A few years ago we wrote about UK-based Omlet and its hen-and-coop kits for urban or suburban gardens. Recognizing that a chicken-keeping venture can be daunting for those who have never done it before, however, an Australian contender is now offering a short-term rental option that lets customers try before they buy.
CityTempo is a new style of compact modern living integrated into the sophisticated and diverse heart of 21st Century Melbourne – a launching pad for the excitement of city centred living.
To enhance the spirit of community & connectivity CityTempo mixes a suite of cleverly conceived shared spaces including concierge, streetside café, business centre, gymnasium, sauna, resident lounge and rooftop terrace with BBQ. View: www.citytempo.com.au
IN THE early 1990s the mining town of Newman in Western Australia was in a deep slump. Its population had dwindled to 3,000 from a peak of 15,000 in the 1970s.
Thanks to extraordinary demand (and prices) for commodities, primarily from China, migration has since been reversed.
The population is nearing 11,000 and no tour of the local streets is complete without pausing at a home that was recently sold for A$800,000 ($770,000), having fetched A$80,000 just a few years ago. Read more
A SLIDE in home sales is biting Townsville’s 300 real estate agents. According to Herron Todd White data, March quarter home sales are down 20 to 30 per cent compared with the same time last year and volumes have returned to pre-boom levels of 2002. Read more
AS families struggle paying peak prices for rents due to record low housing levels, the State Government’s grand plan for new cities containing 160,000 homes is gathering dust.
Not one sod of dirt has been turned on Sydney’s promised lands, despite the Government guaranteeing the first homes by 2007. read more
Former Adelaide property tycoon Cathy Jane Pearce failed to appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court yesterday in relation to two civil cases bought by an investment company of which she was formerly a director. read more
The Government has launched its National Rental Affordability Scheme, aiming to increase the supply of affordable rental houses.
Property developers will receive about $623 million over four years.
But struggling families suffering from rental stress are still concerned, because it could be a year before they see the benefits.
Meanwhile, CBA’s boss Ralph Norris has failed to promise interest rate relief.
He also says cash rates are unlikely to fall until late in the year ‘at the earliest’.
Higher interest rates are tipped to force more than a million Australian households into a state of mortgage stress by the end of the year, a new report says. read more
Here’s why: Only a year ago Australia’s inflation rate was 2 per cent - at the bottom of the Reserve Bank’s target band. The relentless march of petrol prices, food prices, mortgages and rents has now pushed it up to 4.5 per cent and may push it even higher. So should we be worried? Probably not, in the view of the Reserve Bank and its Governor Glenn Stevens. read more
It could be at least a year before struggling families benefit from a federal government scheme to ease soaring rental costs.
But welfare and housing groups say it is a much-needed step in the right direction to help low-income households which are being “hammered” by big rent increases. read more
