The type of housing cost that just soared 75 per cent in five years
The cost of land for housing development has skyrocketed by 75 per cent over the past five years, pushing homeownership further out of the hands of average potential buyers.
The median development site cost has risen from $4.8 million in 2020, to $8.5 million this year, Ray White analysis of Real Capital Analytics data shows.
It comes as construction costs remain elevated from their pre-COVID-19 levels, putting further pressure on affordability.
Ray White Group chief economist Nerida Conisbee said it would take considerable time before building costs fell enough to make new housing genuinely affordable for average buyers.
'Land costs haven't come back down and what's happening is developers want to build, but they can't do it affordably,' Conisbee said. 'We're not seeing the crashes in the market we previously saw so we're in a kind of holding pattern.'
In past economic downturns, rising interest rates would put pressure on some owners of development sites, forcing them into distressed sales at reduced prices. But this time was different, and Conisbee said many had built financial buffers while interest rates were at record lows, and developers have been in a better position to hold onto land.
They were also entering into joint ventures when finances were squeezed. Changes to how lenders operated were also helping developers hold on to their assets, banks were holding off on forced sales for struggling developers, and were more likely to offer relief measures.
It comes as the federal government aims to deliver 1.2 million homes in five years to address the housing affordability challenge.
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He died shortly after being forcibly restrained by two plain-clothes police officers in a supermarket in Alice Springs. Police allege the 24-year-old, originally from the outback community of Yuendumu, was shoplifting and had assaulted a security guard who confronted him in the confectionery aisle. NT Police and Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro have strongly rejected calls for an external investigation, saying police are the right authority to carry out an investigation coupled with a coronial inquiry. Ms Scrymgour, the federal member for Lingiari, said at the end of the day it had to be a police decision whether to lay criminal charges. "But it doesn't have to be NT Police officers who undertake the task," she said in a statement. Having the AFP take over would extract NT detectives from a role which would subject them to scrutiny and criticism as well as enable the Yuendumu community to have full confidence in the process, the MP said. "Just as happened during the COVID lockdown period, police officers from outside the NT can be brought in." Meanwhile, outspoken senator Lidia Thorpe said Friday marked five years since the global Black Lives Matter mobilisation sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in the US, with an officer's knee on his neck. "Kumanjayi White died the same way," she said in a statement on Thursday, citing an eyewitness account of the supermarket incident. "Since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody in 1991 at least 595 of our people have died in custody ... and not a single police or prison officer has ever been held criminally accountable," the senator said. On Wednesday evening, hundreds of people attended a candle-lit vigil outside the NT parliament in tribute to Mr White and to support his grieving desert community. A large banner stating "We stand with Yuendumu" was displayed in front of the parliament's entrance while another banner laid on the ground read "Justice for White". Organisers invited people to light candles or lay flowers following speeches highlighting the mistrust of police in Aboriginal communities and the need for an external inquiry into Mr White's death. Justice Not Jails spokesperson Jade Richie said "no police should be investigating police" in a death-in-custody case. Her group is organising a "national week of action" in response to Mr White's death, with vigils planned across the country. The Yuendumu community also lost 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker in 2019 when he was fatally shot by then NT police officer Zachary Rolfe during a bungled arrest. Mr Rolfe was in 2022 found not guilty of all charges over the death. The Kumanjayi Walker coronial findings have been postponed until July 7 after Kumanjayi White's death in custody. Federal Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy said on Thursday an independent death in custody probe might be warranted "in the interest of having some separation". 13YARN 13 92 76 Lifeline 13 11 14 beyondblue 1300 22 4636 Federal police should take over the investigation into the death in custody of a young Aboriginal man as a "step towards healing and justice", an Indigenous MP says. Northern Territory MP Marion Scrymgour said a criminal investigation was a job "only police can undertake" but it did not have to be conducted by NT detectives when federal police could step in. Her call comes amid growing pressure for an independent investigation into the death of mentally disabled man Kumanjayi White on May 27. He died shortly after being forcibly restrained by two plain-clothes police officers in a supermarket in Alice Springs. Police allege the 24-year-old, originally from the outback community of Yuendumu, was shoplifting and had assaulted a security guard who confronted him in the confectionery aisle. NT Police and Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro have strongly rejected calls for an external investigation, saying police are the right authority to carry out an investigation coupled with a coronial inquiry. Ms Scrymgour, the federal member for Lingiari, said at the end of the day it had to be a police decision whether to lay criminal charges. "But it doesn't have to be NT Police officers who undertake the task," she said in a statement. Having the AFP take over would extract NT detectives from a role which would subject them to scrutiny and criticism as well as enable the Yuendumu community to have full confidence in the process, the MP said. "Just as happened during the COVID lockdown period, police officers from outside the NT can be brought in." Meanwhile, outspoken senator Lidia Thorpe said Friday marked five years since the global Black Lives Matter mobilisation sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in the US, with an officer's knee on his neck. "Kumanjayi White died the same way," she said in a statement on Thursday, citing an eyewitness account of the supermarket incident. "Since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody in 1991 at least 595 of our people have died in custody ... and not a single police or prison officer has ever been held criminally accountable," the senator said. On Wednesday evening, hundreds of people attended a candle-lit vigil outside the NT parliament in tribute to Mr White and to support his grieving desert community. A large banner stating "We stand with Yuendumu" was displayed in front of the parliament's entrance while another banner laid on the ground read "Justice for White". Organisers invited people to light candles or lay flowers following speeches highlighting the mistrust of police in Aboriginal communities and the need for an external inquiry into Mr White's death. Justice Not Jails spokesperson Jade Richie said "no police should be investigating police" in a death-in-custody case. Her group is organising a "national week of action" in response to Mr White's death, with vigils planned across the country. The Yuendumu community also lost 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker in 2019 when he was fatally shot by then NT police officer Zachary Rolfe during a bungled arrest. Mr Rolfe was in 2022 found not guilty of all charges over the death. The Kumanjayi Walker coronial findings have been postponed until July 7 after Kumanjayi White's death in custody. Federal Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy said on Thursday an independent death in custody probe might be warranted "in the interest of having some separation". 13YARN 13 92 76 Lifeline 13 11 14 beyondblue 1300 22 4636
