Apartment Choice

This article is the first in a series based on new research into the place of lower-income and disadvantaged households in a compact city. There’s been a lot of talk about apartment living of late. Whether it’s millennials who can’t afford to buy a house, downsizers making a lifestyle change, owner-occupiers struggling to get defective buildings fixed , or foreign investors buying into new development, there’s no shortage of opinions and interest. Except for one group: lower-income and vulnerable residents . In Greater Sydney, the latest census data show that almost one in five households (17%) living in apartments and townhouses have weekly household incomes of less than A$649. Among this group the largest sub-group (36%) live in private rental housing . That’s more than 72,000 households living on $649 or less per week in a housing market where average weekly rents for apartments are $550. Our research for Shelter NSW identifies multiple challenges such households face. Further...

Changing face of real estate SYDNEY’S hipster culture has been shifting to suburbia as penny- pinching young people abandon more inner city suburbs like Newtown and Surry Hills to buy in cheaper outlying areas or move back in with their parents. An analysis of census data has revealed traditionally family -friendly suburbs such as Gordon, Lindfield, Rodd Point and Eastwood had among Sydney’s biggest spikes in the population of 25-35-year-olds over the past five years. This was despite no major changes to rental or property demand or natural population increase . Hipsters are leaving Newtown. And moving in with their parents. Analysts instead attributed the rise in young adults moving out of the city to a trend in which many were returning to their family homes to help save money. With average weekly room rents within 5km of the CBD at $350 and apartment rents at $650, those who moved back in with their parents could save about $18,000 or more per year. Other suburbs with a signific...