Latest news with #rentalmarket
ABC News
2 hours ago
- Business
- ABC News
Canberra's rent hikes are losing pace but some renters say the market's still pricey and competitive
International student Gabriel Batholazzi plans to move in with his partner but Canberra's rental market has become a less-than-romantic hurdle in his love story. "It was quite exciting but then when we started looking, going on the websites, checking … and it starts to be more interesting and daunting," the postdoctoral researcher said. New rental data from property analysts Cotality, formerly CoreLogic, has shown Canberra is the fourth most expensive Australian capital city in which to rent. Three years ago it was the most expensive. Canberra's median weekly rental price is now $679 — that's compared to almost $800 in Sydney, which was the most expensive city for renters, before Perth and Brisbane. Canberra experienced the slowest quarterly growth in rental values in the country, and the lowest 12-month increase in rent prices for units. But that comes after years of significant jumps, with Canberra's five-year median rent prices increasing 18 per cent for houses and 20 per cent for units. Mr Batholazzi said news of the slowed growth was cold comfort for tenants. Mr Batholazzi said he and his partner were organised and had created a calendar of inspections "because we're not going to get the first place, so we need to look for many". Real Estate Institute of the ACT Chief Executive Maria Edwards said recent changes in Canberra's rental market were due to supply and demand, as well as government policy. "Over the past three years, over 75 per cent of the dwellings that have been in progress or completed have been high density apartments," she explained. "And the rents on those are generally lower and that brings down the average cost of renting a property in the ACT. She said that was coupled with negative net interstate migration and lowering overseas migration. "There's also government policy that restricts rent increases on existing tenants in the ACT. That's having an effect as well." The ACT government has restricted rent increases to once a year with eight weeks' notice, capped at 10 per cent above the increase to the Consumer Price Index. She said many landlords were under financial stress and some had sold up. "There's also been a real slow down in the sales prices of apartments because there are so many available," Ms Edwards said. "So, there are actually owners who have bought apartments 10 years ago who will not make a profit if they sell now."
New York Times
2 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Is a Law on Brokers' Fees Giving Renters a Break?
Good morning. It's Tuesday. Today we'll look at whether a new local law has transformed the market for apartment rentals. We'll also get a look inside the newly renovated Waldorf Astoria hotel in Manhattan. This was supposed to be the summer when a new law on broker fees would change the rental market in New York City. The law, called the FARE Act, all but ended a longstanding practice requiring apartment-hunting renters to pay thousands of dollars to brokers. My colleague Mihir Zaveri says the premise of the FARE Act was simple but transformative: Whoever enlisted a broker's help would pay the broker's fee. If a landlord gave a listing to a broker, the landlord would pay. A broker can show someone an apartment, but it isn't the would-be renter's responsibility to pay the broker — unless they had agreed to a fee arrangement in advance. Some brokers are showing apartments and, afterward, claiming there was a de facto payment agreement. The Fare ACT went into effect on June 11. I asked Mihir to discuss whether the law has made things better or worse for renters so far. You write that the results have been mixed. How so? The intention of the FARE Act was to lower the sometimes staggering upfront cost of moving and make it less confusing and more transparent. In many ways, it has done that. Most renters can avoid broker fees when searching for apartments through online platforms like StreetEasy. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
CBC
3 days ago
- Business
- CBC
Rent and housing prices send Thunder Bay's inflation rate to 7th highest in Canada
Social Sharing Thunder Bay, Ont., has the seventh highest rate of inflation in Canada, according to Statistics Canada. This week, the national data agency released its report for June. Overall, the country experienced an annual inflation rate of 1.9 per cent, an increase from 1.7 per cent in May. The report, broken down by cities and regions, indicates Thunder Bay's inflation rate has more than doubled, from 0.9 per cent to 2.1 per cent. Mehdi Arzandeh, an assistant professor at Lakehead University's faculty of business administration, said Thunder Bay's inflation situation stands apart from other major cities in the country. "There are some underlying factors that make things that we consume everywhere in Canada more expensive... the price of cars went up, price of footwear [and] furniture," Arzandeh said. But, Arzandeh noted, what sets Thunder Bay apart from other cities in Canada is the state of its rental market. "In the last month, to put it in perspective, the rent on average in Canada went up by about 0.3 per cent, [and] in Toronto 0.9 per cent — in Thunder Bay it went up by 3.8 per cent." Unsteady atmosphere Nationwide, the continuing rise in inflation is in line with current trade disputes with the United States. Doug Porter, chief economist at BMO Financial Group, said inflation showed no real improvement in June, in part because the trade war is pushing up some prices. The high cost of housing is also a contributing factor that's keeping inflation up, Porter said. Feeling the pinch from high grocery bills? A group in Thunder Bay has an interesting way to help 2 years ago The Boreal Museum in Thunder Bay is doing foragers walks until the end of September. The goal is to teach people how to search for wild vegetation in and around the city's forests and elevate your cooking to new heights. CBC's Taylor O'Brien trekked through Thunder Bay trails with founder and creative director, Jason Feller, to learn how to forage. However, Thunder Bay stands in contrast to the rest of the country in its resilience to the impacts of the current trade dispute, Arzandeh argued. "Part of a good thing about the Thunder Bay economy is the fact that it proves to be resilient actually in the face of some of the trade disputes," he said. Because of our location, because of the port of Thunder Bay, we see more activity in our economy due to some of these trade disputes - Mehdi Arzandeh, Lakehead University, assistant professor But if the increase in the price of housing in Thunder Bay persists, Arzandeh argued, it could have some long-term consequences on the city's affordability. "Thunder Bay has become more popular with international students and newcomer international students," he said. "If you see newcomers because we have a growing economy, in the face of trade issues and geopolitical risk, you might not be ready to accommodate all those rental unit demands in Thunder Bay." Growing economy Thunder Bay has the potential for economic growth in the near future, according to Arzandeh. As exports to the U.S. begin to dwindle due to ongoing trade disputes, companies may be looking toward Thunder Bay. "Consumer goods are going to go up unfortunately due to the tariffs," he said. "Because of our location, because of the port of Thunder Bay, we see more activity in our economy due to some of these trade disputes." According to Arzandeh, as Canadian companies look for markets in Europe and South America in the wake of tariffs, Thunder Bay is primed to facilitate those changes. "If chemicals and minerals are to be exported to new European markets and Latin American markets, they're going to happen through the port of Thunder Bay."
ABC News
3 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
Interstate investors swarm NT homes, shutting out local buyers and raising rent prices
Interstate investors are targeting properties across the Northern Territory and buying them up hours before they hit the market, as Darwin's rental market firms as the tightest in the country. Local doctor Nicolas Darmanthe moved to Darwin at the beginning of the year with his partner, and thinking they would be able to afford to rent a "fairly nice" three-bedroom home. But, after a few months of looking in a city where the vacancy rate is just 0.3 per cent, they realised that wouldn't be the case. "Even though Darwin is very far away and [like] a small country town, it turns out the rentals are just as expensive — if not more expensive — than down south in Canberra and Sydney," he said. Over the past year, interstate investors have increasingly turned their focus to the NT, where houses and units remain among the most affordable to buy in the country and rental yields are among the highest. Real estate agents have told the ABC they can sell homes to interstate investors "within hours", often before they are publicly advertised, with some saying the fierce competition to sell properties fast has left them no choice but to play along. Nick Mousellis, an independent real estate agent in Darwin, first started getting calls from interstate investors about a year ago and now fields numerous requests a week. "Almost every two to three days, we have an inquiry or an e-mail from a buyer agent," he said. Over the past year he's seen an increase between 3 and 10 per cent in Darwin property prices, and soaring competition for local homes. Mr Mousellis said interstate investors were targeting homes priced between $500,000 and $650,000, spending a small amount on renovations, and then leasing them at a higher price. Nicola Powell, chief of research and economics at Domain, said the sudden flood of interstate buyers had positioned the NT as an investment hotspot — second only to New South Wales. "[Rental] house yields are sitting at around 6 per cent, and [rental] unit yields are anywhere between 7 and 8 per cent," she said. "Compare that to a market like Sydney — where rental yields are sitting at 3 per cent — you can understand why investors are looking towards those cash positive locations like Darwin." Darwin's 0.3 per cent vacancy rate compares with a national rate of between 2 and 3 per cent, according to Domain's June Quarter Rent Report. Unit rents are at record highs across all capital cities including Darwin and, while house rents remain at record highs in all capitals, prices in Darwin dropped $20 in June. Dr Powell said interstate investors had the ability to revitalise stagnant markets but, in this case, they were likely "nudging first home buyers" out of the market and making it harder for people to secure an affordable rental. "We do have a rental crisis," she said. "When you've got a vacancy rate that is very tight at 0.3 per cent … it means it is very competitive for tenants — to have a balanced rental market, you need that vacancy rate to be between 2 and 3 per cent. "You tend to find that investors and first-time buyers go for similar priced properties. Ruth Palmer has been the executive director of the Property Council of Australia's NT division for over a decade and said she hadn't seen a "shift" quite like this before. She said Alice Springs had seen a "significant jump" in median house prices and improvement in the volume of sales. Ms Palmer said, with both sales and building approvals up, many NT real estate agents now had "a bunch of investors on their books who are chasing properties". "Sometimes the properties don't even get to market before they're snapped up by an investor, and this can occur within about 24 to 48 hours," she said. "What this can do is put a bit of an imbalance into the market, so while our volume sales are up and while we're seeing a lot of transaction, it doesn't exactly mean that it's growing the population. Ms Palmer said, as the NT continued to face high construction costs and a shortage of tradies, more needed to be done to "stimulate new builds". "Without more supply, affordability will remain a challenge," she said. In the March 2025 quarter, building approvals rose over 50 per cent compared with the previous quarter, according to the Property Council's latest report.
South China Morning Post
4 days ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
‘Avoid harsh labels for Hong Kong homes certified under subdivided flat regime'
Hong Kong should avoid negative labels for certified subdivided flats as they provide accommodation to people from all walks of life, the housing minister has said, while stressing that a planned shake-up of standards will not drive up rents. In an exclusive interview with the Post, Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin also said temporary flats were likely to continue serving residents in the future and form part of the city's housing ladder, but ruled out plans to further create a supply of starter homes for first-time buyers. Proposals to regulate the city's subdivided housing, which are notorious for their hygiene, safety and security hazards, are currently being scrutinised by the Legislative Council. Under the coming policy, subdivided flats that meet the official standards and are accredited as 'basic housing units' are allowed to remain on the rental market. 'We are giving a certification to basic housing units, which meet basic standards and are no longer inferior. I will not label them. They are simply choices made by different people at different times,' Ho said. She gave the reply to a question about whether authorities would prefer residents to leave such flats and move up the housing ladder.
