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Housing affordability

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with Housing Minister Clare O’Neil and SA Premier Peter Malinauskas during the 2025 federal election spruiking his plan to build 1.2 million homes by mid-2029.

The big slow build: Labor’s 1.2 million-home plan already a year behind schedule

The Albanese government wanted 1.2 million new homes built by mid-2029. All states and territories are behind schedule, with NSW especially dragging the chain.

  • Shane Wright

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Homes are more likely to sell for a gain than at any time in the past two decades, but some neighbourhoods lost out.

Suburbs where property owners are selling at a loss

Home sellers have a high chance of making a profit, but in some neighbourhoods profitability is far from guaranteed.

  • Wes Mountain
The bank of mum and dad has been estimated to be between the fifth and the ninth-largest lender in the country.

WA first-home buyers are relying on the bank of mum and dad. Are there expectations in return?

A new study found the challenging economic environment for gaining access to first homes was “weighing heavily upon parents who find themselves playing an indispensable role in their children’s home-buying journey”.

  • Holly Thompson
Thomas Pozzer has been anticipating a rate rise and planning on how to make sure it has the least impact on his finances.

The smart way home borrowers are dealing with higher interest rates

The rate rise will add about $100 a month to a $600,000 mortgage, but home owners have a strategy to get ahead.

  • Wes Mountain and Alice Uribe
The double-bricked home at 9 Albyn Road, Strathfield sold for $6 million

Strathfield family home sells for $6 million after six swift $100k bids

Five bidders pushed the large double-bricked house in the suburb’s “Golden Mile” $100,000 over its reserve.

  • Carmen Forward
Tom Edney and his partner secured their new home after months of watching auctions fly past their price guides.

The Melbourne suburbs where unloved homes are getting more expensive

Almost two in five property sellers in Victoria who can’t get the price they want at auction are then setting their hopes even higher.

  • Wes Mountain
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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
The weatherboard and stained-glass home had five bedrooms and a separate bungalow.

Coburg family home passes in at auction after attracting only one bidder

The family home came with two storeys, five bedrooms and a separate bungalow, but did not sell under the hammer.

  • Wes Mountain
The bulk of Glebe Island’s working port facilities will be scrapped for high-density housing around the future Bays West metro station.

This new waterfront suburb will reshape Sydney, but who will get to live there?

If we are sacrificing a working harbour to build this shiny new precinct, we cannot sacrifice working Sydneysiders too.

  • Estelle Grech
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