Latest news with #NationalHousingAccord
West Australian
2 days ago
- Business
- West Australian
Apartment approvals slide depresses total number of houses signed off in April, ABS data shows
A steep fall in demand for apartments depressed the total number of dwellings approved in April, with industry warning the numbers will need to pick up to meet housing targets. Fresh data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed private attached dwellings fell 19 per cent to 4999 — the weakest result since September 2024 — on the back of a 'normalisation' in apartment approvals. The total number of new dwellings approved fell 5.7 per cent to 14,633, according to the seasonally adjusted data released on Friday. NSW (-7.8 per cent) and Victoria (-6.5 per cent) had the steepest falls for total dwelling approvals, while Tasmania (12.7 per cent), WA (9.6 per cent) and South Australia (9.5 per cent) continued to gain. Oxford Economics Australia lead economist Maree Kilroy said the fallback in apartments was not a shock. 'We have been expecting a normalisation from the strong start to the year,' she said. But the Property Council of Australia warned apartment approval numbers needed to pick up. 'While apartment approval numbers are volatile, this is two months in a row of significant falls,' said Matthew Kandelaars, the group's executive of policy and advocacy, said. 'Just 5612 apartments were approved in March and April. This is a far cry from the 15,029 green-lit during March and April in the apartment boom of 2016. 'We will not meet our housing targets without the heavy lifting that needs to come from apartments that can deliver homes at scale close to transport, existing infrastructure and amenities. Australia must build more than 20,000 homes each month to reach the Federal Government's National Housing Accord target of 1.2 million new homes by 2029. The ABS showed a different story for national private house approvals, which gained 3.1 per cent to 9349 off the soft result in March. NSW and Queensland drove the gains, while other major States held relatively flat. Ms Kilroy said a number of policy supports for housing — including social housing stimulus and low deposit loans — were in place and would help to boost supply. However, she said it would take time to reflect in dwelling approvals figures. 'Additional support is likely from the RBA,' she said. 'Two more cash rate cuts are forecast before the end of the year that will further support mortgage affordability and project feasibilities. However, it usually takes about year for lower mortgage interest rates to support approval volumes.'
Sydney Morning Herald
4 days ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Rosehill rejection: Why did ATC members look a gift horse in the mouth?
Not since 100-to-1 outsider Prince of Penzance defied the odds to win the 2015 Melbourne Cup has a result so deeply confounded established racing logic. The rejection by members of the Australian Turf Club of a $5 billion proposal to sell Rosehill Gardens Racecourse to the NSW government comes close. The prospect of 25,000 new homes on a site situated in the heart of Australia's fastest-growing region were stakes Premier Chris Minns had no option to mount. Under the National Housing Accord he has committed to delivering 377,000 new homes across NSW by 2029. Weigh up the racecourse's adjacency to a newly-constructed light rail network, a coming metro line and a surging jobs hub in Parramatta, and the odds looked impossible to ignore. The NSW government has made no secret of the centrality of housing supply to its agenda. From its establishment last year of the Housing Delivery Authority, through to its pursuit of its Transport Oriented Development initiative, its colours were clear and unambiguous. Recent measures by the premier to upscale the state's production of modular homes – and the contingent manufacturing jobs boost – only upped the stakes. As did the commitment from Peter V'landys, chief executive and board member of Racing NSW, to 'ensure the revenue derived from the [Rosehill] proposal is reinvested to benefit the racing industry as a whole'. Even these assurances couldn't get the proposal over the line. Nor did the prospect of around $2 billion in upgrades to other racetracks, or the sweetener of food, beverage and membership fee concessions. If I know punters' logic, the reason might lie in sentiment, rather than logic. Let me tell you why. Loading My grandpop, Harry, was a veteran of the 1945 New Guinea campaign. He would forlornly recall he was 'too tall' to be a jockey. Still, he remained a lifelong horseracing devotee. He lived in a fibro housing commission house in Granville, due to the state's last great housing shortage post-World War II. It was only five minutes from Rosehill racetrack, where he would periodically venture to, 'see a man about a dog'. Normally unassuming, Harry would harshly shush all of us grandkids when the races came on his 'transistor'. Either that, or he'd send us to the corner shop to buy him a packet of Rothmans Extra Mild cigarettes. 'Get some lollies' with the change he would add. When I was older, I asked Harry in gambling parlance what the 'tells' were in backing a horse trackside. 'Form be damned', he would rail. 'If you see a horse in the mounting yard sweating too much on a chilly day, give it a miss', he advised. 'Ears up, ears up!' That was his favoured sign. An alert, edgy horse was a sure bet, pop assured me.
The Age
4 days ago
- Business
- The Age
Rosehill rejection: Why did ATC members look a gift horse in the mouth?
Not since 100-to-1 outsider Prince of Penzance defied the odds to win the 2015 Melbourne Cup has a result so deeply confounded established racing logic. The rejection by members of the Australian Turf Club of a $5 billion proposal to sell Rosehill Gardens Racecourse to the NSW government comes close. The prospect of 25,000 new homes on a site situated in the heart of Australia's fastest-growing region were stakes Premier Chris Minns had no option to mount. Under the National Housing Accord he has committed to delivering 377,000 new homes across NSW by 2029. Weigh up the racecourse's adjacency to a newly-constructed light rail network, a coming metro line and a surging jobs hub in Parramatta, and the odds looked impossible to ignore. The NSW government has made no secret of the centrality of housing supply to its agenda. From its establishment last year of the Housing Delivery Authority, through to its pursuit of its Transport Oriented Development initiative, its colours were clear and unambiguous. Recent measures by the premier to upscale the state's production of modular homes – and the contingent manufacturing jobs boost – only upped the stakes. As did the commitment from Peter V'landys, chief executive and board member of Racing NSW, to 'ensure the revenue derived from the [Rosehill] proposal is reinvested to benefit the racing industry as a whole'. Even these assurances couldn't get the proposal over the line. Nor did the prospect of around $2 billion in upgrades to other racetracks, or the sweetener of food, beverage and membership fee concessions. If I know punters' logic, the reason might lie in sentiment, rather than logic. Let me tell you why. Loading My grandpop, Harry, was a veteran of the 1945 New Guinea campaign. He would forlornly recall he was 'too tall' to be a jockey. Still, he remained a lifelong horseracing devotee. He lived in a fibro housing commission house in Granville, due to the state's last great housing shortage post-World War II. It was only five minutes from Rosehill racetrack, where he would periodically venture to, 'see a man about a dog'. Normally unassuming, Harry would harshly shush all of us grandkids when the races came on his 'transistor'. Either that, or he'd send us to the corner shop to buy him a packet of Rothmans Extra Mild cigarettes. 'Get some lollies' with the change he would add. When I was older, I asked Harry in gambling parlance what the 'tells' were in backing a horse trackside. 'Form be damned', he would rail. 'If you see a horse in the mounting yard sweating too much on a chilly day, give it a miss', he advised. 'Ears up, ears up!' That was his favoured sign. An alert, edgy horse was a sure bet, pop assured me.
Sydney Morning Herald
5 days ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Rosehill saga another depressing chapter in Sydney's sorry housing story
If today's vote on the proposal to sell Rosehill Racecourse and replace it with 25,000 new dwellings and a metro station goes down in flames, the whole saga will serve as a textbook case study in why Sydney has little hope of ever coming to grips with the housing affordability crisis. Because for all the egos, personalities and politics involved, the debate over Rosehill's future comes down to a dynamic playing out across Sydney: the battle between an obvious need to boost housing stock and the stubborn opposition to any form of urban development. The Herald has been a strong supporter of the proposal to use Rosehill for housing. It is, as we have said many times before, a no-brainer. NSW has a target of building 75,000 new homes a year for the next five years under the National Housing Accord but is so far nowhere close to meeting that goal. The total number of houses and units approved in NSW in the 12 months to November 2024 was 42,109. We need to pick up the pace, and business as usual clearly won't cut it. The 60-hectare Rosehill site won't solve this problem alone, but it could make a big dint. It is in the geographic heart of Sydney. It is criminally underutilised. The new Metro West rail line will run underneath it and an additional station would allow new residents to travel to the CBD in less than 20 minutes. The sale proceeds would also allow racing authorities to invest heavily in upgraded and new facilities elsewhere. The Minns Labor government, which would buy the site from the Australian Turf Club under the proposed deal, has staked huge political capital on fixing the housing crisis and is therefore heavily incentivised to make the new suburb materialise – and quickly. So how has a no-brainer idea become so contentious, let alone at risk of being knocked back today? Blame rests with all sides. For its part, the ATC's pro-sale leadership fumbled making their case from the outset by failing to provide basic information about how the sale would occur, how the money would be spent and what the replacement facilities would look like. They have allowed a debate over a piece of land to become a de facto referendum on the polarising figures running the industry in NSW, and have used dubious campaign tactics to rally support for a 'yes' vote. The incompetence has been staggering. The Minns government has also strangely done little to make the case for change. On the other side, an influential group of wealthy trainers and breeders have co-ordinated the 'no' case. While the Save Rosehill coalition have successfully poked many holes in the ATC's shambolic campaign, they have had little to say about what should happen to the racing industry should the status quo prevail, have been driven by longstanding animosity towards the state racing industry's polarising leadership and have shown scant regard for the plight of Sydneysiders who can't afford a home. Rosehill's transformation from an under-utilised site into a new suburb could signify a major shift in the corrosive contest between progress and self-interest. Sadly, it looks like the latter will win the day when the votes of Australian Turf Club members are tallied. Once again, Sydney's younger generations are being disadvantaged by the decisions of those who already have a nice home (or homes) and have no interest in compromise or sacrifice.
The Age
5 days ago
- Business
- The Age
Rosehill saga another depressing chapter in Sydney's sorry housing story
If today's vote on the proposal to sell Rosehill Racecourse and replace it with 25,000 new dwellings and a metro station goes down in flames, the whole saga will serve as a textbook case study in why Sydney has little hope of ever coming to grips with the housing affordability crisis. Because for all the egos, personalities and politics involved, the debate over Rosehill's future comes down to a dynamic playing out across Sydney: the battle between an obvious need to boost housing stock and the stubborn opposition to any form of urban development. The Herald has been a strong supporter of the proposal to use Rosehill for housing. It is, as we have said many times before, a no-brainer. NSW has a target of building 75,000 new homes a year for the next five years under the National Housing Accord but is so far nowhere close to meeting that goal. The total number of houses and units approved in NSW in the 12 months to November 2024 was 42,109. We need to pick up the pace, and business as usual clearly won't cut it. The 60-hectare Rosehill site won't solve this problem alone, but it could make a big dint. It is in the geographic heart of Sydney. It is criminally underutilised. The new Metro West rail line will run underneath it and an additional station would allow new residents to travel to the CBD in less than 20 minutes. The sale proceeds would also allow racing authorities to invest heavily in upgraded and new facilities elsewhere. The Minns Labor government, which would buy the site from the Australian Turf Club under the proposed deal, has staked huge political capital on fixing the housing crisis and is therefore heavily incentivised to make the new suburb materialise – and quickly. So how has a no-brainer idea become so contentious, let alone at risk of being knocked back today? Blame rests with all sides. For its part, the ATC's pro-sale leadership fumbled making their case from the outset by failing to provide basic information about how the sale would occur, how the money would be spent and what the replacement facilities would look like. They have allowed a debate over a piece of land to become a de facto referendum on the polarising figures running the industry in NSW, and have used dubious campaign tactics to rally support for a 'yes' vote. The incompetence has been staggering. The Minns government has also strangely done little to make the case for change. On the other side, an influential group of wealthy trainers and breeders have co-ordinated the 'no' case. While the Save Rosehill coalition have successfully poked many holes in the ATC's shambolic campaign, they have had little to say about what should happen to the racing industry should the status quo prevail, have been driven by longstanding animosity towards the state racing industry's polarising leadership and have shown scant regard for the plight of Sydneysiders who can't afford a home. Rosehill's transformation from an under-utilised site into a new suburb could signify a major shift in the corrosive contest between progress and self-interest. Sadly, it looks like the latter will win the day when the votes of Australian Turf Club members are tallied. Once again, Sydney's younger generations are being disadvantaged by the decisions of those who already have a nice home (or homes) and have no interest in compromise or sacrifice.
