City Futures Blog

News and research in housing and urban policy, from Australia’s leading urban policy research centre.

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Housing affordability takes a global hit from COVID-19

March 25th, 2022 · No Comments · Uncategorized

By Hal Pawson; CFRC With newly released evidence of slowing house price inflation in early 2022, it may be that Australia’s latest property boom is subsiding. Especially with higher interest rates expected within months that seems highly likely. But any plateau or even gentle decline will be starting from property values dramatically higher than before […]

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Housing in the coming federal election

March 10th, 2022 · No Comments · Government, Housing

By Prof Hal Pawson, City Futures Research Centre. Originally published at John Menadue’s Pearls and Irritations. Very largely thanks to economic stimulus pumped into the economy to ward off COVID recession, Australia’s housing is now 30% more expensive than in 2019. Add to that, the recent spike in rent inflation greater than at any time since 2008, and […]

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States’ social housing boom no substitute for Federal funding commitment

December 6th, 2021 · No Comments · Uncategorized

By Hal Pawson. This story first appeared in the Fifth Estate – read the original story here. As tens of thousands prepare to take a financial hit with the end of COVID-related disaster payments, our new research shows that renters on low and modest incomes are already in the grip of a housing pincer, especially […]

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Why Housing Emergency Must Shift Australian Politics

November 24th, 2021 · No Comments · Uncategorized

By Professor Duncan Maclennan, Honorary Professor, City Futures Research Centre. First published on Pearls and Irritations. Read the original article here In June 2021 OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann, former Australian Finance Minister, launched a landmark report outlining how unbalanced housing markets now impede inclusive growth. As our own research reveals, Australia is emerging as […]

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Introductory Remarks to Parliamentary Inquiry hearing: Housing affordability and Supply in Australia, 17 November 2021

November 17th, 2021 · No Comments · Affordability, Government, Housing, Housing supply

By Prof Bill Randolph and Prof Hal Pawson. We’d like to thank the Committee for inviting us to address you this morning. The issue of housing supply and its relationship to housing affordability is central to the pursuit of essential reforms to national housing policy. The City Futures Research Centre is one of the leading […]

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Australia’s high house prices damage economic productivity, financial stability and equity

June 25th, 2021 · No Comments · Economy, Housing

By Duncan Maclennan, Hal Pawson and Bill Randolph. Originally published at Pearls and Irritations – John Menadue’s Public Policy Journal. Recent discussion has highlighted how rising house prices are rationing growing numbers of younger Australians into rental housing and lifestyle choices falling short of aspirations. Now there are warnings that future falling homeownership rates across most age cohorts could […]

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The Australian public purse is already pumping big money into housing – just not where it’s needed

May 24th, 2021 · No Comments · Housing

By Hal Pawson, City Futures Research Centre. Originally published in The Guardian. Housing once again looks set to form a major bone of contention in the coming general election. That much was clear from the ALP’s recent budget response. Labor had already backed the Coalition’s first homeowner initiatives. But opposition leader Anthony Albanese’s budget reply pledge […]

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Albanese’s $10bn pledge pushes housing needs back into the limelight

May 14th, 2021 · No Comments · Housing

Hal Pawson, Professor of Housing Research and Policy, and Associate Director, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese’s budget reply speech last night highlighted Australia’s huge unnmet need for social and affordable housing. It’s once again shaping […]

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A Housing Strategy for NSW: a good idea, but Housing 2041 falls short

May 10th, 2021 · No Comments · Housing

By Hal Pawson and Vivienne Milligan. First published by The Fifth Estate. The NSW government’s new 20-year housing strategy gives a broad nod to issues at play while offering few actionable solutions. With a transition from stamp duty to land tax flagged in Treasurer Dominic Perrottet’s 2020 NSW budget it appeared that the state could be on […]

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Rising house prices putting at risk the economic stability of the nation

March 11th, 2021 · No Comments · Affordability, Economy, Guest appearance

By Duncan Maclennan, Jinqiao Long, Hal Pawson, Bill Randolph, Fatemeh Aminpour and Chris Leishman. Originally published (and headlined) by John Menadue’s Pearls and Irritations. Image credit – Unsplash. Housing unaffordability is causing real economic damage that governments must treat more seriously. Put simply, rising mortgage debt poses risks for national economic stability, while current housing policies […]

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