According to The Australian Financial Review, aspiring home owners earning an average income of about $100,000 can afford just 10 per cent of all Australian homes, the lowest proportion on record, the latest ANZ CoreLogic Housing Affordability report shows.
The squeeze on affordability is a combination of high interest rates and rising house prices. The record low is well down on the 50 per cent share of all properties that were genuinely affordable for middle-income earners in December 2020. It’s also sharply lower than the 40 per cent recorded in March 2022, before interest rates started rising.
Even high-income earners have drastically fewer options, with just half of the housing market affordable for those making an average of $172,000 gross income per year. This is down from 80 per cent at the end of 2020.

https://www.afr.com/property/residential/average-buyer-can-afford-only-10pc-of-all-homes-20241119-p5krrj

According to The Australian Financial Review, NSW will early next year open a fast-track housing process, giving a new entity, the Housing Delivery Authority, power to rezone land and approve large development proposals without deferring to local councils.
“The creation of the new Housing Delivery Authority has the potential to significantly reduce planning time frames and investment uncertainty, allowing quality homes to be delivered more quickly for first home buyers and essential workers,” Stockland chief executive Tarun Gupta said.
“If implemented successfully, these important changes bring the NSW planning system into line with others around the country and will enable a significant increase in the supply of housing across the state.”
The reforms will apply to new developments with an estimated cost of $60 million (100 or more homes on average) in Greater Sydney and a cost of $30 million (40 or more homes) in regional NSW.

https://www.afr.com/property/residential/nsw-to-fast-track-approval-of-large-housing-plans-20241115-p5kr1k

According to The Australian Financial Review, demand for units is far outpacing supply across Sydney, potentially igniting a healthy increase in prices in the coming years amid worsening housing affordability, Domain’s new report shows.
While houses are still the most coveted property type, Sydney buyers are now more willing to compromise on what they buy to stay in their desired locations, according to Nicola Powell, Domain’s chief of research and economics.
In the past five years, the share of unit searches soared by 94.3 per cent, while new listings only lifted by 7.5 per cent.
“I think with the extreme change in affordability challenge that we’ve seen over the last few years as a result of rising prices, along with the cash rate staying higher for longer, and cost-of-living crisis, are all impacting borrowing capacity. I think it’s shifting what buyers are looking at and where,” Dr Powell said.
“Buyers are now considering multiple options when they are looking for a home and if the property isn’t within their price point, they shift, and they’re more likely to shift on property type than on location.”

https://www.afr.com/property/residential/buyers-switch-to-apartments-amid-affordability-crunch-20241106-p5koeb
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According to The Australian Financial Review, the co-founders of Scape Australia, the country’s largest student accommodation provider, are planning one of the country’s biggest build-to-rent developments yet, a $1.5 billion development in Sydney’s inner west.
The Timberyards project in Marrickville will deliver up to 1000 apartments including 100 affordable units when complete. It is the first project for a residential rental fund established by Scape founders Craig Carracher and Stephen Gaitanos, which is targeting 10,000 apartments by 2030.
The lack of supply has severely curtailed rental availability, especially in inner-city areas where key workers are most needed. Build-to-rent projects – where one owner develops and controls sizeable apartment blocks earmarked for rental – could potentially contribute a substantial proportion of much-needed housing, analysts say.
While high construction costs are also choking supply, delaying even approved housing projects, the federal government’s foreign tax regime is also to blame for the hold-up, according to industry players.

https://www.afr.com/property/residential/giant-1-5b-build-to-rent-housing-project-slated-for-marrickville-20241023-p5kkn9

According to The Australian Financial Review, house prices are expected to rise by around 5 per cent nationally this financial year as would-be buyers cool their heels ahead of much-anticipated rate relief, according to property experts.
The pace of house price is already slowing, down from the 8 per cent growth nationally over the last financial year, as affordability constraints and high borrowing costs take the edge off strong underlying demand, driven by population growth. Prices nationally are up 1 per cent over the September quarter, according to CoreLogic.
AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said that even though the shortfall in housing supply was underpinning prices broadly, the rate of growth over the next few months would slow as poor affordability, high rates and rising unemployment took their toll. Dr Oliver expects house prices nationally to rise 5 per cent on average this financial year.

https://www.afr.com/property/residential/house-price-growth-to-slow-to-5pc-nationally-experts-20241015-p5kikd

According to The Australian Financial Review, prices for newer apartments could jump by more than 20 per cent by the end of 2026, fuelled by lower interest rates and shrinking supply, according to CBRE.
Rents are also predicted to increase by 25 per cent in total over the next five years as vacancies tighten.
Sameer Chopra, CBRE’s head of research, Pacific, said the high costs of construction and shortage of new apartments would justify the expected rise in new apartment values, supporting the typical premium in price over older apartments.
“Apartment values have not kept pace with construction costs in the past five years,” he said.
“That disparity is currently at 23 per cent. We expect this gap to close out and revert to a premium.

https://www.afr.com/property/residential/newer-apartment-prices-to-climb-by-23-per-cent-by-2026-20241003-p5kfnv

According to The Australian Financial Review, Sumitomo Forestry Group has acquired a 51 per cent stake in Metricon, Australia’s largest home builder, giving the Tokyo-listed building giant ownership of a portfolio of residential builders that also includes Henley Properties, the Scott Park business in Western Australia and Wisdom in NSW.
Sumitomo said it will pay $115 million for what could be its initial purchase, with the bulk of the money going to family members of late founder Mario Biasin as well as to director Ross Palazzesi. The deal allows it to buy the rest of the company after an unspecified number of years.

https://www.afr.com/property/residential/sumitomo-forestry-to-pay-115m-for-majority-stake-in-metricon-20240930-p5kepi
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According to The Australian Financial Review, soaring costs and a shrinking pool of buyers have prompted developer Andrews Projects to slash the size of a planned project in Gold Coast, cutting the project to nearly one-third of the 1100 units already approved for the Surfers Paradise site.
Andrews Projects purchased the 5700-square-metre site earlier this year with plans okayed for two towers rising to 104 and 73 levels, but the company wants to cut that back and is now seeking approval for two 37-storey towers with 394 apartments and an end value of $700 million.
Australia needs to be building more new homes, not fewer. But the post-pandemic surge in materials, labour and borrowing costs have conspired to make housing development more expensive than most can afford and all too often, the only projects getting off the ground are those targeting downsizers and empty nesters.

https://www.afr.com/property/residential/why-australia-is-building-fewer-not-more-homes-20241003-p5kfi9

According to The Australian Financial Review, Melbourne-based developer Jinding is hoping to leverage off rising demand and an undersupply of housing in regional areas after snapping up three sites in Victoria and one at Mount Barker on the outskirts of Adelaide for about $70 million.
These four projects are expected to yield almost 2000 housing lots with an end value of nearly $700 million.
Jinding joins Victorian developers such as Wel.Co and Villawood, which have been diversifying their portfolios away from Melbourne and targeting regional hubs with strong economies and where housing remains relatively affordable compared to the capital cities.

https://www.afr.com/property/residential/melbourne-developer-snaps-up-regional-sites-with-plans-for-2000-homes-20240925-p5kddl

According to The Australian Financial Review, Build-to-rent apartments comprise more than half of the forecast apartment supply coming into the Melbourne market in the next three years, despite commanding a premium of up to 26 per cent over the higher-end rental properties, property advisory firm Charter Keck Cramer says.
According to Charter Keck Cramer national executive director Richard Temlett, build-to-rent developers are in a better position to deliver supply compared with their peers developing build-to-sell projects.
“Build-to-rent developers don’t need pre-sales to get funding, unlike those developing to sell, so they can deliver supply faster, although they would need to prove the viability of their projects to be able to raise capital,” he said.
“While the strong rental demand will support the case for build-to-rent projects, lowering costs such as the tax imposed on foreign investors will speed up the delivery.”
The supply of build-to-rent apartments in Melbourne is expected to increase, with 4650 to be completed in the next 12 months. An average of 4100 annually is forecast in the subsequent three years, according to Charter Keck Cramer.

https://www.afr.com/property/residential/build-to-rent-apartments-to-dominate-melbourne-in-the-next-three-years-20240917-p5kb4z