The shortfall of social housing has built up over decades. Even after the building program is complete, the gap between housing supply and the numbers on waiting lists will still be huge.
Current housing stimulus measures aim to boost buyer demand and are too small to sustain a recovery. A second round of stimulus is likely to be needed, and it should go into social housing supply.
Australia found shelter for more than 33,000 rough sleepers and other homeless people during the pandemic, but a coming surge in homelessness demands a comprehensive national housing strategy.
More than 1 in 5 college students are parents, and many struggle to find on-campus housing. Colleges offering a stable place to live on campus can help them succeed.
New research shows homes in white areas have appreciated $200,000 more since 1980 than similar homes in nonwhite areas – a result of both old racist housing policies and modern real estate practices.
Buyers and renters are very rarely told the energy rating of housing, but don’t blame the agents. As it’s voluntary for existing homes, very few are rated, so it’s not a big factor in the market.
In some quarters, the median Sydney home earns more from capital gains than the median worker earns from wages. Now’s a good time to wind back the measures that push prices up.
Professor; School of Economics, Finance and Property, and Director, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Curtin Research Centre, Curtin University
Professor of Social Epidemiology and Director of the Centre of Research Excellence in Healthy Housing at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne