A SUMMARY OF THE INSTITUTE’S MONTHLY UPDATE ON THE WA MARKET WHICH WAS PUBLISHED THIS WEEK UDIA Chief Economist, Tim Connoley, this week published his latest report on the WA market. In essence he said that the low rate environment has encouraged the two most sensitive market segments: investors and First Home Buyers (FHBs). Investor […]
MEDIUM DENSITY OPTIONS NEED TO BE DEVELOPED IN AND AROUND ESTABLISHED, AGING SUBURBS TO BETTER ADDRESS THE NEEDS OF OUR AGING POPULATION AND RELEASE LARGE HOMES TO FAMILIES THAT REQUIRE THE SPACE More than half a million single Australians over the age of 60 currently reside in detached houses across the country. Originally intended for […]
WE ARE ON THE CUSP OF REVOLUTIONARY CHANGE TO DEAL WITH THE INCREASING FINANCIAL AND HUMAN COST OF MOBILITY, BUT WHAT WOULD SELF-DRIVE CARS MEAN FOR URBAN PLANNING? Imagine it’s 6:25pm and you’ve just wrapped up a meeting. You still have several items on your “must-do” list before you can call it a night and […]
THE GLOBAL TSUNAMI WARNING SYSTEM WAS IMPLEMENTED AFTER THE 2004 BOXING DAY TSUNAMI KILLED 230,000 PEOPLE IN 14 COUNTRIES. LOCALISED WARNING SYSTEMS HAD EXISTED SINCE THE 1920’S AND EXPANDING TO COVER THE PACIFIC IN THE 1940’S BUT IT TOOK A DISASTER OF MASSIVE PROPORTIONS FOR THERE TO BE A HOLISTIC RESPONSE TO THIS INTERNATIONAL PROBLEM. […]
IT’S EARLY DAYS, BUT CONFIDENCE IN PROPERTY IN THE SOUTH WEST IS TURNING AND WILL CONTINUE TO IMPROVE IN 2013 It is common for regional property markets to experience deeper troughs than the Perth metropolitan area as spending on holiday homes virtually ceases when the market turns down. But local economic factors remain at the […]
THERE ARE MANY OTHER FACTORS AT PLAY IN RELATION TO SOCIAL DISADVANTAGE AND INDEED WHERE PEOPLE CHOOSE TO LIVE One of the frustrations of public policy is when a single issue is examined and presented as a holistic assessment. For example, there is a common belief that there is an inverse relationship between household income […]
THE LATEST HOUSING INDUSTRY FORECASTING GROUP REPORT, TABLED IN PARLIAMENT BY MINISTER FOR HOUSING BILL MARMION YESTERDAY, HAS LIFTED ITS FORECASTS FOR DWELLING COMMENCEMENTS IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA AFTER RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION AND LAND MARKET ACTIVITY GREW STRONGLY OVER THE LAST NINE MONTHS ON THE BACK OF DECLINING INTEREST RATES The Housing Industry Forecasting Group, a joint […]
THE GRATTAN INSTITUTE’S LATEST REPORT, PRODUCTIVE CITIES, IS RICH IN STRONG CONCEPTUAL ARGUMENTS, BUT ITS FAILURE TO ADDRESS SOME OF THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PERTH AND AUSTRALIA’S OTHER THREE LARGEST CITIES MAKES IT A SOMEWHAT SLANTED REPRESENTATION OF WHY PEOPLE LIVE WHERE THEY DO “If the structure of a city severely restricts access to jobs or […]
STOCK LEVELS HAVE DECLINED BY A THIRD, SALES ARE AT SIX-YEAR HIGHS; THIS WILL INEVITABLY PUT UPWARD PRESSURE ON PRICES. Six months ago, I mentioned that the fundamentals had shifted dramatically in favour of new dwellings and this would translate into further increases in land sales and eventually construction. Land sales in Perth subsequently increased […]