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News.com.au
a day ago
- Business
- News.com.au
‘Genuine emergency': Sydney's unwanted honour in housing affordability report
Sydney now 'stands alone' as the most expensive city in the world for housing after prices rose to a record median mark last month. It's no secret that the Harbour City is one of the most unaffordable places to live on the planet – but new data suggests it may have officially overtaken its perennial rival for the top spot. The median price for a dwelling – including both houses and apartments – in Sydney hit $1.2 million in May, rising 0.5 per cent in one month. As explained by ABC's finance guru Alan Kohler on Sunday night, that figure is 14.7 times the median NSW wage (which would equate to about $81,000). This would surpass the most recent score for Hong Kong – which had previously kept Sydney in second place – with a ratio of 14.4, according to research by California's Chapman University. 'Hong Kong's house prices are coming down, so Sydney now stands alone,' Mr Kohler said. 'Now it doesn't really matter how this happened and whose fault it is – it's a genuine emergency. 'Having the most expensive housing in the world can't go on.' One city rising, the other falling Chapman University's Center for Demographics and Policy publishes its Demographia International Housing Affordability study each year. It calculates its unaffordability ratio by dividing a city's median dwelling prices by median by the median pay of its residents. Its latest international housing affordability report, released in May, put Sydney at 13.8, but that was calculated before the most recent jump in dwelling values. 'Sydney has had the first, second or third least affordable housing of any major market in 16 of the last 17 years,' the report states. Hong Kong, meanwhile, has been on the opposite trajectory since the Covid-19 pandemic. 'Hong Kong has been the least affordable market in Demographia International Housing Affordability, for the 14 years since its inclusion,' Demographia researchers found. 'However, in recent years there are been material improvement. The 2024 Hong Kong median multiple of 14.4, improved from 16.7 in 2023. 'This is an even greater improvement Hong Kong's pre-pandemic 20.8 in 2019.' The 2024 UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index explained the decline, which had brought prices down to 2012 levels. 'High interest rates, anemic population growth, and a lack of buyer optimism all contributed to weak housing demand,' it said. 'Impossibly unaffordable' Anything over a score of nine is deemed 'impossibly unaffordable' by Demographia's researchers. Its latest report lays out the dire situation for prospective Australian buyers, with the nation's overall score sitting at 9.7. Researchers went as far to call the situation in some Australian capitals as 'remarkable' when compared to global powerhouses such as London or New York. 'Even the smallest Australian market, Adelaide endures an impossibly unaffordable median multiple of 10.9, ranked 90th among the 95 markets,' the report reads. 'Melbourne, with impossibly unaffordable median multiple of 9.7, is the 87th least affordable. Brisbane was an impossibly unaffordable 9.3 and ranked 85th out of 95. 'Perth at 8.3, was the 82nd least unaffordable market. 'It is remarkable that these markets are less affordable than widely recognized world cities like New York, London, or Chicago.' Australia's change Controversy abounds when discussing house prices in Australia over time, with each generation arguing they faced tough conditions. The Demographia report stated, however, that Australian property was considered 'affordable' in the early 1990s and sat at a score of 2.8. 'As late as about 1990, national price-to-income ratios were 'affordable', at 3.0 or less in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States,' the report states. Mr Kohler cited data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics to show that only two Australian capital cities had seen housing become more affordable relative to incomes over the past decade. Those were Melbourne and Darwin, where wage growth has outstripped rises in property prices. 'But everywhere else, affordability has worsened,' Mr Kohler said. 'And the cruellest is Adelaide, where housing costs have risen three times as much as incomes. 'Nationally, it's close to double.'
Daily Mail
27-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Revealed: The insane salary Aussies now need to buy a home in Sydney
Sydneysiders hoping to buy a home have been given more bad news with a new report stating the city's median house price is now worth 13 times the average salary. The Australian Property Institute's (API) Valuation Report, released on Tuesday, painted a grim outlook for those seeking to step onto the property ladder in the Harbour City. Fifty years ago, a median priced home in Australia's most populated city cost just 4.2 times the average worker's salary. In 1995, it had only risen to 5.8 times their income. But by 2015, that same median priced home was worth 11.1 times an average income for Sydneysiders. The average Australian salary last year was just short of $103,000, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, while a median home price is nearly $1.34million. The new data equates to a median home costing more than 13 times the average income. API chief executive Amelia Hodge said housing affordability is at a 50-year low. 'Australia has one of the fastest growing populations in the OECD, fuelled by record immigration, yet housing for younger Australians is more unaffordable than ever,' she said. Experts believe high levels of inflation and a housing shortage are to blame. Meanwhile, in Melbourne, the median house price was 8.4 times the average salary, while in Canberra, this figure was at 9.0. Darwin had the most affordable houses, according to the report, with prices at 5.8 times the average salary. 'Despite the vast bulk of immigrants surging into Sydney and Melbourne, the results suggest the impact of migration on Australian domestic property prices may not be as pronounced as other unseen factors,' Ms Hodge said. Between 2005 and 2024, house prices rose by a whopping 171 per cent in Sydney, with other capital cities seeing similar increases. Melbourne's house prices rose by 169 per cent in the two decades, while Adelaide saw an increase of 175 per cent. Meanwhile, in the Sunshine State, median homes in Brisbane were worth 2.9 times the average income in 1975. Now they're worth roughly 8.3 times the average salary.
News.com.au
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Vivid flips the switch on Sydney in first-night spectacular
The Sydney CBD lit up for the first night of the annual Vivid festival on Friday night. More than three million people are expected to hit the streets over the 23-day event, taking in over 40 installations and projections spread across the Harbour City. This year's theme is Dream – a vision of light, harmony and a future in balance. 'In 2025, Vivid Sydney invites you to dream big,' the official website reads. 'To go to the outer reaches of your mind, to think differently, without boundaries or preconceptions and to immerse yourself in new experiences and ideas. 'We want you to dream with the lights on, to daydream, to dream without boundaries, to soar.' Celebrations kicked off on Friday evening by First Light, a special welcome ceremony featuring Indigenous Australian dancers from NAISDA. Dancers in traditional wear, illuminated by bursts of fire and colourful lighting, brought Campbells Cove at The Rocks to life, followed by a free concert celebrating First Nations pride. Hosted by rapper Ziggy Ramo, visitors were invited to celebrate the next generation of Indigenous artists such as DJ Rona, Kaiit and Jeremy Whiskey in a one-night-only music extravaganza. One of Vivid's most highly-anticipated centrepieces is the lighting of the Opera House Sails. This year, it will display the works of David McDiarmid in Lighting of the Sails: Kiss of Light on the 30th anniversary of the artists death. The projections will act as a 'rallying cry for equality, inclusion and freedom', the festival organisers said, through a colourful and quirky lens – including slides of moving tiled shapes, rainbows and a green eyeball. Circular Quay is not the only spot to get in on the action. The festival will be split into five zones, including The Rocks, Barangaroo, Darling Harbour, The Goods Line and inner city and, for the first time since 2018, Martin Place. Things look a little different this year with Vivid deciding to scrap its drone show and make its famous light walk free. Destination NSW confirmed the decision to scrap the drone show, which has been part of the festival since 2021, in March citing safety concerns. It was thought the spectacle would bring in too many people and create dangerous conditions after crows were stuck in a bottleneck while trying to leave the western side of Circular Quay last year. Meanwhile, the light walk – which previously set festival-goers back $30 – will now be free as this year's festival aims to be as 'budget-friendly' as possible. 'We are all feeling the pinch in terms of the economy and cost-of-living crisis,' Festival director Gill Minervini said. 'I really wanted Vivid to respond to that. My job as director is to renovate and refresh the festival every year. 'We want audiences to come back time after time, and not think, 'Oh, it's the same old Vivid'. We want to keep everyone guessing.'
Korea Herald
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Hong Kong's Largest Stitch Solo Event "STITCH ARRIVES!!!" At Harbour City Shopping Mall Opens Now!
HONG KONG, May 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Hong Kong's iconic shopping mall, Harbour City has teamed up with Disney Hong Kong to present "Stitch Arrives!!! @Harbour City", the biggest Stitch solo event ever held in the city, running from 1 May to 15 June 2025. The event is a prelude to Disney's highly anticipated "Lilo & Stitch" live-action movie, which premieres in Hong Kong on 29 May 2025. Five adorable photo spots are set across the mall, along with different Hawaiian-themed DIY workshops and activities perfect for kids, which are sure to become a must-visit destination for Stitch's fans. The event transports visitors to Stitch's favourite Hawaiian beach, featuring multiple Instagram-worthy spots. The highlights are undoubtedly the 3-meter-tall Stitch posing at "Stitch's ALOHA Beach" along the shore of Victoria Harbour, and the 7-meter-tall WISHER Stitch towering over the Ocean Terminal observatory deck against the backdrop of Victoria Harbour! Adding to the excitement, Hong Kong's first-ever Stitch-themed pop-up store has landed at Harbour City, offering over 800 adorable "Lilo & Stitch" items, including limited-edition collectibles, lifestyle products, and exclusive merchandise to all super fans of Stitch!
South China Morning Post
10-03-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong's Times Square owner says earnings sink on weak retail, property market
Wharf Real Estate Investment Co, one of Hong Kong's biggest commercial landlords, said earnings tumbled last year as revenue from investment and hotel properties declined and a multi-year slump in the property market further eroded the value of its assets. Advertisement Net profit fell 81 per cent from a year earlier to HK$891 million (US$114.7 million), mainly due to a five-fold increase in property revaluation deficit to HK$5.66 billion amid weak demand for commercial real estate, it said in a stock exchange filing on Monday. Revenue slipped 3 per cent to HK$12.9 billion. Excluding the deficit, earnings from its underlying business rose by 2 per cent. Wharf Reic, as the group is known, is controlled by the family of billionaire Peter Woo. The Harbour City mall in Tsim Sha Tsui and the Times Square shopping centre in Causeway Bay are among its key assets. It operates The Murray and Marco Polo hotels. 'While Hong Kong's economy showed signs of moderate growth, demand for commercial properties remained weak,' it said. 'The strong local currency and rather gradual pace of interest rate cuts continued to dampen retail sales. Office demand was also soft as businesses sought to control costs in an uncertain environment.' Occupancy of retail space in Times Square fell to 93 per cent from 95 per cent in 2024, while the occupancy rate for the office component rose to 90 per cent from 88 per cent, it said. Retail occupancy at Harbour City fell to 94 per cent from 97 per cent, while the office portion rose to 90 per cent from 88 per cent. Advertisement 'Vacancy at Harbour City and Times Square malls remained modest, but weaker turnover rent amid declining tenant sales affected revenue,' it said.
