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Caroline Zielinski

Caroline Zielinski

Caroline Zielinski is a property reporter at The Age.

Graham Palmer is a 79-year-old renter in Ringwood who has been trying to get solar panels installed in his four unit block to save on power, but has been blocked by investor owners.

‘We’ve been left out’: The home owners locked out of cheap energy

Some Victorians who are keen to electrify their homes are unable to do so as easily as their neighbours.

  • Caroline Zielinski

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Auctioneer Charles Atkins looks to the crowd, as bids inch up in increments of $1000.

How much it costs to live in the ‘best city in the world’

The cultural scene, liveliness and diversity are world-leading - and home buyers might even be able to afford to live there.

  • Caroline Zielinski
Ricky Banga, 33, a real estate photographer, came to Australia in 2011 as a student to join his older brother. They ended up buying a house together in Craigieburn in 2015 (with help from Ricky’s wife, Sherry) and plan to stay there for a while.

What the Great Australian Dream looks like today

As house prices rise, young people are rethinking home ownership, and some are finding creative new ways to live.

  • Caroline Zielinski and Alice Uribe
Neil Robertson purchased his first home in Fitzroy for $7500 in 1972.

What was the Great Australian Dream?

Work hard, buy a home, maybe an investment property down the track: the rational decisions of the past have given way to a different future.

  • Caroline Zielinski and Alice Uribe
Adrian Portelli (left) at The Block’s 2024 season finale auction.

The Block house that Adrian Portelli bought for $3.3m listed for $1.7m to $1.85m

The billionaire businessman bought all five houses that season and later gave them away. One owner has decided to sell up.

  • Caroline Zielinski
Entry-level prices for Melbourne units are some of the most affordable in the country.

The type of Melbourne property that’s cheaper than five years ago

Making a purchase a decade ago was a good way to get onto the property ladder, but the path is less straightforward today, experts say.

  • Caroline Zielinski
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Zeher Khalil, aka the TikTok Inspector, uses his social media platforms to highlight building and constructions defects to over a million followers.

Defect-busting or just in it for clicks? The rise of social media building inspectors

Several building investigators have taken to social media after a tumultuous few years in the industry, but not everyone agrees with the approach.

  • Caroline Zielinski
The upscale High Street shopping strip in Armadale is slated to become an activity centre.

Melbourne suburbs where units sell at a loss and more high-rises are coming

The Victorian government plans more homes in Melbourne’s inner south-east to improve affordability. But does this stack up financially?

  • Caroline Zielinski
Jellis Craig Port Phillip auctioneer Michael Hingston worked hard to get the bidding going in St Kilda’s Havelock Street.

Bayside art deco house passes in at $1,585,000

Two bidders fought for the keys to a fully renovated art deco home, taking the bidding to almost $1.6m, only to see the property passed in.

  • Caroline Zielinski
Leonie Bawden is selling her Dingley Village home.

The Melbourne suburbs with the best chance of auction success

In some Melbourne neighbourhoods, almost every home taken to auction is being sold under the hammer.

  • Caroline Zielinski and Elizabeth Redman