asking rents for a house soared by 47 per cent and 42.9 per cent over the year respectively. In Mount Coolum on the Sunshine Coast, strong demand and low supply fuelled a 47.1 per cent rise in asking rents over 12 months. “I don’t recall in all the time I’ve been researching real estate where we’ve had vacancy rates so low and rents are rising as fast as house prices in so many locations,” Mr Ryder said. “This rental crisis is getting worse because investors have been discouraged from getting into the market by a range of policies by the government, APRA and the banks. “Both the federal government and the opposition have policies around housing affordability to help first home buyers get into the market, but there appears to be little if any that addresses the rental shortage, which I think is an even bigger crisis.”
Australian Federal elections are coming on May 21st, next month..... Leaders trading on trust as announcement season begins Peter Hartcher Political and international editor April 11, 2022 With the start of the federal election campaign, Scott Morrison is now free to concentrate on doing what he does best. Making announcements. Freed from most of the responsibilities of governing as the system goes into the autopilot of caretaker mode, the prime minister will make impressive announcements, full of campaign flourish and taxpayers’ funds. Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese have wasted no time telling Australians why they should vote for them, as the six-week election campaign officially begins. However, his announcement of the election itself is the last announcement we can truly trust, from either side of politics. In Morrison’s case, he has a well-established announcement problem. Labor likes to taunt that he’s all announcement, no delivery, he’s there for the photo op, never the follow-up. While that is an unfair exaggeration, there is a generous list of examples. Anyone remember how Australia was going to be “front of the queue” globally in getting vaccines, for instance? Oops. Or Morrison’s promise to create a Federal anti-corruption commission? He first announced it in 2018. We’re still waiting. It’s such a priority that the government has never even introduced legislation for one into the parliament....... https://www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...nouncement-season-begins-20220410-p5acf9.html
This is the sort of nonsense the ruling Australian gummint spend their time & energies on in the lead up to elections...... LMFAO Federal election 2022: Scott Morrison backs push to ban trans women from female sports Catie McLeodNCA NewsWire April 11, 2022 Scott Morrison has thrown his support behind a push to ban trans women from competing in female sport, describing the proposed change as “brave”. The Prime Minister on Monday flagged the possibility of legislating the ban if he is returned to power at the May 21 federal election. He endorsed the campaigns of two Liberal women who have advocated for the ban, including that of his hand-picked candidate for the Sydney seat of Warringah, Katherine Deves. Ms Deves co-founded the Save Women’s Sport lobby group, which calls on sports organisations to outlaw trans women — who identify with a different gender to the one they were thought to be at birth — from female sports. https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/au...-ban-trans-women-from-female-sports-c-6409034