Netherlands' cardboard floating homes, Wikkelboats, could be a housing solution for areas with limited space Posted 7 hours ago https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07...oating-homes-wikkelboats-a-solution/101259304 Wikkelboats are a short-term accomodation option being used in The Netherlands. (AP: Wikkelboat/Justin Nederkoorn) Small floating houses made out of cardboard might not be everyone's cup of tea, but they are being considered as a housing solution in the Netherlands' unused harbours. Key points: The boats are made of 1.2-metre-long cardboard segments weighing 500 kilograms The houseboats all feature a bathroom, separate bedroom, and folding beds The houseboats could be part of a plan to develop Dutch cities on the water Wikkelboats — or "wrap boats" in English — used for short-term accommodation are an original addition to the Rotterdam landscape, 73 kilometres to the south-east of the country's capital, Amsterdam. The floating houses are made of 1.2-metre-long cardboard segments weighing 500 kilograms each. Rest assured, the cardboard is coated with a waterproof layer and a wooden layer. The segments are modular, too, so the length of each house can be extended or reduced. And the use of cardboard offers both excellent thermal and soundproofing properties. They are positioned on a floating jetty. Wikkelboat director Sander Waterval said he thought the uniqueness of the "houseboats" was not just the use of cardboard, but also the use of other recycled materials and solar panels. "So it's well-thought about the building process, but it's also of the usage," Mr Waterval said. "If you have very limited space in The Netherlands and, especially, in Rotterdam as an expanding, bustling city. Then you also look to places where people can go on the water and things like that. "And it's also the square meters are used in a very multi-functional way. "So it's not only that it's a floating hotel room. No, definitely not. It's much more." The houses all feature a bathroom, separate bedroom, wall-integrated folding beds and an unfolding TV set. And, in the same space-saving strategy, there is also a hidden hot tub. "You don't see it in the daytime. You just sit on the terrace on the Jacuzzi because it's under the deck," Mr Waterval said. Founded four years ago, Wikkelboat — which is also the name of the company — has seven of its floating houses in Rijnhaven harbour, Rotterdam. The homes range from 32 to 42 square metres, accommodating four to six people.(Wikkelboat, Justin Nederkoorn via AP) There are two more of the floating houses on the River Dieze in 's-Hertogenbosch, the capital of the North Brabant region. The Wikelboats could also be part of a planning solution to develop Dutch cities on the water. A flagship example is the floating Global Centre on Adaptation (GCA) building in Rotterdam. It's the largest floating office in the world, moored in the Rijnhaven harbour, and illustrates the necessity for climate adaptation. Vera Bauman — who works on the "Water within Municipality of Rotterdam" project — said that, with all its abandoned inner-city harbours, the city wants to connect the water with the areas behind the old harbours. Wikkelboats are used for professional events like meetings and team-building workshops in place of traditional offices.(Wikkelboat, Justin Nederkoorn via AP) "So we are now thinking about developing the city in connection with the water," she said. For overnight stays, Wikkelboat charges between 250 euros ($370) and 350 euros ($520) per night. The company is planning new projects in various Dutch and Belgian cities with old harbours that are longing for a new purpose. AP
Poorer young Australians suffer world-leading hit to housing: OECD By Shane Wright and Rachel Clun July 21, 2022 https://www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...ding-hit-to-housing-oecd-20220721-p5b3cf.html Poorer young Australians have suffered a catastrophic collapse in homeownership rates over the past four decades and international research warns the situation is only going to get worse. An Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report released on Thursday evening shows that between 1981 and 2016, homeownership among Australians aged between 25 and 34 dropped by 40 percentage points among the bottom 20 per cent of income earners. It is among the largest falls in homeownership found by the OECD’s examination of housing tax policies and compares with a 7 percentage point fall among young Australians in the top 20 per cent of income earners. Globally, the Paris-based think tank said homeownership rates were falling among younger generations due to a range of factors that were pushing up prices. Low interest rates, supply issues in major cities and tax arrangements were all making it more difficult for young people to buy a property. Policies put in place to help younger people, such as concessions or direct handouts, actually made the situation worse. In Australia, both sides of politics have backed or are putting in place measures to help younger people buy a house. But the OECD said without a real boost in supply and an overhaul of tax, the situation would not improve. Young, poorer Australians have been among the biggest losers due to decades of increasing house prices.Crediteter Rae The director of the OECD’s centre for tax policy, Pascal Saint-Amans, said the tax treatment of housing had to change. “In the face of unprecedented housing market challenges, it is more important than ever to ensure that housing taxes are both fair and efficient,” he said. “There is significant scope for countries to improve the design and functioning of housing taxes and this report provides a number of policy options to help countries implement reform.” The situation in Australia was particularly pronounced, with a step-down in homeownership rates across every generation for several decades. But in every case, those on lower incomes have suffered the biggest drops. Among those aged between 55 and 64, ownership rates have tumbled by 16 percentage points since the early 1980s for the lowest paid but by just 1 percentage point among the top 20 per cent of income earners. “While future generations are therefore likely to see continued drops in homeownership rates over time, households with high income, high wealth, and/or access to significant family resources may instead see rising homeownership rates or at least smaller declines,” it found. Across 29 members of the OECD, Australians have the second-highest level of wealth tied to property. Only people in Luxembourg have more. But even here, it is heavily dependent on incomes. The top 20 per cent of Australians by income have double the wealth of the bottom 20 per cent tied up in their primary residence. Australians also have the second-highest amount of wealth linked to holiday or investment properties, with the best-paid 20 per cent of the population holding much larger levels of wealth than those in the bottom fifth. The OECD said while overall home-ownership rates remained relatively high, this was partly due to older generations living longer. The report is in line with the latest Australian census, which showed the proportion of people who owned their homes outright had halved across most age groups in the past two decades, while the proportion of people with mortgages had swelled across all ages. In 2001, more than one in five 35- to 44-year-olds owned their home outright. But by 2021, the proportion of that age group who owned outright had fallen to fewer than one in 10. The census data also showed that 41.4 per cent of people aged between 45 and 54 owned their home outright 20 years ago, but in 2021 just 18.5 per cent of people in that age bracket did. Experts said one of the main reasons fewer people under the age of 65 owned outright today and the number of mortgagees had grown was skyrocketing house prices, which meant people were taking on large debts for longer, and entering the property market later in life. Apart from boosting supply of homes, the OECD said there needed to be changes to tax around properties. It noted the ACT’s move to gradually axe stamp duty on home sales, a policy being considered by NSW. It also said capital gains tax – from which the primary residence is excluded – should be modified. “The majority of OECD countries fully exempt capital gains on main residences and while there may be justification for such an approach, an uncapped exemption provides vastly greater benefits to the wealthiest households and further distorts the allocation of savings in favour of owner-occupied housing,” it found. The OECD said governments should consider capping the CGT exemption on the main residence, arguing it would reduce some upward pressure on house prices.
Meanwhile in America.... Five things to know about the next US housing crisis High home prices, scarcity and global uncertainty may be the perfect recipe for a United States housing crisis, economists tell Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/7/13/five-things-to-know-about-the-next-us-housing-crisis Young people simply cannot compete with cash-rich investors, both institutional and foreign, who do not need a mortgage and are purchasing properties to rent [File: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg] By Radmilla Suleymanova Published On 13 Jul 2022 As real estate in the United States remains strong despite rising interest rates, market analysts interviewed by Al Jazeera predict that the next housing crisis will centre around Americans locked out of homeownership. “That’s our big problem going forward,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, a research firm based in New York City, told Al Jazeera. “It’s not going to be a crash in house prices; it’s going to be getting people into homeownership so they can build wealth. I think younger people are going to have a great deal of difficulty.” The coronavirus pandemic sparked a home-buying frenzy as millions of Americans across the economic spectrum, working from home, set out in search of more space. Low interest rates fuelled the purchasing spree. “You had very few homes and a lot of people that were going to try to buy them,” said Nicole Bachaud, an economist at Zillow, a tech real-estate marketplace company in Seattle, Washington. Purchasing a home has become much more expensive recently as the US Federal Reserve raises interest rates to fight runaway inflation. Rates for a 30-year mortgage recently neared 6 percent, after dropping to 2.65 percent in January 2021. And real estate agents say they are already seeing cracks in the housing market. “We’re seeing price reductions a little bit more frequently than we had before,” said David Berger, real estate agent at Compass, a broker agency in New York. “We’re seeing listings stay on the market a little longer than a year ago, even six months ago.” Inflation, a bear market on Wall Street after the S&P 500 dropped 20 percent, free-falling cryptocurrencies, war in Ukraine, and high fuel and food prices may evoke memories of the 2007-2008 real estate crash, but experts Al Jazeera spoke to said the market is very different this time. Here are five things to know: 1. Don’t expect a housing crash like the one we saw in the 2007-2008 financial crisis In 2005 and 2006, US banks lent money to “low-quality borrowers” with very low credit scores, Zandi of Moody’s explained. Borrowers signed up for two-year adjustable mortgages, which meant that their interest rates would rise after two years due to their poor credit. Fraud by mortgage brokers, appraisers and real estate agents to secure loans was also prevalent. The subprime mortgage crisis resulted in a surge of defaults and, eventually, large price drops. As these mortgages were packaged into a tradable financial asset or securities and sold on the global market, the housing tsunami hit global markets. Mortgage lending has been pristine ever since the financial crisis, Zandi explained, because of changes in regulation. “Today mortgage products are very plain vanilla – 30-year and 15-year fixed rate loans,” he added. “We’re just not going to see the kind of defaults, foreclosures and distressed sales that lead to big price declines.” David Berger, a real estate agent at Compass, said he’s seeing listings stay on the market longer than a year ago, ‘even six months ago’ [File: Mike Segar/Reuters] The housing market is undersupplied, with vacancy rates for single-family homes near record lows. Institutional investors like hedge funds and mutual funds are interested in purchasing homes and are unlikely to sell. They are purchasing with the intention of holding. Plus, the majority of American homeowners refinanced between 2020 and 2021, when interest rates were low. “Those people who own a home right now have pretty low mortgages – they’re not worried about affordability,” Zillow’s Bachaud said. “We’re seeing an affordability crisis with people trying to get into homeownership. That is the big difference between this market and what happened in 2008-2009.” 2. No, housing prices will not plummet According to Zillow, the price of the average home in the US is $350,000 – up 20.7 percent from a year ago. “A lot of people are thinking, ‘We’ve seen so much growth, it has to come down from here,'” Bachaud told Al Jazeera. “But what we’re really seeing is that things are just starting to balance out a little bit faster than we might have expected if interest rates hadn’t risen so quickly.” Home prices in some US markets jumped even higher. In Phoenix, Arizona, the average home cost $264,000 in March 2020 compared to $433,660 today. In Tampa, Florida, the median price is now $408,997 up from $253,000 in March 2020. “We didn’t have enough homes, and a lot of people were trying to buy them so that pushed prices way up,” Bachaud said, referring to the pandemic buying frenzy. “The time homes were staying on the market – between when a house is listed and when it is pending – in a lot of places was less than a week.” The US housing market is undersupplied, with vacancy rates for single-family homes near record lows [File: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg] 3. People are going to be less willing to sell their homes now, too Home price appreciation is expected to remain in the double digits at least until the end of 2022, experts said. Currently, annual home appreciation is at 17 percent, according to the American Enterprise Institute, a think-tank based in Washington, DC. “But a 10 percent home appreciation is going to feel a lot different than the 20 percent homeowners have seen in the last two years,” Bachaud added. As a result, people may be less likely to sell their houses. “They’re not going to give up so easily on the high valuation of their home they may have seen in the last two years, so the number of transactions will fall very sharply,” Zandi of Moody’s predicted. 4. The American dream of owning a home may be a pipe dream for young people Millennials, those born between 1981 and 1996, are being locked out of homeownership due to a lack of available housing, price increases, wage stagnation, and skyrocketing student debt. “Young people are having a hard time saving for a down payment, typically 5 to 20 percent of the purchase price,” Zillow’s Bachaud said. And with today’s higher interest rates, a monthly mortgage payment is more than 50 percent higher than it was a year ago. During the pandemic, when the government eased monetary policy and doled out trillions of dollars to encourage spending and keep the economy afloat, 30-year fixed-rate mortgage interest rates fell as low as 2.65 percent. “Just consider the difference between a 3 percent interest rate and a 6 percent interest rate on a $350,000 home,” Bachaud explained. “That’s an extra $500 in interest that homeowners are expected to pay every month.” Young people simply cannot compete with cash-rich investors, both institutional and foreign, who do not need a mortgage and are purchasing rental properties. Rents have soared across the US since the pandemic. For example, the median rent in Dallas, Texas is $2,045, up $420 in the last year. In Miami, Florida, median rents are $4,000, up $1,500 compared to last year. Compass’s Berger, who relocated to Miami from New York during the pandemic and witnessed the South Florida boom firsthand, told Al Jazeera that the city’s real estate has no plans of slowing down. “Miami is now a city that drives demand, attracts international buyers and talent from all over the country,” he said. Zandi from Moody’s Analytics noted that lawmakers “can try to incentivise builders to build more affordable rentals”. “Affordable rentals,” he said, “are critical to homeownership because it allows people to save for a down payment.” In Miami, Florida, median rents are now $4,000, up $1,500 from last year [File: Marco Bello/Reuters] 5. There is a lot of uncertainty right now The S&P 500 entered a bear market in 2022, having suffered its worst first six months since 1970. Cryptocurrencies plummeted, with the world’s largest digital coin, Bitcoin, losing more than 55 percent this year. Supply-chain issues and the war in Ukraine, which has compounded soaring food and fuel costs, are both making Americans cautious and wary about their spending habits. These factors also weigh on someone’s decision to make a large purchase like buying a house. Still, there is reason to be optimistic about the real estate market, analysts said. “Unemployment in the US is at a historic low. People have jobs. We don’t have subprime mortgages. The risk of being unable to pay mortgages and foreclosures is relatively low,” Compass’s Berger told Al Jazeera. “If we can get inflation under control, and perhaps the war in Ukraine resolves itself, I think that will stabilise not just equity markets, but markets overall. All markets want is stability; uncertainty makes everyone crazy. And there’s a lot of uncertainty right now,” he explained. Even though he admits the US economy is slowing, Zandi from Moody’s Analytics is bullish about the long term. “The dollar is about as strong as it ever gets,” he said. “I mean, we’re now at parity with the euro and even against the Chinese yuan. We’re driving the train right now; we’re keeping the global economy moving down the tracks.” Source: Al Jazeera
Even with a historic fall in house prices, rents are tipped to rise by as much as 10 per cent. Will they ever go down? https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08...ents-tipped-to-increase-10-per-cent/101288418 By James Purtill Rental affordability is "going to get worse" even while house prices dip, experts say.(AAP: Lukas Coch) With news that house prices are falling sharply in several capital cities, millions of renters may be looking forward to paying the landlord a bit less. Key points: Though house prices are dropping nationally, rents are tipped to go up as much as 10 per cent over the next year Reasons for this include rising interest rates, returning students and more holiday homes for the wealthy Rents may "hit a ceiling" and become too much for households to pay, experts say CoreLogic data released this week shows house prices in Australia are dropping at their fastest pace since the global financial crisis. The median price in Sydney saw the sharpest value falls in almost 40 years, while values in Melbourne, Hobart, Brisbane and regional Australia also dropped last month. So rents should fall too, right? Wrong. For most of the 2.4 million households renting from private landlords, rents will go up at a historically rapid clip over the next year. Here's why. Prices go down, but rents keep going up Rents have jumped about 2.8 per cent in the past quarter, and are expected to rise further still, said CoreLogic's research director Tim Lawless. "We've already seen rents up 9.8 per cent over 12 months to July," he said. "By this time next year I wouldn't be surprised if there's been a similar increase of around 10 per cent." The chart below shows the relationship between dwelling (houses and apartment) values and weekly rents from 2010 to 2022. As you can see, for most of the past decade, rents have trudged upwards while housing values have fluctuated more wildly. Basically, there's no short-term relationship between the change in house prices and the amount tents pay their landlords. Since August 2020, the fairly flat and predictable trajectory of rental payment increases has taken a sharp upwards turn. In fact, the increase has been so sharp that Mr Lawless expects we're approaching a "ceiling" on what renters are "able to pay". "Rental affordability is already challenging, and it's going to become worse," he said. "I think a time will come when renters can't fathom higher rents." Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. House prices decline at fastest rate since GFC as building costs climb Interest rates, returning students and COVID getaways for the wealthy The reason rental payments will increase as house prices fall is due to a combination of factors, from rising interest rates, returning international students, and housing market changes wrought by COVID. Higher interest rates means larger mortgage payments, which landlords are simply handballing to their tenants. The return of international students with the opening of Australia's borders will increase demand for rental accommodation. Since the 1990s, house prices have risen from 2.5 times annual household income, to over six times today.(Supplied: ACT Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate) The resumption of tourism will also have an impact, said Chris Martin, a researcher at UNSW's City Futures Research Centre. "There's probably been properties that have moved out of the rental sector to Airbnb and the tourism sector," he said. The pandemic has also seen more people with higher incomes owning a holiday home that they do not rent out, he said. "If that happens often enough that would affect rental supply and could make rents even more expensive for people," he said. This increase in demand and reduction in supply will be counteracted by more tenants moving back into sharehouses, said CoreLogic's Tim Lawless. "Rental households became smaller during the pandemic as tenants looked for space," he said. That is, couples and individuals in sharehouses moved into places of their own, which meant they were paying more for rent. This was highlighted in a recent speech by the Reserve Bank's Luci Ellis, who noted, "On the question of who you would rather be locked down with, at least some Australians have voted with their removalists' van, by moving out of their share house and in with their partner." This trend will likely be reversed as rents increase and the sharehouses reform out of mutual financial benefit, said Mr Lawless. "Renters may need to occupy the room they've used as a home office," he said. The rental market's shifting 'bulge' But there's another, longer term trend that's also driving up rents. Because the cost of buying a house is unaffordable for many, Australians are renting longer in their lives, and into what Dr Martin calls the "prime income years". "There's been more households who would have otherwise in previous generations have been owning, but they're renting," he said. "They are higher income houses and can spend that higher income on rental housing." This change is captured in the chart below, which shows the number of houses available for rent at various prices, from 1996 to 2016 (this is in 2016 dollar values, so inflation isn't a factor). Today's unaffordable rental market is a battle of the "bulge".(Supplied: AHURI Final Report No. 323, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute Limited.) In 1996, there was a big bulge in properties around the $200 a week mark. By 2016, it had shifted to $500. Renters who could have never have afforded $500 a week when they were studying 20 years ago now have careers and can stump up the money (even if they'd prefer to pay much less). "The rental market has changed shape and the big driver has been the increasing presence of higher income tenant households priced out of home ownership," Dr Martin said. So, what's the outlook? For renters, the outlook isn't great for at least the next 12 months, said Mr Lawless. So long as interest rates go up and the borders stay open, rents will probably keep increasing, even if house prices fall. For rents to eventually go down, housing prices would have to keep falling for a long period, while interest rates stayed low. And that's unlikely to happen on a national scale, said Mr Lawless. "If we want to see an alleviation, we need to see government take a more active role in delivering rental accommodation," he said. That included more social and community housing initiatives for low and moderate income Australians, he said. Dr Martin agreed. "The way I'd like to see rents go down is if we actually had a rental sector with abundant rental housing for not for profits," he said. "We need a different sort of landlord." Posted 1h ago1 hours ago
Real estate agency sprung ‘bragging’ about a $225 per week price hike By Emily Power August 3, 2022 https://www.watoday.com.au/property...-225-per-week-price-hike-20220803-p5b6yn.html rental price rise as an “achievement”. A renter shared a screenshot of an email update from national real estate management firm Ironfish, sharing its numbers for June. A property company has been exposed celebrating a $225 per week rental price rise as an ‘achievement’.Credit:Nine.com.au “Achievement in June: Biggest rent increase – $225 per week,” the flyer said. Below the details is a photo of kids pillow-fighting on a bed. The user posted the email to Reddit with the comment: “My rent just went up $400 a month and the agency sent me an email bragging about it …” The email also told recipients the average weekly rental increase is almost $100 a week, and revealed increases in average rent prices: “July 2021 to December 2021: $393. January 2022 to June 2022: $460”. The Reddit thread exploded in response. “Landlord here, it’s not justified. It shouldn’t even be legal to increase the rent that much for the same tenant. Different if new tenants come in but that’s an outrageous amount,” one user commented. Another said: “I have been a landlord for a couple of years, and will not be putting up the rent (to the annoyance of the Real Estate Management company) – tenants have been there 12 years and keep the place immaculate, always pay on time. They got young kids, both working in low-paid jobs, doing the best they can.” One tenant called the email “cringe” and a landlord remarked: “I received the same email and had the same disgusted feeling, and I’m an owner (just not with them).” Rents have been rising, putting pressure on tenants.Crediteter Rae Ironfish has been contacted by Nine for comment. Data from large national real estate agency Ray White shows that advertised rental prices have increased by almost 14 per cent, outpacing CPI rental price rises of 1.6 per cent. At the same time, the national vacancy rate this month has tightened to a record level of less than 1 per cent, Domain data shows. A lack of listings has increased competition, and rising interest rates – with costs being passed on by landlords to tenants – plus inflation, has continued to squeeze the rental market to a crisis point.
Landlords hold upper hand, renters set for tough conditions over next 12 months By Tawar Razaghi August 3, 2022 https://www.smh.com.au/property/new...ions-over-next-12-months-20220802-p5b6l0.html Key points The national rental vacancy rate is at its lowest point on record, tightening for the fifth consecutive month to 0.9 per cent, the latest Domain Rental Vacancy Report shows. Empty rentals in Sydney have almost halved to a record low of 1.3 per cent, down from 2.4 in July last year. It more than halved in Melbourne, dipping to 1.4 per cent – the lowest point since March 2019. Tenants face tough conditions for the next 12 months, as housing stress is expected to spread as the number of rentals to choose from plummets to another record low, new figures show. The national rental vacancy rate is at its lowest point on record, falling for the fifth consecutive month to 0.9 per cent, the latest Domain Rental Vacancy Report for July shows. Priced out buyers, from first home owning hopefuls to upgraders, have spilled back into the rental market, putting pressure on rents, experts say.Crediteter Rae Available rentals in Sydney have almost halved to a record low of 1.3 per cent in July, down from 2.4 per cent in July last year. The vacancy rate more than halved in Melbourne over the past year, dipping to 1.4 per cent – the lowest point since March 2019. Vacancy rates fell across half of the capital cities in July while Brisbane, Hobart and Canberra remained steady. Darwin was the only city to buck the national trend, edging up 0.1 percentage points to 0.6 per cent. Perth and Adelaide’s rental markets continue to tighten and remain the most competitive cities for tenants, falling over the month to a record low of 0.5 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively. Experts say the tightening rental market is driven by domestic demand, including interstate migration, increased household formation and priced-out potential buyers, since the pandemic began in 2020. Housing stress is expected to spread in the capitals, experts said, as these difficult conditions will be the biggest hit to renters’ hip pockets as the cost of housing forms the largest proportion of household budgets. Rent rises of up to $600 a month in some cases are compounding the rising cost of living and increases in the price of groceries, petrol and energy bills. Domain chief of research economics Dr Nicola Powell said the figures highlight extraordinarily tight rental conditions for tenants. “Nationally, vacant rental listings are 45 per cent lower over the year and have fallen across most of the capital cities,” Powell said. “The rental market remains firmly in favour of landlords across every capital city, with a shortage in rental supply driving up asking rents and further escalating competition between tenants. “With the vacancy rate dipping to a record low, it’s not an overnight fix.” Impact Economics and Policy economist Dr Angela Jackson said the country’s two largest capitals were starting to tighten like other rental markets around the country have been since the pandemic hit. “Effectively, we’re seeing Sydney and Melbourne catch up with the rest of the country. They were in lockdown, which led to higher vacancy rates,” Jackson said. Rentals are being snapped up even with significant rent increases, experts say.Credit: “It is getting harder and harder to find a rental in the major capital cities. This will undoubtedly lead to higher rents in those markets. “Housing is the biggest part of any household consumption, and the cost we can’t avoid, it’s the first thing that has to be paid.” She said when rents rise, this has a significant impact on households. “Certainly for low-income renters, they will either face increasing rates of housing stress or more severe housing stress,” she said. “Even for households on medium incomes, that stress is likely to spread to our capitals like Sydney and Melbourne in the next 12 months.” She said rental demand was driven by city tenants moving to regional markets, as well as once locked-down workers moving into new rentals as a single or smaller household, rather than due to immigration, which has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. Renters and Housing Union Victoria secretary Eirene Tsolidis Noyce said it has become extremely difficult for renters, amid reports of rent increases of $600 a month in some cases. “We definitely notice that increase because our membership is feeling the squeeze excessively,” Tsolidis Noyce said. “We’re firmly against the idea that an increase in interest rates should be passed onto renters who are on lower incomes and in less financial stability and with fewer assets. If you don’t own the property you shouldn’t be paying more than someone’s mortgage for less of the benefit.” Barry Plant head of property management Emma Gordon said it was a two-speed market in Melbourne, and city rentals sit vacant longer than properties outside the CBD. “The city hasn’t fully recovered and isn’t experiencing queues at open homes and high demand where you are getting six or eight applications on properties,” Gordon said. “But in the other areas of Melbourne, outer areas, competition is high, stock is low, and as soon as stock comes on the market they’re being rented,” she said, adding there were rental increases across the board. Ray White property management chief executive Emily Sim said Sydney rents were increasing on average between $80 to $100 a week.
The Real estate business in Australia is managed like you wouldn't even see in a third world country. The government sit idly by twiddling thumbs, their biggest concern; 'losing votes'. Meanwhile they dream of encouraging more migrants who after a while bugger off again anyway, don't come back, as it's too expensive living in Australia.
First home buyers ‘happy to outbid boomer investors’ for $1.83 million Darlington terrace By Tawar Razaghi August 6, 2022 https://www.smh.com.au/property/new...llion-darlington-terrace-20220804-p5b77n.html Key points A rundown four-bedroom Darlington terrace sold for $1.83 million to first home buyers. A four-bedroom Ultimo terrace sold for $1.84 million to a Brisbane father who wanted a Sydney base. A Longeuville waterfront home sold for $9.16 million to a family upgrading from the upper north shore. A first home buyer couple, pleased to have outbid Baby Boomer investors, paid $1.83 million at auction for a run-down, inner-city Victorian terrace that will need from $250,000 to $1.5 million to renovate. Twenty-two buyers registered to bid on 362 Wilson Street, Darlington, mere steps away from the hustle and bustle of Carriageworks, drawing a crowd of about 100. The auction crowd at 362 Wilson St, Darlington, opposite Carriageworks.Credit:Rhett Wyman The auction started at $1.3 million and carried on in mostly $10,000 increments as seven buyers participated in the sell-off. Within minutes the price reached $1.82 million and an onlooker was overheard saying “that’s way too much” before the hammer fell at $1.83 million. The reserve was $1.4 million. The auction was done and dusted in less than 10 minutes, selling to an ecstatic couple in their 30s, who outbid investors, builders and locals. “We’re happy to outbid some boomer investors. We’re in our early 30s and we’ve been saving. We’re in a privileged position to be able to do this and we’re looking forward to making it into a beautiful home,” said the successful buyer who did not wish to disclose his name. The owner congratulates the successful first-home buyers.Credit:Rhett Wyman. “I think the guide the agents put down was nonsense and that has reflected in where the bid has gone. It’s a real trend that is happening at the moment. Low prices are being advertised in order to get crowds like this.” But selling agent Adrian Tsavalas, of Adrian William, said they lowered the guide from $1.5 million to $1.25 million after receiving buyer feedback. “We had this property on the market for two and a half weeks and our initial price guide was $1.5 million and our buyer feedback was construction costs are too expensive, the house is in such a bad state, it’s not worth $1.5 million,” Tsavalas said. “We were making it quite clear it was a deceased estate, it had to be sold at auction, it had to trade, and I think buyers are very critical of vendor motivation. So if it’s an investment property, or they are looking to upsize or downsize and haven’t bought yet, buyers are a bit more sceptical. But when the motivation is there like a deceased estate, if a property is priced right, buyers will bite.” The run down home needed significant renovation to fix water ingress, rising damp, the balcony and roof.Credit:Rhett Wyman The home, which was in disrepair, needed significant renovations that could cost from $250,000 (for a quick tidy up) to $1.5 million (to add a garage, a studio and change its layout), he said. “The balcony needs to be replaced, the roof needs attention, there was water ingress in the brickwork, it needed urgent attention. It was left to deteriorate,” Tsavalas said. He also said it needed subfloor ventilation, gutters, down pipes and waterproofing injections to fix rising damp and water damage. “The buyers who are buying it are buying it with the intention of raising their children. What it’s worth in two or three years is irrelevant. Whoever plays the long game in real estate in Sydney wins.” The ecstatic couple the moment the hammer fell at Darlington.Credit:Rhett Wyman
Secure housing central to Australians’ dignity: Labor Tom McIlroy Political reporter Aug 8, 2022 https://www.afr.com/politics/federa...-to-australians-dignity-labor-20220808-p5b85u The federal government will begin work to build 30,000 new social and affordable housing properties around the country in 2023, as Labor blames a decade of Coalition inaction for growing rates of homelessness. Minister for Housing and Homelessness Julie Collins told a major conference in Canberra on Monday the federal government wanted to renew co-operation on housing policy with the states and territories, as growing numbers of Australians find themselves without adequate or secure accommodation. Housing and Homelessness Minister Julie Collins: “We cannot afford to be resistant to solutions that are in our backyard.” Alex Ellinghausen Addressing the National Homelessness Conference, Ms Collins said a reframing of the growing challenge was needed in difficult economic times. “These challenges are happening in the suburbs and neighbourhoods of cities and towns across the country. This is no longer for just a few in our society,” she said. “This is not an issue that is happening in someone else’s backyard, so we cannot afford to be resistant to solutions that are in our backyard.” Ms Collins described housing affordability as a national issue needing national co-ordination and said the Albanese government was prepared to show leadership to make secure accommodation an achievable goal. Labor plans to use a $10 billion housing fund to build 30,000 new social and affordable homes within five years. About 10,000 homes will be made available to essential workers priced out of their local communities, including frontline police, nurses and cleaners. “Safe and affordable housing is central to the dignity of all Australians,” Ms Collins said, invoking Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s childhood in public housing in Sydney. “It is critical to ensuring that opportunity is shared equally in this country. It is a springboard to a better life for so many. “In a wealthy, prosperous nation like Australia no one should be denied this opportunity. There are too many people who don’t have a stable and secure home and struggle to keep a roof over their head.” But Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather said the government’s plans on social housing would not “even come close to touching the surface of Australia’s massive housing crisis”. Of 20,000 new social housing properties to be built, 4000 will be allocated to women and children fleeing domestic and family violence, as well as older women on low incomes who are at risk of homelessness. “There are 163,500 households sitting on social housing wait lists across Australia and that number grows by 7600 homes a year, which means Labor’s 4000 social homes a year will literally see the wait list grow every year,” the Griffith MP said. “We would never accept 163,500 kids sitting on wait lists to access public schools, so why should we accept that number of people waiting for a home? “Once you take into account people living in severe housing stress, then the actual need for social and affordable housing is over 600,000 homes.” The Greens want Labor to ditch its support for the already legislated stage three tax cuts, describing the move as a kick in the teeth for Australians in need of a home. “The Greens plan would see at least 250,000 public and affordable homes built over five years, and 1 million over 20 years, which is exactly what we need to ensure everyone has a place to call home,” Mr Chandler-Mather said. “We have the capacity, money and resources to build enough public housing for everyone who needs one, we just need to break the hold banks and property developers have over our political system.”