Australia accelerates into outright housing disaster

Advertisement

Anybody genuinely concerned about Australian housing affordability and inequality should be alarmed by the rental crisis unfolding across the nation.

Rents across the nation soared by 10.2% in the 2022 calendar year, according to CoreLogic, off a record low rental vacancy rate of just 1.2%:

Australian rental snapshot

Source: CoreLogic

Worse, the number of homes listed for rent across the combined capital cities is currently the lowest on record:

Advertisement
Homes for rent - capital cities

Source: CoreLogic

With this backdrop in mind, it was disturbing to see the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) figures showing that dwelling approvals have crashed, down 15.1% in the year to November:

Australian dwelling approvals
Advertisement

This collapse in approvals has come at the same time as the Albanese Government has committed to the largest temporary and permanent migration program in Australia’s history, which has already seen annual immigration return to its manic pre-pandemic level:

Australian net immigration

The disaster unfolding is plain for everyone to see. And yet the business lobby and university sector continue to argue for even more immigration.

Advertisement

SQM Research Managing Director, Louis Christopher, took to Twitter on Monday to the raise the alarm. Christopher asked the obvious question of “where will our additional people live and how will they be housed?” – something none of the pro-mass immigration boosters ever stop to ask:

Louis Christopher

Blind Freddy can see that ramping net overseas migration to 300,000 or above – as looks inevitable in 2023 – will drive rental vacancy rates even lower and rents higher, pushing many Australians into severe financial stress and homelessness.

Advertisement

The Albanese Government’s ‘Big Australia’ policy is an inequality disaster in the making that sadly few in the mainstream media, think tanks, or academia are willing to call out.

About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.