Category: Social Trends

Social Housing’s Impossible Mission…

Victoria set to bring in social housing ‘contribution’ The state will introduce a new Social and Affordable Housing Contribution on certain developments from July 2024, it has been announced.

The Andrews government has announced that, from July 2024, all newly built developments with three dwellings or more, or of three or more residential lot subdivisions, will need to contribute 1.75 per cent of the market value of the completed project to the Social Housing Growth Fund.

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Today’s post is brought to you by Ribbon Property Consultants.

If you are buying your home in Sydney’s contentious market, you do not need to stand alone. This is the time you need to have Edwin from Ribbon Property Consultants standing along side you.

Buying property, is both challenging and adversarial. The vendor has a professional on their side.

Emotions run high – price discovery and price transparency are hard to find – then there is the wasted time and financial investment you make.

Edwin understands your needs. So why not engage a licensed professional to stand alongside you. With RPC you know you have: experience, knowledge, and master negotiators, looking after your best interest.

Shoot Ribbon an email on info@ribbonproperty.com.au & use promo code: DFA-WTW/MARTIN to receive your 10% DISCOUNT OFFER.

The Hidden Hand Of Digital Control

I have been discussing the rise of Central Bank Digital Currencies over the past few years, and we know that in Australia the Treasury is now actively exploring the implementation of a digital Aussie Dollar for consumer use. This mirrors efforts underway in other countries, including both the UK and USA.

Canada Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Chrystia Freeland announced the government is broadening the scope of the country’s anti-money laundering monitoring and terrorist financing laws to cover crowdfunding platforms and the payment service providers they use. “These changes cover all forms of transactions, including digital assets such as crypto currencies,” she announced during a recent press conference. To underscore the point, the Canadian government made it clear on Monday that it would target cryptocurrency alongside traditional transactions.

But consider how much easier it would be to control the access to money if it was sitting in a Central Bank Digital Currency Account. Potentially total transparency, and control.

The Canadian experience underscores for me the importance of safeguarding our financial system, and we should be aware of the grave risk which exists from those in Government and the Security Services which wants more direct control.

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Who Turned Up The Gravity?

This week we saw more falls on markets as the volatility continued and uncertainty raged. So in this weeks market review we are going to consider some of the factors which are amplifying the gravity effects. These forces are substantial, to say the least.

While US stocks came off session lows, bonds climbed at the end of a week marked by a standoff between the West and Russia as well as worries about the Federal Reserve’s next policy steps. As a result, volatility continues with the US fear index sitting at 28.12. The Benchmark U.S. stock indexes hit a second week of losses, undermined by the standoff between Russia and the West over Ukraine, as well as the prospect of tighter Federal Reserve monetary policy. And some $2.2 trillion of U.S. stock options expired on Friday. Oh, and U.S. markets will be closed on Monday in observance of Presidents Day.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.68%, at around 34,072. The S&P 500 index fell 0.78%, to trade around 4,347, with information technology segment down -0.95% and energy the worst performers among the index’s 11 sectors.

The NASDAQ Composite Index declined 1.23%, to about 13,536. A so-called death cross crystallized in the index, a bearish chart pattern that has at times presaged further weakness.

For the week, the Dow is down around 2%, while the S&P 500 was heading for a 1.7% decline and NASDAQ was on track for a decline of almost 1.9%.

Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/

Financial Planning? Hope Is Not A Strategy!

I caught up with Financial Planner Teagan Curtin from PRP Advisers to discuss the art and science of financial planning. We discussed the benefits of developing a financial plan, some of the important questions to consider, and how the current market context might influence a plan.

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The Real Employment Story

Seasonally adjusted hours worked fell by 8.8 per cent between December 2021 and January 2022, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The changes in hours worked were more pronounced than for other key indicators, with employment increasing by around 13,000 people, unemployment by 6,000 people and the unemployment rate remaining at 4.2 per cent.

But there are deeper reasons why the numbers are the way they are, and today we explore this…. in a word – migration, or the lack of it…!

Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/

The Shifting Sands Of Regional Migration

New data from the Commonwealth Bank reveals quarterly migration from capital cities to regional areas over the past two years is averaging 15 per cent higher than what is was in the two years pre-COVID 19.

A structural break in migration patterns has emerged during the two years of the pandemic. Capital city dwellers moving to the regions have generally accounted for a 6.1 per cent share, up from the 5.3 per cent share pre-pandemic. Meanwhile the share of regional people making a city move has ebbed and flowed a little more, but has hovered around a 4 per cent share during the pandemic, down from the 4.3 per cent share pre-pandemic.

National home loan affordability fell “dramatically” in 2021, with a record calendar year decline of 14.5 per cent, according to non-bank lender Bluestone.

Bluestone Home Loans has released its Home Loan Affordability Index for December quarter, revealing the index fell to 93.8 in December 2021 quarter compared to 82.9 in the December 2020 quarter.

And the HIA says affordability constraints in detached housing are expected to push some households into townhouses and apartments. A return of migration will assist in offsetting the impact of a rise in interest rates for multi-unit construction.

Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/

Today’s post is brought to you by Ribbon Property Consultants.

If you are buying your home in Sydney’s contentious market, you do not need to stand alone. This is the time you need to have Edwin from Ribbon Property Consultants standing along side you.

Buying property, is both challenging and adversarial. The vendor has a professional on their side.

Emotions run high – price discovery and price transparency are hard to find – then there is the wasted time and financial investment you make.

Edwin understands your needs. So why not engage a licensed professional to stand alongside you. With RPC you know you have: experience, knowledge, and master negotiators, looking after your best interest.

Shoot Ribbon an email on info@ribbonproperty.com.au & use promo code: DFA-WTW/MARTIN to receive your 10% DISCOUNT OFFER.

The Ugly Truth About Bank Closures In The Regions

We cover an important article by Dale Webster about the shocking reduction in bank branches in regional and rural areas across Australia. This is going to be a significant election issue, with a new Government report due in about a months time.

Regional Australia has lost close to two thirds of its bank branches since the network was at its peak in the 1970s, according to lists published by the banks that have become the ‘big four’ in 1975.

Numbers have gone from 2802 banks in 1126 regional locations to just 1075 in 387 regional towns, cities and coastal communities in just over 45 years.

That is a loss of 1727 bank branches, or a cut of 62 per cent.

ANZ now has the smallest regional bank network in Australia with just 194 of its original 615 branches outside metropolitan cities still open, a cut of 68.5 per cent.

Westpac has the second smallest regional footprint after slashing 70 per cent of non-metropolitan branches, leaving it with 231 from its original 777.

National Australia Bank has 315 regional branches still open but has closed 445, or 58.5 per cent of its original regional network of 760.

Commonwealth Bank is the only one of the ‘big four’ that still has more regional branches open than it has closed, with 335 of its original 650 remaining open, a 48.5 per cent reduction.

https://www.theregional.com.au/

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DFA Live Q&A HD Replay: Financial Fig Leaves: With Robbie Barwick

This is an edited version of a live discussion on the financial system, who runs it, and for what end, with Robbie Barwick, National Research Director Australian Citizens Party. https://citizensparty.org.au/our-party/our-team

We covered ASIC, APRA, and RBA, Deposit Bail-In, Investor Protection And Glass-Steagall among other topics.

Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/

Final Reminder DFA Live 8pm Sydney Tonight: Financial Fig Leaves – With Robbie Barwick

Join us for a live discussion as I discuss the financial system, who runs it, and for what end, with Robbie Barwick, National Research Director Australian Citizens Party. https://citizensparty.org.au/our-party/our-team

We will cover ASIC, APRA, and RBA, Deposit Bail-In, Investor Protection And Glass-Steagall among other topics.

You can ask a question live.