This week, we received data on dwelling approvals from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), which showed that the Albanese government’s target of building 1.2 million homes over five years (i.e., 240,000 dwellings a year) is falling badly behind. In the first 14 months of the National Housing Accord, 218,306 dwellings were approved, 61,694 (22%)
Most of the media’s attention has been on Labor’s First Home Guarantee scheme, which came into effect on Wednesday. Under this scheme, almost all first home buyers can purchase a home with only a 5% deposit, without requiring lenders’ mortgage insurance, as taxpayers will guarantee 15% of the mortgage. Lateral Economics estimated that the 5%
Inside beach, Portsea Victoria AUD/USD EUR/USD USD/JPY GBP/USD Gold WTI Brent Australia 200 US S&P 500 UK 100 Japan 225 few problems getting charts again today, sorry. will keep trying
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Since the ABS started publicly releasing its monthly CPI in late October 2022, it has been a source of controversy and debate. It has been an indicator that has been paid significant heed one month and then absolutely ignored the next, as it no longer produced a result in the desired direction. It has been
The Albanese government’s fantastical target of building 1.2 million dwellings over five years is centred on delivering a boom in high-rise towers. I have repeatedly warned that state and federal government plans to blanket our cities with high-rise apartments are unrealistic, would not improve Australian housing affordability, and would degrade liveability. The August dwelling approvals
In this week’s podcast, we are unpacking today’s stretched market valuations—why they’re really concentrated in just a handful of the largest stocks, why small and mid-sized companies may actually be trading below average, and how investors should think about growth versus price. Can’t make it to the live series? Catch up on the content via
In the debate surrounding the viability of individual households servicing ever larger mortgages, the fact that Australia has yet to see large-scale defaults is often cited as evidence that the current level of debt is sustainable. Others use this as evidence to support the argument that we should allow households to incur even higher debt
During the pandemic, Victoria transformed into a police state. Residents were locked down for nine months, allowed to only exercise outside the home for one hour a day. Playgrounds were closed, play equipment was chained-up, and police patrolled the streets with vigour seeking to catch people not wearing their masks or following curfews. Police even
In October 2024, then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged to dramatically cut net migration into Canada. Looking at a chart of net overseas migration based on data from Statistics Canada, it appears that Trudeau’s promise has been entirely realised, with the rate of quarterly net migration into Canada in the first quarter of this
Strategic buffoon Anthony Albanese is discovering that kowtowing to Beijing only encourages it. “We have seen those issues in the past. I want to see Australian iron ore to be able to be exported to China without hindrance.” “If prolonged, the (pause) risks squeezing steel margins or forcing selective output cuts … but China cannot