Housing Articles

The information that the price of new housing land in Melbourne jumped 36 per cent last year might be great news for existing house owners who can expect a further leap in value of their main asset but it is a disaster for those who are renters or seeking to purchase a home. The average Melbourne house price at the end of 2017 was $817,000 with Sydney at $1,117,000. 

Tony Abbott must surely be the only possible route by which Australia can emulate the benefits that the US is now reaping from the election of President Trump. While being a more refined politician than The Donald but falling short of many of our hopes when in office, Abbott shares Trump’s goals of small government, and like him contests Political Correctness, and is pro-liberty and democracy. Abbott’s unadvertised selfless, personal charity work amongst

FOR the past 30 years, Australian house price increases have vastly outpaced general inflation. We are talking here of standard homes, not those in the inner suburbs, still less harbourside mansions. In the Australia of the 1980s, it took three times the median household income to buy the average house. Today it takes six times the median income (in Sydney and Melbourne respectively it’s over 12 and nine times median household incomes).

Nowadays there is not much dispute that regulatory constraints on supply is the main reason why Australian house prices are up in the stratosphere. Governments are incapable of unwinding decades of cumulative regulatory controls on housing which have created Hong Kong land prices in a nation with the world’s greatest supply of developable land.

Global housing consultancy, Demographia, has confirmed what Australians always knew. Our house prices are extremely high and there is no relief in sight. ​ In 2016, out of 406 world cities surveyed for housing prices in relation to incomes, Australia is the leader with four cities the top 11 and 8 of the top 20 most highly priced housing markets. ​

Unfortunately, the Prime Minister has said he hopes house prices will continue to rise gradually and is making political capital from suggestions from the Labor side that they are too high. The fact is that median house prices in Australia are, in relation to income levels, two to three times as expensive as in those jurisdictions (including most of the US, and Germany) 

Henry Ergas, points to adverse implications of the attack on tax deductability for housing which would both to raise tax and lower demand competition for owner buyers. Whether or not housing investors are to be hit with taxes, both the Commonwealth and the Victorian State Governments have discovered housing as a new source of taxation revenue. 

Surging prices have invited many actions. These include attempts to force developers to include low-cost housing in new projects, a solution that fails at the first jump since it means the other buyers, many of whom are battlers, get charged more and, in effect, pay the subsidies

Among the more affluent who are seeking to upgrade their housing to a preferred location, there is considerable discussion about the Chinese squeeze on purchases. This is not just something that is imagined by disgruntled under-bidders, the top end of the real estate industry has recognised the buying power of Chinese speakers,

Among the more affluent who are seeking to upgrade their housing to a preferred location, there is considerable discussion about the Chinese squeeze on purchases. This is not just something that is imagined by disgruntled under-bidders, the top end of the real estate industry has recognised the buying power of Chinese speakers,

THE Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS) has joined other voices in calling for an end to negative gearing for housing. This involves an investor who makes a loss on an asset, offsetting some of this by paying less tax and hoping to come out on top if the market revalues the asset. The investor’s success depends upon the price of houses rising. 

Premiers claiming credit for the release of outer-suburban land have lost the plot. Even as they boost grants to aspiring home owners, prices driven by the burden of the regulatory costs their governments impose rise even faster

The ninth annual Demographia survey of house prices across the world was published this week. It again shows Australian house prices, adjusted for income levels, are well above those in the UK, US, Canada, and Ireland. Out of the 81 large cities in the survey, Melbourne's prices were the fifth highest.

House prices are off the boil. In Victoria they fell two per cent last year. Interest rates have been declining and compared to two years ago it now costs borrowers 15 per cent less to service the average $300,000 mortgage. The Reserve Bank has even predicted that an upsurge in house building will replace the resource boom in driving economic growth.

The NSW budget allocated $561 million to promote increases in new housing. Part of this was for grants to new buyers of $15,000 plus remission of stamp duty on new houses priced up to $650,000. The $650,000 limit is around the median-priced Sydney home. Sydney has had the most draconian regulatory regime imposed on it since the days of Premier Carr, and its house prices are a fifth higher than in Melbourne, and 50 per cent above Brisbane's.

In 2004, a report by the Commonwealth's normally reliable Productivity Commission (PC) completely misread the causes of high house prices. It failed to recognise that government planning processes had boosted house prices by starving the market of land for urban development. The PC instead blamed interest rates.

According to the English humourist Auberon Waugh, the urge to pass new laws must be seen as an illness, not much different from the urge to bite old women. Perhaps Julia Gillard recognised this in abandoning the cash-for-clunkers scheme. Designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, this was to give new car buyers a $2000 rebate to scrap pre-1995 cars.

As a concern among the electorate, housing affordability ranks above industrial relations, interest rates and asylum seekers. But until yesterday, housing affordability was missing from the election debate. In Victoria, housing policy is dominated by the government's extension of the urban growth boundary (UGB). This will allow an additional 26,000 hectares to be developed for housing. The enlargement is equivalent to one-thousandth of the state's land area.

With boom times returning to WA, the housing market is once again overheating. The median house price in Perth is now $512,000, according to the December quarter figures from Australian Property Monitors, putting it beyond the reach of any new homeowner without substantial savings or parental support. Even in the new suburbs, prices have left all but the most affluent with no foot on the home- ownership ladder.

A misdirected email from Justin Madden's office showed the Brumby Government at its manipulative worst. Following a planning review into the iconic Windsor Hotel redevelopment, the government intended to set up a counterfeit protest group. Then, having "listened to the community", it would reject the redevelopment recommendation.

A misdirected email from Justin Madden's office showed the Brumby Government at its manipulative worst. Following a planning review into the iconic Windsor Hotel redevelopment, the government intended to set up a counterfeit protest group. Then, having "listened to the community", it would reject the redevelopment recommendation.

Many businesses are facing softer prices as a result of competitive pressures. However, house prices are soaring. Over the past year, Australian Property Monitors estimates house and unit prices rose by 10 per cent Australia-wide and by 15 per cent in Melbourne. One reason for these price hikes is government-imposed costs on new homes.

Australia has 11 of the world's 25 least affordable cities for housing. The American consultancy Demographia this month released data of 272 urban areas around the world, and Sydney, the Gold Coast, and the Sunshine Coast were three of the four least affordable. Melbourne was seventh. The reason for Australia's high prices is extreme zoning measures, which prevent new housing developments. 

Agriculture is the latest frontier on which skirmishes are taking place between protagonists on the need for an emissions trading scheme tax. The federal government has indicated it will agree to exclude direct emissions from agriculture from the ETS ambit. Agriculture accounts for about 18 per cent of Australia 's annual 550 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions - or about 90 million tonnes.

The State Government levies a charge of $95,000 a hectare on land on the urban fringe that it rezones for housing. That's about $10,000 a housing block. The Government claims this charge is a contribution for infrastructure. But in new housing estates the local infrastructure is provided by the developer, not the Government.

The Prime Minister's hint that the First Home Owners Grant might be axed has further intensified interest in a housing market which was already at fever pitch. The owner occupied home comprises over half of the average Australian family's wealth. Unsurprisingly, house prices command far more attention than those of shares, which account for 6 per cent of wealth or even super (comprising 15 per cent of wealth).

Queensland has achieved world leadership in housing. But before Queenslanders preen themselves for living in a state that now has worldwide recognition, I hasten to add that the leadership is in the cost of houses. The Sunshine Coast is estimated to be the least affordable of 265 markets in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Britain and the US. And this is no fluke

House builders and land developers have welcomed Spring Street's decision to allow more land to be used for housing on Melbourne's periphery. All restrictions on urban growth raise the cost of housing. But, with regulations, everything is relative. As pointed out by industry representatives like the Urban Development Institute's Tony De Dominico, the Victorian Government's land release policies have been less harmful than those of other states.

Australia is now at the top of the pack in terms of the shameful measure of housing affordability. House price collapses in Britain and California mean Sydney has become the dearest place among major cities to buy an average house in relation to average family income. And several smaller Australian cities - Mandurah in Western Australia and Queensland's Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast - are even further ahead of Sydney.

Housing issues are always news in Victoria. Now we have resident action groups opposing new apartment building in inner suburbs. Moonee Valley was the latest suburb to feature Geoffrey Rush protesting against such redevelopment. Stopping such in-fill development means less land available for home sites. This aggravates the shortages created on city outskirts, due to planning schemes like Melbourne 2030.

In July, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is due to report on grocery prices. Groceries comprise about a fifth of the family budget. Other retail goods have a slightly smaller share. Regulatory arrangements are the best place to start looking for the causes of any excessive costs. Unless regulation prevents new suppliers from entering a market, businesses will normally cut each others' throats to win business.

From the Gold Coast to Cairns, local elections have delivered office to people whose platform was aimed at controlling (read ``preventing'') further development in their communities. Not only does this deliver a bitter blow to those who want to buy affordable houses but it threatens the state's economy. Modern Queensland owes much to the tourist and retirement industry developments, which from the 1980s plugged a gap created in the state's economy by relatively subdued 

At the end of last year, the average Australian house sold for $471,000, according to the Real Estate Institute - a 12% increase on the year before. Melbourne shared in the increase and the average price for a Melbourne apartment was higher than anywhere else in the country. Premier John Brumby's decision to unlock land within the urban growth boundary is therefore welcome news to aspiring home buyers.

Urban planners and politicians have vastly increased the cost of housing with plans such as Melbourne 2030. Last weekend, Demographia released its 2007 housing affordability findings. Covering 227 urban areas in the US, Canada, Britain, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia, this tracks average house prices compared to average household income.

Urban planners and politicians have vastly increased the cost of housing with plans such as Melbourne 2030. Last weekend, Demographia released its 2007 housing affordability findings. Covering 227 urban areas in the US, Canada, Britain, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia, this tracks average house prices compared to average household income.

With Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd's pledge to "unlock" federal land for housing, the election campaign has already claimed one policy victim. During the past five years, average house prices have increased by nearly 200 per cent. Over the course of the past year, the ALP has been maintaining that the cause of this was anything but government planning policies preventing land being used for housing.

It was not so long ago that governments considered themselves better qualified to make commercial decisions than businesses. When companies did not invest the way the government thought they should, or offer the sort of product ranges officials thought were required, government stepped in with "industry plans". These usually involved subsidies and protection from imports in return for industry-wide efforts to develop in particular directions and also to improve productivity.

House prices are a top priority for most Victorians. This is hardly surprising since the family home is the most important investment nearly all of us own or aspire to own. Achieving a decent level of personal equity in a home is a multi-year struggle. After that we have an abiding interest in how our nest egg is doing.

House prices are a top priority for most Victorians. This is hardly surprising since the family home is the most important investment nearly all of us own or aspire to own. Achieving a decent level of personal equity in a home is a multi-year struggle. After that we have an abiding interest in how our nest egg is doing.

Labor's land focus is on areas where it needs to pick up and hold seats - One thing that stands out about Kevin Rudd is that he has a tidy mind. He likes to have his policy expenditure in nice round figures. Thus we have $500 million in taxpayers' money to fix up the housing problem; another $500 million to subsidise the building of the Australian Prius; $20 million for improving skills and marketing in Tasmanian forestry; $450 million for pre-schools; and $250 million for backyard water tanks.

The Labor Party will hold a conference to finalise its housing policy in Canberra on Thursday. Some people claim that the current high house prices are a result of a decade of interest-rate reductions that have made houses more affordable.

The Labor Party has claimed the federal government is causing housing unaffordability or mortgage stress. They claim this is created by high interest rates. A contrary view is offered by Macquarie Bank's Rory Robertson. Mr Robertson maintains that low interest rates are the reason why house prices have gone up because the lower interest payments have made houses more affordable.

On Monday, Labor leader Kevin Rudd released the document New Directions for Affordable Housing. This rejects the best solutions for an affordable housing future and takes the party back to the economic irrationalist days of Gough Whitlam.

State Governments used to have purchasing preferences to advantage local suppliers. Such measures added needless costs and were always of dubious validity. It took the competition reforms over the past decade to finally abolish them. But not all competition between states is bad. Competitive federalism in the European Union has been an important growth propellant.

In the bad old days state governments' purchasing policies advantaged local suppliers by granting them preferential treatment. Such measures were always of dubious validity (after all, the Australian Constitution was supposed to be about freedom of interstate

Australians are heavily focused on house prices. As well as being their home, nearly everyone's house is their most valuable asset. The home-owning "haves" benefit from high house prices. Those not owning their own home are mainly younger renters. They are constantly looking at house prices that are depressingly receding away from their affordability horizons.

Over the past year Melbourne house prices have edged up by over 5 per cent. This followed rapid price increases in the two decades to 2009 and stable prices over the following three years.

Demographia, based in St Louis, has issued its third annual survey of housing affordability. The survey covers 159 cities in North America, England, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia. It measures average (median) house prices and compares these with average family incomes. On this basis, Australia has higher housing costs than any of the other surveyed countries. The average Australian house requires 6.6 years of income to buy, compared with 3.2 in Canada, 3.7 in the US and 5.5 in Britain.

According to the Real Estate Institute of Australia, average house prices in Melbourne's outer suburbs and Geelong were $270,000-$285,000 in the latter part of 2006. Some regional centres like Ballarat, at $211,000, were more affordable. High house prices are part of a national tragedy.

Long-established home owners have seen the equity value of their homes rise as a result of the rationing of new land subdivisions. While existing home owners may actually feel better off as a result, this is an artificial addition to their wealth. It is offset by de facto reductions in the real wealth of those who have not mounted the house price escalator and face a formidable cost barrier

THE average price of new houses in Melbourne, according to the Housing Industry Association, was $300,000 in June of this year. Though Adelaide and Hobart are cheaper, Sydney and Brisbane are a fair bit more expensive. Treasurer John Brumby has long been concerned to ensure low-cost housing in the state but his views have not always prevailed against the elitists within the Cabinet.

Federal Treasurer Peter Costello recently drew attention to high house prices preventing young people getting a foot on the home ownership ladder. He suggested this might have adverse effects on family formation.

In launching a program that featured The Tragedy of Planning, the IPA book I was responsible for authoring, the Treasurer Peter Costello drew attention to high house prices preventing young people getting a foot on the home ownership ladder. He suggested that this might have adverse effects on family formation.

Inflationary pressures are the immediate impetus for interest rate increases. Aside from short-term movements, those pressures emanate from an imbalance between savings and current levels of consumption.

Clover Moore has recently joined a long line of state government ministers in venting their rage about the activities of Max Moore Wilton, CEO of the Macquarie Bank-owned Sydney Airport Corporation Ltd (SACL).

How would Sydneysiders like it if instead of being $520,000, the average price of a new house were $180,000? The aspiring new home buyer in Melbourne would surely welcome an average price of $175,000 rather than the present $380,000?

A Malaysian-led consortium's proposal to rezone a new area for housing at Rockbank, near Caroline Springs, west of Melbourne, would bring hundreds of millions of dollars in profits. But these profits are not the reward of genuine wealth creation

Unlike the union-controlled construction industry, the house-building industry is characterised by highly efficient and flexible work practices. The industry is a haven of industrial tranquillity. Unions are unknown and instead we have independent businessmen -

Governments at all levels take enormous interest in housing -- and rightly so. For most of us, our home is our most important investment. Unfortunately, government regulations add to, rather than reduce, house and land package costs.