YIMBYs, politicians, think tanks, the media, and developers are urging Australia to relax planning restrictions so that hundreds of thousands of apartments can be erected in the ”missing middle’ of our cities. Their arguments ignore overwhelming empirical evidence that the last decade’s high-rise apartment boom was a disaster. This surge in high-rise apartment construction coincided
More evidence of the end of the labour boom today from SEEK as wage growth dies with three straight months of 0.2%: Year on year has to chew through the Fair Work boost of mid-last year but it is trading on borrowed time before collapsing below 3%: Immigration maniac Matt Cowgill is now spinning fairy
Another economist thinking in a shoebox today at Nine’s AFR: Workers may need to get used to their pay packets increasing by no more than 3 per cent annually, with new research from NAB finding productivity growth is likely to stagnate at its lowest level in more than 70 years. The Reserve Bank of Australia
Judo Bank flash PMI remains firm. Australia’s private sector activity expansion accelerated at the start of the second quarter, supported primarily by service sector growth. Higher new business inflows underpinned rises in business activity and employment, while firms remained optimistic regarding future output. On prices, the rate at which output prices rose eased in April
Stocks continued their rebound overnight although this correction maybe far from over as earnings season and downgrades get underway on Wall Street. The USD at first lost ground but it too rebounded on more interest rate cut speculation as inflation concerns linger. European stocks moved higher on more dovish speak from the ECB. The Australian
Price action is tiring in Shanghai and Singapore: Maybe Dalian for iron ore and coking coal: Scuttlebutt is meh: Iron ore prices will likely consolidate in the near term as uncertainty lingers on how much hot metal output can rise further, analysts at Everbright Futures said in a note. “The main driving force behind a
Late last year, BetaShares’ chief economist, David Bassanese, questioned why Australia does not impose stricter limits on foreigners buying local homes: Bassanese alluded to an article that stated: Wealthy Chinese buyers are taking private jets to Melbourne to purchase mansions in Toorak – the city’s most expensive suburb – on the spot, says Toorak buyer’s
More optimism across Asian stock markets after a very poor trading week due to the Israeli/Iranian conflict across the Middle East, with a weekend bid in risk that is seeing USD retreat slightly while most stocks are rising despite the tech correction on Wall Street. Earnings season may stall any recovery if the inflationary mood
The latest ANZ CoreLogic Housing Affordability report notes the vast deterioration in the rental market. Rapid rental cost inflation means that the portion of income required to service rents has shifted to the 30% range from the mid-20% range for median income earners in most parts of the country. “The portion of median income required
On Saturday, I was interviewed by Radio 2GB’s Luke Grant, where I dissected the Albanese government’s “Future Made” subsidies for low-emission manufacturing. This policy was announced shortly before the collapse of Australia’s last plastics and chemical manufacturer, Qenos, which blamed high gas costs for its demise. In the interview, I explain why the Albanese government’s