PropertyBuzz, your daily dose of property news.
Budget reactions from the housing industry are in, the insurance sector sounds alarm bells, and where first home buyers have a better shot of getting a foot on the property ladder.
Welcome to Property Buzz! I’m Juliet Helmke. Today is Thursday, 16 May.
– The 2024 budget promises to deliver more homes in every state and territory, but while the industry has largely welcomed the budget line items aimed at housing, leaders and economists have warned that the job is far from done.
– The Real Estate Institute of Australia stated that all levels of government would be required to work together to pave the way for homebuilding, while Master Builders stressed that federal portfolios needed to align on the task, citing delays caused by competing interests.
– Everybody’s Home noted that no new funding was allocated for social housing, calling out the government for repackaging existing funding to make it seem as though resources had been assigned.
– The Property Council gave the latest financial paper a silver medal, while the Student Accommodation Council welcomed the commitment to work with universities on student housing, noting that the government needed to be careful with any reforms to mandate university accommodation.
– In the insurance sector, experts are warning of an underinsurance crisis, with Australians pulling back on taking out adequate coverage due to tight budgets.
– According to analysis by MCG Quantity Surveyors, Australian assets are on average under insured by 24 percent, with residential properties 18 per cent below where they should be, while industrial and office properties face an even bigger shortfall.
– The firm cites rising construction costs, unreliable insurance calculators, COVID-related supply chain issues, and a lack of labour as contributing factors, alongside high insurance premiums.
– The firm is calling for government regulation of insurance premiums, warning of the potential impact on consumers and the economy if this trend continues.
– And aspiring homeowners appear to be targeting the outskirts of major cities for their property purchases, where government assistance for first-time buyers is more accessible and average purchase prices are below metropolitan centres.
– According to analysis by JL Hooker, there are 273 Australian suburbs where house prices are generally below the threshold for federal and state first home buyer schemes, though the network noted that many of these areas are challenged with fewer job opportunities and longer commutes.
– In the greater Sydney region, for example, the report highlighted Mount Victoria, a Blue Mountains suburb on the westernmost fringe of the city, where houses have a median sale price of $640,000. The beachside suburb of San Remo on the Central Coast is another affordable option, as is Willmot in Blacktown.
– In Melbourne’s surrounds, the most affordable suburbs for detached houses were found to be Melton, Dallas and Brookfield, where the median house price ranges from the high-$400,000s to the mid-$500,000s.
That’s Property Buzz for today. See you again tomorrow, 17 May, for your daily dose of Property Buzz.
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