Documentary on Australian housing construction issues, bubble

[cdev]

These problems are also common in parts of the US.

'Expert warns Australia could turn into slums in 20 years' | 60 Minutes Australia

Housing and banking expert Martin North North has criticised developers and the housing industry for “throwing up” high-rise buildings at such alarmingly fast rates. He warned viewers that significant defects and safety concerns are imminent.


(Greed and hidden use of shoddy materials are out of control)

[David Hess]

I know enough about mechanical engineering and large scale building construction that something like that shown in the first building would convince me to evacuate permanently no matter how safe someone said it was.  I do not understand how they think anything can be done short of destroying it if it requires all of those additional internal supports.  Someone really screwed up; the building is defective.

[Halcyon]

'Expert warns Australia could turn into slums in 20 years' | 60 Minutes Australia

Housing and banking expert Martin North North has criticised developers and the housing industry for “throwing up” high-rise buildings at such alarmingly fast rates. He warned viewers that significant defects and safety concerns are imminent.

I've been saying exactly this for the past 8 years. However, it's not just about poorly built high-rise apartments, those are just the tip of the iceberg.

All over Sydney and in other capital cities, there has been a huge boom of so-called "master-planned communities". Basically developers have bought up vacant land, divided it up and built 100,000-odd homes. The blocks are tiny (some even as small as 300m2) and the houses are built so close together that you can touch your neighbours wall from your bathroom window. The streets are so narrow that you're barely able to drive two cars down them side-by-side and sometimes not even that. The houses themselves are built to a price (which is not passed onto the owner), thin walls, internal doors literally made out of cardboard, low quality fixtures and fittings but they boast "premium features" such as a "theatre room" (which unless implemented properly is just a second living area) and a "butlers pantry" (another waste of space). You can hear everything your neighbours do and traffic in/out of these suburbs is horrendous. They are honestly depressing places to live.

300m2 blocks are currently selling for around the $375k mark and you don't even get a house with it. Once you build the most basic house, you're probably looking at over $600k for the whole thing. If you ask me, a block/build like that should be closer to $450k.

Interest rates are currently low. If you're paying 4.00% p.a. or more for an owner-occupied house, you're paying way too much. My rate at the moment is 3.69% p.a. and it's not even the cheapest product on the market. Even with record-low interest rates, families are mortgaged up to their eyeballs. A moderate rate increase and people can't afford to pay... you can see where this is headed...

Buying property is about making smart decisions purchasing in the right place. If you have absolutely no intention of ever selling, don't care about traffic and noise and are happy with that style of living, then sure, go nuts. But if you're looking at building a portfolio that's worth something in the future, these new "communities" are absolutely the wrong choice.

For $600k, you can find yourself some very decent buys in areas like the Hawkesbury (Windsor, Richmond, Bowen Mountain), the Blue Mountains or the North and North-West of Sydney.

[vk6zgo]

'Expert warns Australia could turn into slums in 20 years' | 60 Minutes Australia

Housing and banking expert Martin North North has criticised developers and the housing industry for “throwing up” high-rise buildings at such alarmingly fast rates. He warned viewers that significant defects and safety concerns are imminent.

I've been saying exactly this for the past 8 years. However, it's not just about poorly built high-rise apartments, those are just the tip of the iceberg.

All over Sydney and in other capital cities, there has been a huge boom of so-called "master-planned communities". Basically developers have bought up vacant land, divided it up and built 100,000-odd homes. The blocks are tiny (some even as small as 300m2) and the houses are built so close together that you can touch your neighbours wall from your bathroom window. The streets are so narrow that you're barely able to drive two cars down them side-by-side and sometimes not even that. The houses themselves are built to a price (which is not passed onto the owner), thin walls, internal doors literally made out of cardboard, low quality fixtures and fittings but they boast "premium features" such as a "theatre room" (which unless implemented properly is just a second living area) and a "butlers pantry" (another waste of space). You can hear everything your neighbours do and traffic in/out of these suburbs is horrendous. They are honestly depressing places to live.

300m2 blocks are currently selling for around the $375k mark and you don't even get a house with it. Once you build the most basic house, you're probably looking at over $600k for the whole thing. If you ask me, a block/build like that should be closer to $450k.

Interest rates are currently low. If you're paying 4.00% p.a. or more for an owner-occupied house, you're paying way too much. My rate at the moment is 3.69% p.a. and it's not even the cheapest product on the market. Even with record-low interest rates, families are mortgaged up to their eyeballs. A moderate rate increase and people can't afford to pay... you can see where this is headed...

Buying property is about making smart decisions purchasing in the right place. If you have absolutely no intention of ever selling, don't care about traffic and noise and are happy with that style of living, then sure, go nuts. But if you're looking at building a portfolio that's worth something in the future, these new "communities" are absolutely the wrong choice.

For $600k, you can find yourself some very decent buys in areas like the Hawkesbury (Windsor, Richmond, Bowen Mountain), the Blue Mountains or the North and North-West of Sydney.

In Perth, there were a lot of these in outer suburbs like Byford.
The funny thing is you could buy an established home in older areas like Thornlie for less than one of these 300 sq m places.
With the drop in demand, a lot of those developments have been left to languish.

There were even some built on a vacant block up the road from me in Thornlie, & they sold well, again for more than established homes with 800sq m or more blocks.

People moved in, planted lawn in the handkerchief sized front yards, & prepared to live the "good life".
Over a few months, the weeds that were well established on the original big block repopulated the lawns,
& the signs of loss of interest became clear.

After a while, they moved out & the houses went back on the market.