Data centres are driving their neighbours mad, planning applications are ending up in the land and environment court, and apartment blocks are springing up everywhere.

But the big property news of the week was about something that didn’t happen. Interest rates remained on hold although the governor of the RBA warned us to stop being such naughty, spendy people or they will go up.

The problem is, it seems, is that we don’t understand inflation. Okay, allow me to explain: if we don’t stop paying more for the things we have to pay more for, then we will end up paying more for them. Simple.

All those stories and more in our curated feed of apartment news from Leftfield Communications.

Free Reads

ABC Online

The Utopia-style regulations holding Australia back from building homes
The ABC’s take on the Productivity Commission’s interim housing report, finding that poorly designed regulation is the primary barrier to homes being built where people want to live.

Buyer struggles to get ‘DIY’ flat-pack home to meet Australian building standards
A Bunbury owner sold on a flat-pack home as a weekend build is facing costs that may double his original outlay as he battles council and building standards compliance.

Sydney’s data centre boom is turning suburbs into ‘wastelands’, councils warn
Sydney councils are warning that data centre proliferation is creating industrial wastelands in residential-adjacent suburbs, with residents describing a low constant hum and loss of neighbourhood character as a direct consequence of unchecked approvals.

Neighbours create 40-hectare wildlife corridor amid Sydney’s expanding urban fringe
Residents on Sydney’s north-west urban fringe have collectively created a 40-hectare wildlife corridor connecting their land to national parks, responding to the pressures of expanding development.

Realestate.com.au

Melbourne auction clearance rate shows sign of life as vendors lower expectations
Melbourne’s on-the-day clearance rate is showing early signs of improvement as vendors adjust reserves closer to market reality, rising from a low where barely 30 per cent of homes cleared at the auctioneer’s call.

Make or break data next week will lock in RBA’s next move as unemployment holds steady
Unemployment held at 4.4 per cent in June with 76,300 jobs created, five times market expectations, pushing the decision on the RBA’s next move to next week’s inflation data.

$2,170 missing from average Australian savings account
Finder research shows close to one in five Australian savers are missing out on bonus interest rates because they fail to meet monthly switching criteria, leaving an average of $2,170 in unclaimed returns per account.

RBA says its job is made harder by Australians’ ‘fundamental’ lack of understanding on inflation
The RBA has identified fundamental gaps in public understanding of how monetary policy works, including how interest rates affect inflation, complicating the central bank’s ability to manage expectations.

Victorian landlords face $62,000 fines for illegal renter questions
Victorian rental reforms from March 31 restrict landlords and property managers to a standardised application form, with fines of up to $62,000 for asking prohibited questions about pets, cars or other personal details.

Urban Developer – Partly Free

Apartment plan for Sydney’s Paddington cinema site greenlit
WT Malouf has received approval for a seven-storey, 64-apartment mixed-use development at the former Verona cinema site on Oxford Street in Paddington, including 14 affordable homes, after an earlier office proposal was recut to respond to changed planning settings.

Frank Developments joins Gold Coast surf park megaproject
Brisbane-based Frank Developments has been appointed to deliver the residential towers for the Palm Valley surf park project on the Gold Coast, a $500 million-plus development with three-time world surfing champion Mick Fanning as ambassador.

From councils to court: Inside NSW’s new planning battleground
NSW’s planning reforms including Low and Mid Rise and the Housing Delivery Authority have introduced new certainty for developers while driving disputes from council chambers into the Land and Environment Court.

Flurry of amendments filed for towers in Canberra’s inner north
Three multi-storey Canberra projects comprising 271 apartments across the inner north have filed amended plans, reflecting the ongoing adjustments developers are making to get projects to viability in the current cost environment.

Mona Vale strata deal clears path for Inca’s $78m housing project
Inca Property Group’s $78 million, 53-apartment Dawn project at Mona Vale Beach is on exhibition after a strata consolidation cleared the last planning hurdle, with nine affordable rental units providing the community benefit that unlocked the SSD pathway.

‘Affordable’ tower with rooftop pool greenlit for Adelaide CBD
A 59-apartment tower approved for Adelaide’s CBD has a third of its units in an affordable price range, topped by a see-through rooftop pool on the 17th floor.

Bottega House greenlit for $270m highrise in Brisbane’s St Lucia
Brisbane City Council has approved Bottega House’s $270 million luxury apartment tower on the Brisbane River at St Lucia, the boutique developer’s first Queensland project.

State Clears Way for Double Tower Project at Melbourne’s Arden
The Victorian government has approved two towers of 24 and 37 storeys at 189-203 Arden Street in North Melbourne despite council opposition, adding 540 homes near Arden Station.

Apartments.com.au

736-home Eastlakes redevelopment lodged for public exhibition
Conquest’s State Significant Development Application for the former Eastlakes Shopping Centre site proposes 736 apartments above a new Woolworths-anchored retail centre and public open space on a 1.7-hectare site.

Abadeen plans 100 apartments on former Honeysuckle Garden site in Mosman
Abadeen and Phoenix Property Investors have lodged a $230 million SSD application for 100 apartments at 494-516 Military Road, Mosman, transforming a former garden centre site into one of the suburb’s largest residential developments in years.

63-apartment Mosman development adds to growing north shore pipeline
First Quadrant Properties has lodged plans for Cove on Ourimbah, a 63-apartment development on Ourimbah Road in Mosman, adding to a growing pipeline of SSD projects reshaping one of Sydney’s most tightly held harbour suburbs.

Rainbow Serpent inspires bold new Gosford apartment tower
Ming Tian Real Property has proposed a 26-storey residential tower and a five-storey affordable housing building at Gosford’s CBD fringe, with the Rainbow Serpent as the design inspiration and a new public plaza activating Keevers Lane.

Sherpa acquires new site for second Brisbane apartment tower
Sherpa Property Group has paid $27 million for a South Brisbane site at 2 Cordelia Street for a 186-apartment project that will include a cohort of apartments exclusively for first-home buyers.

Pay-walled

The Australian Financial Review

Labor’s IR laws making housing crisis harder to solve
Independent Member for Wentworth Allegra Spender argues that the Electrical Trades Union’s Fair Work Commission application for a multi-employer agreement covering NSW and ACT electricians represents a form of pattern bargaining that could further constrain construction labour supply at the moment housing delivery needs it most.

Bullock sounds alarm on slump in Australia’s living standards
RBA governor Michele Bullock has warned that Australian living standards will continue to stagnate until weak productivity growth is addressed, confirming the central bank is prepared to raise interest rates again if inflation remains above target.

Housing supply fix is about power, not property
The AFR’s Chanticleer column argues the Productivity Commission’s housing blueprint is simple and effective but will face a massive political roadblock, as the reforms require state and local governments to relinquish planning powers they have spent decades accumulating.

Five deposit workarounds for cash-strapped first home buyers
With the average family now taking 11 years to save a 20 per cent deposit, neobanks, second mortgages and government schemes are being used to bridge the gap.

Labor’s SMSF home borrowing ban ‘vastly underestimated’ non-bank loans
Non-bank lenders wrote more than 16,000 residential SMSF loans last year, more than four times the 4,000 figure the government cited when legislating the ban, according to Australian Finance Industry Association data from 150 member lenders.

The Australian

RBA governor Michele Bullock warns of additional rate hikes to tame inflation
Michele Bullock has confirmed the RBA will raise rates again if inflation does not return to the 2 to 3 per cent target band, warning that further softening in the jobs market and easing of demand are still required.

How new tax rules made property investment a game for the rich
The budget’s negative gearing ban on established properties has made residential investment more accessible to high-net-worth buyers with the financial reserves to sustain the upfront years, while shutting out younger investors who lack the same buffer.

The Sydney Morning Herald

‘Price reduced’: The polarising strategy some vendors use in a downturn
As the property market weakens, some vendors are explicitly flagging price reductions in their online listings, a strategy agents describe as either a legitimate buyer engagement tool or a signal that raises questions about the property.

Banks warned over $55 million mortgage offset account overcharging
ASIC has revealed Australian banks have paid more than $55 million in compensation to borrowers overcharged due to offset account errors, with the regulator issuing a formal warning to the industry about weaknesses in how it manages a product used by millions of mortgage holders.

What the median house price buys around Australia now
Australia’s capital city median house price now sits at $1,276,413, a figure that buys a family home in Melbourne’s north-east or a one-bedroom apartment in Sydney’s Woolloomooloo.

The RBA faces a dilemma, but more rate hikes aren’t the solution
Markets are pricing a rate rise by December as near-certain and a move in August as a one-in-three chance, even as the argument that further hikes would worsen rather than resolve the current inflationary pressures gains ground.

‘The worst I have seen it’: Mid-century apartment sells for $785,000 as buyers evaporate
A Lane Cove two-bedroom apartment sold for $785,000 after a single bidder appeared on the day despite earlier indications of two or three registrations, in a result that prompted the agent to describe conditions as the worst he had seen.

The Age

First home buyer gets discount on $722,500 North Melbourne three-bedder
A first-home buyer using the federal government’s 5 per cent deposit scheme secured a North Melbourne three-bedroom apartment for $722,500 after the vendor cut their reserve to close the deal, with only two of the three registered bidders actually showing up.

The inner Melbourne suburbs set for high-density housing revealed
New state government planning controls will allow 12 to 15-storey towers in North Melbourne and mid-rise buildings of 6 to 12 storeys along the high streets of Fitzroy, Collingwood and Richmond.

Rogue real estate agents accused of deceiving landowners in scheme to sell to mates
A small group of Raine and Horne agents in Melbourne’s outer suburbs are accused of systematically undervaluing properties and directing sales to associates without disclosing conflicts of interest, then relisting at inflated prices before settlement.

The Brisbane Times

Three-tower hub planned in suburb earmarked for increased density
Plans for three large apartment towers on five adjoining residential blocks in Upper Mount Gravatt, about 13 kilometres from Brisbane’s CBD, have emerged as council pushes higher-density living across the city’s middle ring.

WA Today

‘Like a fishbowl’: Perth heritage precinct and mosque unite against eight-storey tower
An eight-storey mixed-use proposal on William Street in Perth’s inner north is set to be heard by state planning officials, with heritage homeowners and a neighbouring mosque joining forces against the first development application under the City of Vincent’s new planning framework.

The Daily Telegraph

Sydney clubs could unlock thousands of new homes on surplus land to fix housing crisis
McKell Institute research shows surplus land owned by NSW’s 1,070 registered clubs could deliver up to 38,000 new homes if planning rules are relaxed and approvals fast-tracked.

Plans for 145 new homes lodged for major development near Leppington Town Centre
Xsite Group has lodged plans for 145 apartments and townhouses at Leppington in Sydney’s south-west, adding density to a growth corridor that is absorbing significant new residential supply ahead of the Western Sydney Airport opening.

The Gold Coast Bulletin

High-density affordable housing needed near Gold Coast transport hubs
Property experts are calling for more high-density affordable housing near Gold Coast transport and employment hubs as the city approaches one million residents.

The Adelaide Advertiser

Four-storey Paradise apartment block approved despite height and parking breaches
A planning panel has approved a four-storey Paradise apartment building that breaches both height limits and parking requirements, citing the proximity of a bus station as the basis for the parking exemption.

The West Australian

Plan to rent out your home when you buy a new place? Here’s one CGT problem to consider
A financial adviser explains the capital gains tax exposure that can arise when an owner converts a primary residence to an investment property under the budget’s grandfathering rules, with the answer more nuanced than most investors appreciate.

The St George & Sutherland Shire Leader

800 homes, 22 storeys: State unveils huge rezoning plan for Beverly Hills west town centre
The NSW government has released a rezoning plan for Beverly Hills Town Centre West, proposing 800 apartments across buildings of 15 to 22 storeys along King Georges Road with a minimum 2 per cent affordable housing component.

Miranda Salvos site to grow by two storeys for seniors housing
The developer of the former Salvation Army site at Miranda is seeking to increase height by two storeys to 19 levels and convert the product from build-to-sell apartments to 108 independent living units for seniors, citing strong demand for accessible senior housing.

The Illawarra Mercury

Single bidder secures luxury Wollongong apartment for $2.81 million
A Wollongong apartment described as immaculately presented in one of the city’s best locations sold for more than $2.8 million from a single registered bidder.

Revised Dapto tower plan: fewer units but will it create more traffic?
Developers have abandoned the high-rise component of a $25 million Dapto project, scaling back from two nine-storey towers to a reduced scheme after finding the original plans economically unworkable at current costs and market conditions.