Latest news with #BCEC
West Australian
2 days ago
- Business
- West Australian
Devastating effects of housing crisis leaves half a million West Aussie's struggling to pay rent or mortgage
About half a million West Australians view their housing as unaffordable — a figure that's nearly doubled in three years — as the State remains stuck in the grip of a crisis that will not end any time soon. A new report out on Thursday claims that 210,000 households, which accounts for nearly 500,000 people, are now struggling with the mortgage or the rent. That's 100,000 more households since 2022. The Bankwest Curtin Economic Centre report says surging population growth, rising construction costs, and a shrinking rental market have combined to produce a perfect storm of affordability pressures. And there is no respite in sight. BCEC director Alan Duncan claims improved affordability could be up to 2½ years away, and even then it will only be achieved if immediate action is taken. Professor Alan Duncan said the scale of the rental crisis was so bad it would go down in history. 'I do think, in some sense, that this housing crisis is one for the history books,' said Professor Duncan. 'From our findings we've seen a relentless growth in asking rents over the past 2 to 2½ years. We've never before seen an increase in rents to this degree or for this long,' he said. The report highlights that a quarter of renters and half of all mortgage-holders are now finding housing costs unaffordable. It blames WA's massive population growth and a failure to build enough properties — in the places where people want or need to live — as key reasons for the dire situation. Only 694 new dwellings were added to Perth's private rental stock between March 2023 and September 2024, despite the population growing by 119,000 people over the same period. That is equivalent to one home for every additional 171 people. The BCEC report said there was currently a shortfall of 7,700 rentals, a shortage which has pushed rents up 76 per cent since 2020 to a median of $740 a week. While rental vacancy rates are between 2 to 3 per cent according to various indices, many are not at the affordable end of the market. The issue recently forced single mother Daniela Alves into a months-long search for a suitable and affordable rental. The part-time worker said the price she paid to secure a roof over her and four-year-old son Lucas' head was not seeing family in Brazil, as there was no money left to save for a holiday. After forking out for rent she said even a weekend away was out of the question. For university student Willow Armitstead, 22, the current cost-of-living crisis meant moving out of her parents' home was simply not an option. 'I have multiple friends who are working three jobs and they can barely afford their own rent ... it's pretty tough at the moment,' she said. The BCEC report said less than half of renters surveyed — only 44 per cent — believe they will ever own a house, with half of those citing affordability issues or hefty deposits as the main obstacle. The struggle to enter the property market is evidenced by the share of first-homebuyer loans, which have declined from more than 35 per cent of all mortgages in 2020 to about 20 per cent by late 2024. And with the report putting the median house price in Perth at $851,000, the price of homeownership has substantially outpaced wage growth in recent years. But while the poor get poorer, the rich get richer, with loans to WA investors jumping from 15 per cent five years ago to 40 per cent in the September 2024 quarter. University student Bridie Le Cormu, 19, summed up the grim outlook facing many young people when she said she could never expect to buy a place on her own. 'When I buy a property, it's definitely going to be down the track, and I want to buy a house with a friend or a sibling ... because I don't think (I can) on my own,' she said. 'Some of my friends who are older than me have been trying to look at houses and the competition is insane; they have enough money for a deposit, but then someone else will put $50,000 on top.' The BCEC report found that even key workers like police officers, teachers and nurses had almost entirely been priced out of buying homes, with Armadale the only suburb affordable to all key workers. It adds that the blow-out in construction times for new houses is partly to blame. Local build times have more than doubled to 15.6 months in 2023-24, compared to seven months in 2018–19. The delays have added a whopping $100,000 to the price of a typical new home in just four years. While WA did break through the 20,000 barrier for new home builds for first time since 2017, it is still falling short of the 24,000 required annually under the National Accord target. Prof Duncan said some of the key reforms needed to address the crisis include efforts to boost rental supply, and changes to stamp duty and negative gearing. He acknowledged stamp duty was an important revenue stream for the State Government, but said it was preventing people from right-sizing into a home that suited their needs. Boosting social housing to five per cent of total housing stock by 2040 would also address issues, he said. He also called on the Federal Government to reconsider the benefits of negative gearing, as a means of helping to even the playing field. 'We talk about the housing crisis but it has been many years in the making, with many structural weaknesses' Prof Duncan said.
West Australian
2 days ago
- Business
- West Australian
WA housing crisis 91 per cent worse in two years: Report
New research has revealed a grim reality for hundreds of thousands of households in the grip of a severe housing crisis that has only intensified in the past two years. The Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre found 210,000 West Australian households now believed their housing to be unaffordable, an increase of 91 per cent since 2023. The severity of the crisis was laid bare in a new report titled Housing Affordability in Western Australia 2025, using fresh insights from the Australian Housing Conditions Data Infrastructure Survey. The report found only 39 per cent of renters and 48 per cent of mortgage holders in WA considered their housing affordable. Researchers revealed the state's housing market was under intense pressure from rapid population growth, slow housing supply, soaring rents and construction delays, with no immediate end to the crisis in sight. With 119,000 new residents since 2023, demand for housing had surged way past supply. WA recorded a shortfall of 4000 new homes despite more than 20,000 homes being completed last year, the most since 2017. Building times in WA were the highest in the country taking more than 15 months to complete a house, adding $100,000 to the price of a new home. A growing discrepancy between key worker wages and housing costs meant most single-income workers such as nurses, police officers and firefighters were priced out of home ownership in many parts of Perth. As the population grew by 4.2 per cent, only 694 new rental properties were added to the market between March 2023 and September 2024. Rentals were also in short supply with a lack of 7700 homes, pushing rents up 76 per cent in the past five years and tenants out to the fringes of the metro area adding stress, complexity and extra costs to their lives. The dire situation worsened housing stress particularly for renters on low or single incomes. Researchers found persistent shortfalls in housing and chronic underinvestment in social housing had strained support services and exposed failures in WA's housing system. 'This report shows that homelessness in WA is becoming more widespread and more entrenched,' the report stated. Homelessness increased by 8 per cent and rough sleeping more than doubled since 2016, while 25,000 people sought homelessness services last financial year. The report made 33 policy recommendations to improve the state's housing affordability saying while the state government had taken steps to prioritise housing, the unprecedented scale of the challenge called for a co-ordinated response from all sectors. BCEC director Alan Duncan said housing was no longer just an economic issue but a breakdown in the ability of WA's housing system to meet the needs of ordinary West Australians. 'We're building more homes, but it's not enough to meet demand,' he said. 'Housing costs continue to rise faster than incomes and what's being built often isn't where people want or need to live.' 'Despite some signs of a softening housing market, there has been an accumulation of pressure on households from years of high housing costs, low rental vacancies and an inadequate supply of new stock. 'These challenges risk slowing the state's economic development and continue to affect the most financially vulnerable people in our community. 'As affordable homes vanish from inner and middle suburbs, low and moderate-income renters are being pushed to the outer edges of the city where jobs and services are scarcer. 'This is reshaping the social map of our State and deepening inequality.' Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute director Steven Rowley said cost pressures had pushed more and more families into a housing crisis. Professor Rowley said there had been a 330 per cent growth in priority social housing cases since 2018, with 6300 of those in greatest need waiting to be homed. While he welcomed the government's commitment to increase social housing stock adding 1700 units in two years, he said much more needed to be done. 'We need around 16,000 more social housing units to raise WA's social housing provision to around 5 per cent of total stock, roughly equivalent to levels in NSW and SA,' he said. 'WA's social housing waitlist has grown to 20,700, an increase of more than a third in five years.'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Quality of Sales Framework to be Showcased at ACG Dealfest Northeast on June 11
Ed Marsh and Ben Tagoe will show Private Equity Sponsors how Quality of Sales can help create value faster through organic growth BOSTON, June 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Quality of Sales Framework gives sponsors insight and control over the organic growth engine that's expected to be the primary value creation driver in coming years. It helps sponsors buy smarter, grow faster and exit stronger by understanding and solving sales talent, skill and process problems proactively at all stages of the lifecycle. Ed Marsh and Ben Tagoe will share these value creation insights and techniques with sponsors, investment bankers and other industry experts at The Association for Corporate Growth Dealfest Northeast on June 11 at the BCEC. Quality of Sales delivers empirical data on existing sales teams and prospective sales hires. Using a predictively accurate methodology, considering 21 sales-specific competencies and various team level systems and processes, a QoS Sales Team Evaluation provides detailed, actionable data on individuals and the team in aggregate. This can improve diligence by helping sponsors test their models and investment thesis against a company's sales team's ability to execute. The information can then accelerate integration by providing prioritization for talent and process improvement decisions. For existing portcos with growth milestones in jeopardy, it can help to identify root causes of underperformance. And as companies scale it helps to consistently identify the superb sales talent that drives value creation. Ed Marsh, founder of Ed Marsh Consulting, says "The data on value creation is clear. Sponsors have to grow organically and expand margins. Many B2B sales teams struggle specifically with those to tasks. Quality of Sales shows why, and what to do." Ben Tagoe, CEO of PE-backed Objective Management Group continues, "Quality of Sales provides sponsors with data about the most important question for their investment – how effective is the sales team? A Quality of Sales report offers diagnostics about a company's pipeline health, insights into root causes of sales underperformance, and tools to consistently hire superb sales talent. It is a proven way to accelerate value creation." Registration is available for the ACG Dealfest Northeast at and you can find more information on Quality of Sales at About Ed Marsh: Ed is the founder of Ed Marsh Consulting, a firm that works with privately held middle-market firms on revenue growth from governance and strategy, through marketing and sales, to customer success. Ed's a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and a former Ranger Qualified Airborne Infantry officer. He has extensive international experience and was the Export Advisor to American Express. He holds a Private Directors Association certificate in Private Equity Portfolio Company Governance and is Directorship® Certified by the National Association of Corporate Directors. About Ben Tagoe: Benjamin Tagoe is the CEO of Objective Management Group (OMG), the pioneer and industry leader in sales team evaluations and sales candidate assessments. He's a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Business School where he was a Baker Scholar. Ben's finance and investing career has focused on strategy and the use of data to drive better decisions. From Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase, through his time as SVP at VantageScore Solutions, and Fairfield Enterprises (a single company fund), using data to drive better decision-making has been Ben's passion - a passion that he brings to OMG and helping companies improve sales. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Ed Marsh Consulting Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Boston Globe
20-03-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Tesla announces another broad Cybertruck recall, this time over glue
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up CONVENTION CENTERS Advertisement State consultant suggests waiting on BCEC expansion Hold off on that big expansion for now. That's the bottom line for the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in an extensive report prepared Advertisement HOSPITALS Lawrence General named former Tufts Medical exec as new CEO After a challenging year for Lawrence General Hospital and Holy Family Hospital, former Tufts Medical executive Diana L. Richardson will take over as interim president and CEO next month, the hospital system announced Thursday. She will join the organization on April 14, following Advertisement MUNICIPAL FINANCE Los Angeles faces $1b budget hole amid broad federal cuts, wildfire recovery Los Angeles is facing a projected deficit of nearly $1 billion in the next fiscal year as the city grapples with the aftermath of historic wildfires and a deep decline in revenue. A key budget official painted a grim picture of the city's finances at a council meeting on Wednesday. Warnings included the possibility of thousands of layoffs and 'extremely difficult cost-cutting decisions' that will be required to close the gap, said Matthew Szabo, the city administrative officer. The shortfall is about 13 percent of the adopted budget, a threshold he called 'extraordinary.' 'This is an enormous hole to fill,' he told city council members. 'The severity of the revenue decline paired with rising costs has created a budget gap that makes layoffs nearly inevitable. We are not looking at dozens or even hundreds of layoffs, but thousands.' The stark statements offer a first glimpse into what is expected to be a challenging budget cycle for Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat who is set to unveil her spending proposal next month. Most US cities can't operate at a deficit, so her plan is poised to include cost-cutting efforts. On Wednesday, she directed Szabo's office to game-plan ways to save between $500 million and $900 million in structural budgetary expenses. Cities across the United States are facing tough budget decisions this year as inflation raises costs and pandemic-era stimulus aid sunsets. Chicago's city council passed a 2025 budget that closed a nearly $1 billion deficit and in San Francisco, the city is projecting a budget shortfall of about $876 million for the 2026 fiscal year. The municipalities, already facing a squeeze, could see further pressures from federal government cuts. President Trump has threatened cities that don't comply with his immigration agenda while educational institutions are already cutting staff and freezing some spending. — BLOOMBERG NEWS Advertisement
