Australian Property

The Economist has published an article on the West’s “horrible housing blunder”, which pins the blame for unaffordable housing well and truly on supply-side constraints, combined with inefficient demand-side subsidies: At the root of that failure is a lack of building, especially near the thriving cities in which jobs are plentiful.

Data from the Housing Industry Association shows that the median housing lot in Australia is now 441.2sq m, compared with the traditional quarter-acre block of 1,000sq m.

The 16th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey has been released and, once again, it ranks Australia as having one of the most expensive housing markets out of the countries surveyed even though affordability improved on the back of heavy price falls between 2017 and mid-2019.

Via The Conversation this time and gleefully reproduced at the ABC: The reasons for choosing to go tiny range from reducing debt, inability to afford a conventional home, the search for sustainability, a life crisis, or even preparing for an uncertain future in the face of climate change by going off-grid.

Courtesy of Martin North: We are releasing the latest data from our household surveys to January 2020 relating to segmented buying intentions and home price expectations.

The ABS has released dwelling construction data for the September quarter, which recorded further widespread falls in construction activity.

SQM Research has released its rental vacancy data for December, which registered a 0.3% rise over the month but no change over the year: As noted by SQM, rental vacancies typically rise in December, thus the monthly increase represents seasonality.

According to Domain, mortgage brokers are being inundated with applications from homebuyers wishing to break into the market: Mortgage brokers report they have been inundated with inquiries and home loan applications during what would traditionally be a holiday break.

On Wednesday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released its dwelling approvals data for November, which recorded a modest rebound in apartment approvals: However, apartment approvals remained 48% below their June 2016 peak.

Mortgage rates may have cratered, but mortgage stress has lifted to another record high with 1.1 million households now under stress, comprising 32.7% of borrowing households.

One pattern that stands out in the property market is that although homes prices are at all-time highs, so too is the proportion of vacant dwellings.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released dwelling approvals data for the month of November. At the national level, the number of dwelling approvals surged by a seasonally adjusted 11.8% to 14,675. The overall lift in approvals was broad-based, with both units & apartments (+22.6%) and houses (+6.1%) rising.

SQM Research has released its Stock on Market report for December, which reports a massive 14.8% slump in property listings nationally over the month as well as a 12.0% decline over the year: As shown above, all capital city markets experienced big falls in property listings.

2019 was a tale of two halves for Australia’s housing market.