Housing Crisis

Georgina's circumstances are far from unique. Average rent in Lisbon is now just over €2,000, while the minimum wage is about €760.

Portugal is currently grappling with a severe housing crisis, triggered by an increase in foreign investment in property and a lack of affordable new homes.

But it's not simply an issue of supply. Researcher and activist Rita Silva, who helped set up the housing movement Habita, says there are "more houses than people, but prices don't go down".

Portugal is currently grappling with a severe housing crisis, triggered by an increase in foreign investment in property and a lack of affordable new homes.

But it's not simply an issue of supply. Researcher and activist Rita Silva, who helped set up the housing movement Habita, says there are "more houses than people, but prices don't go down".

Years of government policy have stimulated home ownership and left building to the market, creating a situation where many are priced out and cannot find an affordable house to buy, or to rent. Dozens of people demonstrated last week in The Hague and presented a petition with 102,621 signatures calling for affordable housing to Hugo de Jonge, the housing minister.

The average home costs €424,681, more than 10 times the modal income. From 2015 to 2021, average household disposable income increased by 25%, but house prices rocketed by 63%, fuelled by low interest and a national shortage of 390,000 homes. By the peak of its housing boom last year, houses in hotspots had increased by more than 130% since the end of 2013.

A week before they were shot dead, an east Hamilton, Ont. couple were in a dispute with their landlord over mould in their basement apartment, according to police.

Homicide detectives say Carissa MacDonald and Aaron Stone were also just “days away” from moving into a new home before killed at a Jones Road home north of Barton Street East in Stoney Creek.

Some $1.5 trillion in real-estate mortgages will come due in the next two years - paving the way for a potential financial crisis as higher interest rates push down property values....

... In comments to The Financial Times, Chad Littell, an analyst at a major research firm that tracks commercial real estate, added that prominent players such as HSBC's recent decisions to unload outstanding debts at a loss come as a red flag.

'The fact that banks want to sell loans is coming up in a lot of conversations,' Littell, who works for New York-based CoStar, said Monday in a similar interview.

The finance expert further remarked of what he said is a clear sign of the bank's determination to reduce their exposure to an increasingly unstable market: 'I am hearing more about it than any time in the past decade.'

At the time of writing, HSBC is in the process of pawning off hundreds of millions of dollars worth of held-up commercial real estate loans potentially as a discount, as part of a burgeoning effort to wind down direct lending to property developers - who many say are poised to default come 2025.

This one is a long one, but a high quality video that explains a lot. Definitely worth listening to in the background if you have the chance to add to your watch later playlist.

A survey of over 3700 property investors by the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) recently revealed that more than 80 per cent were considering bailing on the Sunshine State due to recent and proposed tenancy law changes.

When asked for their primary reason for considering selling, many pointed to ongoing rental reforms, bad tenants, increasing holding costs and the stigma that all landlords were “greedy, wealthy people” as among some of their key gripes.

OPs note: Did QLD really just figure out the solution to the housing crisis? lol

Fewer builders are starting new homes amid high prices for materials and loans, threatening housing shortages

The rate of house price growth is continuously exceeding record highs, according to data compiled by the Bank of Greece for the first quarter of this year. Indicatively, prices rose 14.5% year-on-year in Greece as a whole, with even higher increases in the two biggest urban centers, reaching 16.5% in Attica and 16.1% in Thessaloniki...

... In addition to domestic demand, Attica’s sharp price increase during the first quarter of this year is undoubtedly attributable to the fact that it is a major target for foreign investors.

This year there has been an especially abnormal increase in foreign investment through the Golden Visa program, due to the upcoming changes, which will make it more difficult to obtain a residence permit.