Obviously the big news in property this week is the rise in interest rates … but there’s more.

Apparently interest is going down, at least in terms of young people thinking of buying homes.

And house prices are also falling, but not enough to wipe out the rises of the past few years.

Meanwhile tax rules are deterring home owners from taking in lodgers, apparently. I thought Airbnb had pretty much wiped out the whole lodger culture, but there you go.

All that and more in this week’s feed from Leftfield.

Free Reads

Domain

The six remaining Sydney suburbs where you can still buy under $500k
Just six Sydney suburbs still have a median price under $500,000, most of them concentrated in the growing western region.

Borrowers face $47,000 hit to buying power as RBA rate hike lands
This week’s rate rise will trim borrowing capacity for millions of Australians, though it may prove the last of the year.

Banks act quickly after interest rate rises to highest level in 15 years
Australia’s major banks are expected to waste no time passing on Tuesday’s rate rise.

Melbourne’s worst-performing suburb becomes its best for unit price growth after dramatic turnaround
Last year Melbourne’s worst-performing suburb, Chadstone is now among its best for unit price growth after an urban makeover lifted values by almost $150,000 in 12 months.

Time runs out for Bathla Group as staff and projects are left in limbo
The plan to save embattled Bathla Group has fallen short, with administrators confirming rescue funds have run dry and the company can no longer operate.

In one move, another 30,000 are locked out of the great Australian dream
Nearly 30,000 Australian households are effectively locked out of home ownership every time interest rates rise, citing University of Sydney modelling on the impact of rate hikes.

ABC Online

Gold Coast developer jailed for misusing $2.3m in investor funds
Gold Coast developer Ian Omar Chester, 44, has been jailed after pleading guilty to fraud for misusing almost $2.3 million in investor funds over about four years.

What an interest rate hike means for your mortgage, savings account and the Australian dollar
The Reserve Bank has lifted the cash rate 0.25 points for the fourth time this year to bring inflation under control, and the effects reach well beyond mortgages.

Tax rules deter home owners from letting spare rooms as affordable rentals
Complicated tax rules are discouraging homeowners from renting out spare rooms as affordable accommodation.

Realestate.com.au

Growing share of Gen Z and young Millennials are losing interest in owning home
A growing share of Gen Z and young Millennials are losing interest in owning a home, even as prices fall and the government pours billions into buyer support.

‘We need volume’: Developer urges radical density shift to meet housing targets
Queenslanders will have to give up the dream of a big block near the city and embrace much higher density for the state to build enough homes by 2032, a leading developer warns.

Looming RBA rate rise could start secret mortgage discount war
A secret credit war among banks could be a surprise result of the Reserve Bank’s rate rise.

‘Thumb on the scale’: Ex-RBA insider exposes rate hike flaw
A former Reserve Bank insider has flagged a flaw in the bank’s one-sided internal models that may be pushing mortgage rates artificially higher.

Property investor Sam Gordon reveals five Australian markets tipped to boom amid downturn
An investor with more than 150 properties has named five markets he believes will keep growing through the downturn.

One in four Australian mortgage holders expect to be debt-free within five years
One in four Australian mortgage holders, about 825,000 people, expect to be debt-free within five years

‘Not a rounding error’: RBA move to wipe $58k off loans
A fourth rate rise would deal another blow to home buyers, and South Australians may be among the hardest hit on the mainland after stretching further and faster than most.

New Vic auction laws numbers see state trail behind NSW
Victoria’s market is set for a quieter first full week under the state’s new auction laws with 707 auctions scheduled from October 5 to 11 compared with 841 in NSW.

Australia needs 510,000 social homes by 2050 as waitlists surge to 190,000, report reveals
Australia needs 510,000 social homes by 2050 as waitlists surge to 190,000 households.

One RBA decision can affect home ownership for more than a decade, research finds
A single Reserve Bank rate rise can suppress home ownership for more than a decade, with young Australians bearing the brunt.

Shock as big four bank doubles housing crash forecast
Westpac has doubled its national housing downturn forecast in just three months, with its latest Housing Pulse tipping home values to fall 6 per cent this year, up from a 3 per cent drop predicted in June.

Why Melbourne buyers are turning back to one-bedroom apartments
Older one-bedroom apartments priced around $400,000 are drawing Melbourne buyers back in some of the city’s most expensive suburbs.

Why Victoria refuses to make auction bidders register like NSW and QLD
Victoria faces renewed pressure to introduce mandatory bidder registration after auctioneers and buyer advocates reported apparent winners walking away once the hammer falls.

First-home buyers have lost up to $225,000 in equity in less than a year
Brisbane first-home buyers are losing up to $225,000, wiping out their deposits as the market stalls.

Urban Developer – Partly Free
‘This is How Cities Implode’: Qld’s Affordability Time Bomb
Queensland’s affordability crisis is producing a growing class of working homeless, among them nurses, paramedics, teachers and hospitality staff who are employed but priced out, with some sleeping in cars and showering at 24-hour gyms.

The $210,000-a-Box Answer to Sydney’s Missing Middle
Sydney’s missing middle of smaller apartment projects has been hit hardest by the downturn, and one developer is using prefabrication to fight back.

Heritage Melbourne Orphanage Adaptive Reuse Plans Approved
Developer Antipodean Land Developments has won approval to redevelop a colonial-era children’s home in Melbourne’s inner east.

Woolworths Gets its Gladesville Shoptop, With a Haircut
Fabcot’s $175 million Lower North Shore shoptop project has been approved with amendments.

Approved BtR Tower Will Overshadow Alan Bond’s Observation City in Perth
A $130 million build-to-rent tower that will overshadow the landmark Observation City hotel Alan Bond built in the 1980s has been unanimously approved for Perth’s Scarborough Beach.

Non-Bank ‘Stress Fractures’ as PAG Takes On Bathla Projects
As Bathla Group’s empire keeps crumbling, Asian investment group PAG has reportedly taken control of several developments.

Griffith Group Plots ‘City-Shaping’ New Farm Park Apartment Block
Griffith Group plans to relocate a historic building 11 kilometres away to make room for a city-shaping New Farm project.

‘Little Greece’ 122-Apartment Tower in Melbourne Greenlit
A 122-apartment tower has been approved in the south-east Melbourne suburb of Oakleigh, known as Little Greece for its Greek diaspora, food and culture.

Swiss Pension Fund Pitches $333m Pyrmont Office-Top Tower
Swiss pension fund vehicle AFIAA has lodged a $333 million plan for a 34-storey residential tower at Pyrmont that would require demolishing the west wing of its fully occupied A-grade office block.

JD Property Unveils 160-Home Village for ‘Locals’ End’ of Byron Bay
The laid-back locals’ end of Byron Bay is set for a 160-home village from JD Property, designed by the team behind the Mondrian.

Bathla’s $3.4b Collapse Enters New Phase as Construction Shuts Down
Bathla Group’s collapse took a decisive turn this week as administrators shut down its remaining construction after efforts to secure longer-term funding failed.

Shovels Hit Dirt on 5Point’s $100m Rainbow Bay Apartment Tower
South-East Queensland developer-builder 5Point has broken ground on a $100 million, 17-storey residential tower at Rainbow Bay.

Apartments.com.au

Sunland approved for 101 OBR apartments in Broadbeach
Sunland will launch its $390 million 101 OBR Residences in Broadbeach in coming months after securing City of Gold Coast approval.

Pay-walled

The Australian Financial Review

Plenty of blame to go around for RBA rates hitting 15-year high
Everyone is hunting for someone to blame after the Reserve Bank lifted the cash rate to a 15-year high of 4.6 per cent.

Interest rate fears hold first home buyers back despite tax changes
The budget’s property tax changes were meant to make life easier for first-home buyers, but economic uncertainty and interest rate fears are keeping many on the sidelines, with buyers sitting on their wallets despite the incentives.

Bathla collapse opens the door for Alceon’s return after timely exit
Alceon, the private credit heavyweight that was once Bathla’s biggest backer, is assessing the ruins of the collapsed developer’s empire in the hope of finding value.

Asian investment giant PAG takes control of Bathla developments
Asian asset management giant PAG, the largest lender to stricken Sydney developer Bathla, has taken control of several sites as it tries to recoup more than $300 million in debts.

Investors are still buying, as this $950,000 inner-Sydney sale shows
Investors are still active despite the downturn, pointing to a two-bedroom apartment with parking at 91/49 Henderson Road, Eveleigh, which sold by private treaty for $950,000.

RBA faces rate squeeze as 60-year building surge fires up inflation
Construction is growing at its fastest pace in more than six decades, driven by data centre and housing building, and that surge is complicating the Reserve Bank’s task as it is widely tipped to lift rates to a 15-year high this week.

Auctions slump to 10-week low as Tamarama units take $9m haircut
The national auction clearance rate has slumped to a 10-week low, as the AFL grand final, expectations of a fourth rate rise and further price falls kept buyers on the sidelines

Offsets. Budgeting. Refinancing. This couple followed all the rules – and they’re still battling
For Elliott and Lauren Busch, the Reserve Bank’s fourth rate rise this year means another round of belt-tightening just to tread water on their mortgage.

RBA lifts rates to 15-year high, warns it may raise again
The Reserve Bank has lifted the cash rate to a 15-year high of 4.6 per cent and flagged it may need to raise again this year to tame inflation.

The Australian

Why housing market keeps the Reserve Bank up at night amid interest rate hike drama
House prices are what keep the Reserve Bank up at night, with governor Michele Bullock revealing the board considered holding at 4.35 per cent partly over what a further rise might do to property.

Melbourne family of seven slashes renovation budget as RBA lifts interest rates again
When Jaimee and Cam Fraser bought a home last year with grand renovation plans, they did not expect rates to climb to a 15-year high.

‘Can’t take promises to auction’: Rate hikes wipe out housing affordability gains
Rising interest rates have erased the affordability gains from falling prices, with first-home buyers’ access to credit cut sharply.

Thousands of Sydney home buyers in limbo as collapsed builder Bathla halts work
Small lenders to the failed Bathla development empire face a drawn-out process to recover capital and restart job sites after a funding lifeline dried up.

The Sydney Morning Herald

How far house prices have risen since the last time rates were this high
The last time the cash rate was this high, it cost about half as much to buy a house.

Rich Lister sells Sydney home for about $75m as Reserve Bank hikes rates
Property tycoon and Rich Lister Robert Magid and his wife Ruth have sold their Point Piper mansion for a figure believed to be around $75 million on the very day the Reserve Bank lifted the cash rate to a 15-year high.

A pharmaceutical factory, a neighbouring cathedral, and a $156 million plan
Owners have scaled back a contentious $156 million build-to-rent project near the Parramatta CBD more than four years after neighbours objected to its scale and proximity to a cathedral and heritage sites.

The 23-metre walk that cost a developer a $44m Mosman housing tower
A $44 million plan to replace five Mosman homes with a six-storey apartment block has been rejected after a 15-month battle that turned on a deceptively simple question: how far a pedestrian must safely walk to reach the local shops.

Neighbour pays $1.68m for unit with garage, beating five first home buyers
A three-bedroom art deco apartment in Waverley sold for $1.68 million at auction to an upstairs neighbour, beating five first-home buyers and handing the buyer ownership of half the building plus garage access.

The Age

No bids for stylish $1.22m Collingwood warehouse conversion
A stylish converted warehouse apartment in Collingwood remains available after passing in at auction with no bids.

‘Not a single prosecution’: Watchdog ignored thousands of strata complaints over 10 years
Victoria’s strata watchdog did not launch a single prosecution over 10 years despite thousands of complaints.

‘Challenging’: Inner-east unit passes in at vendor bid of $650,000
A two-bedroom investment unit in Caulfield North passed in at auction, drawing only a single take-it-or-leave-it offer from a couple who had come from a grand final breakfast.

The Daily Telegraph

Key industries risk losing essential talent as housing crisis reshapes where Aussies can afford to live
Priced out of Sydney, Ryan and Lanii Boyle moved 260 kilometres west to a town of just 1,200 people, and new data shows they are far from alone.

Former NSW Premier Bob Carr calls for lengthy heritage study before any Vic Barracks decision
Former NSW premier Bob Carr says any resolution on the proposed sale of Sydney’s Victoria Barracks has a long way to run and has called for a lengthy heritage study before any decision.

Developer reveals $366m plan for 34-storey tower and 219 apartments in Pyrmont
A Pyrmont commercial site metres from a future Metro station could soon be topped by a 34-storey residential tower of 219 apartments under a $366 million plan.

Millions of Australians resigned to renting forever amid growing property wealth divide
Exclusive research shows why many Australians have given up on ever owning a home, with a large share now resigned to renting for life amid a widening property wealth divide.

Richard Marles dismisses Victoria Barracks sale criticism despite backing from Chris Minns
Two Labor leaders are publicly at odds over the future of Sydney’s Victoria Barracks, described as the spiritual home of the Army.

The Herald Sun

Special cadet investigation exposes reality for young Australians battling to buy homes
A team of 27 cadet reporters spent five months documenting how the housing crisis is crushing young Australians.

Herald Sun editor Sam Weir on Victoria’s worst-in-nation property tax burden and a target missed by tens of thousands of homes
Victoria now carries the nation’s heaviest property tax load while falling more than 23,000 homes short of its build target.

The Gold Coast Bulletin

Property managers accused of escalating rental disputes as landlords and tenants reveal failures
Landlords and tenants have long blamed each other for the rental crisis, but the real culprit may be the property managers standing between them, accused of escalating disputes as both sides reveal failures.

Sunland Group wins approval for $390m Broadbeach tower in major comeback
Sunland Group has won council approval for a $390 million Broadbeach skyscraper in a major comeback, with the revived developer targeting what it sees as significant pent-up demand.

Squeezed in: Developer’s bold plan for ultra-skinny skyscraper
A Sydney developer has lodged plans for an ultra-skinny, ultra-luxe 20-storey tower on a 15-metre-wide block on the Gold Coast.

The West Australian

Falling house prices could spare mortgage holders from aggressive RBA rate hikes
Falling house prices may spare mortgage holders from more aggressive rate rises.

The St George & Sutherland Shire Leader

Bid to replace medical space with more apartments rejected
A developer’s bid to swap three medical-service spaces for extra apartments in a near-complete Caringbah project has been refused.

The Illawarra Mercury

Rejected: The Illawarra’s mega apartment blocks that were knocked back
The many cranes over Wollongong can suggest developers always get their way, but the Housing Delivery Authority has knocked back several mega-projects for State Significant Development status,.

Real Commercial

Why unit blocks are becoming investors’ new favourite asset
Deterred from houses and apartments by capital gains, negative gearing and SMSF changes, and wary of commercial’s barriers, some investors are turning to whole unit blocks as a hybrid asset.