Australian renters would be nearly $4b better off under a rent freeze
Tenants would have saved as much as $3000 over the 12 months to March, and proponents of a rent freeze say the cash would be life-changing.
- by Jim Malo
Latest
Gifts from $50k to $1m the norm: How home deposits soared to record levels
Average workers are priced out, but many property buyers who are left in the market now have extraordinary wealth – often from family.
- by Jim Malo
Family makes last-ditch $500 bid to triumph for $1.5m Cheltenham house
The auction winners had to be coaxed to dig deep in their pockets for the charming home, and it was enough to get them across the line.
- by Jim Malo
Victorian tree-change towns where property prices are getting cheaper
There are more opportunities for buyers now than a few years ago in an end to the boom that had pushed prices to unaffordable levels.
- by Jim Malo
‘Buyers are much more cautious’: Melbourne house prices in surprise fall
A few years ago, buyers were snapping up properties sight unseen, but Melbourne’s market has since faced a string of hurdles.
- by Jim Malo
Should you wait for interest rate cuts to buy a house?
Once interest rates fall, property prices would likely go up, but buyers could borrow more money, and new analysis shows whether it would be enough.
- by Jim Malo
Exclusive
Property market
Homes billed as seven-star comfort turn out to be ‘closer to a tent’
A seven-star energy-efficient home built today might look like a high-quality home, but turn out to be as comfortable as a tent, a new report warns.
- by Tawar Razaghi and Jim Malo
How Marija went from being homeless at 15 to a homeowner at 22
The dream of stable housing is growing further out of reach for many, but Marija’s dream last year became a reality.
- by Jim Malo
‘People are being made homeless’: Melbourne rents soar to record high
Tenants report being evicted with nowhere else to go as Melbourne’s rental crisis deepens and queues form for available properties.
- by Jim Malo and Tawar Razaghi
Analysis
Renting
Victoria’s new tax is driving landlords out. But is that a bad thing?
It has become easy for landlords and real estate agents to point to the recently expanded land tax as a reason for spiking rents. But it’s more complicated.
- by Jim Malo
Why half the homes in this sleepy seaside Victorian town are bought with cash
Asset-rich buyers who don’t need a mortgage are arriving in droves, while others struggle against high interest rates and the cost of living.
- by Jim Malo