Matt Barrie, CEO of Freelancer—the world’s largest online marketplace for freelancers—has lambasted the Albanese Labor government for boosting immigration to record highs. In a speech at the Sydney 2050 Summit last week, Barrie said the Albanese government’s policy to bring in 700,000 migrants by next year was “not about the economy, but inflating GDP.” The…

Friends and family members looking to buy their first home together will be among many more Australians set to benefit from an expansion of three government housing schemes. The first home guarantee and its regional and family home equivalents will have their criteria expanded from July 1, to help more Australians achieve home ownership. The…

Labor’s flagship multi-billion dollar housing fund could be revived later this year after a federal government minister vowed to push on with negotiations. Legislation to set up the fund was rejected by the Senate crossbench, forcing the government to back away from its plan to get it passed during last week’s parliamentary session. Industry minister…

A new report says home construction in British Columbia will need to rise to unprecedented levels to offset the impact of record immigration on the housing market. The B.C. Real Estate Association says the province must build 25 per cent more new homes than usual for the next five years to address deteriorating housing affordability….

Landlords will only be allowed to increase rents once a year under a proposal by the Queensland Labor government. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk made the announcement prior to the second Housing Summit on March 28, which brings the state in line with Victoria and South Australia. “Today we’re taking action to give people who are renting…

Landlords in Queensland could be forced to keep rents artificially low as the state government considers ways to deal with its housing crisis. Over 150,000 families were dealing with housing stress in the state, with 100,000 of those eligible for social housing—the current waitlist is 27,000—according to a new report by the Queensland Council of…

Home affordability has hit its lowest level in more than 16 years, with a median household now forced to spend over 40 percent of its income to afford a home. In December 2022, the average U.S. household would have had to spend 42.9 percent of its income to afford a home with a median price…

Commentary Canada’s housing affordability challenges are about to get a whole lot worse soon. While the Canadian government has set immigration targets at 500,000 people per year, anticipated new home construction is expected to fall short of national needs by 100,000. Governments at all levels need to address this issue before it becomes a full-blown…

New Zealand’s central bank has raised the official cash rate (OCR) by another 50 basis points to 4.75 percent after Cyclone Gabrielle destroyed the livelihood of many Kiwis. “It is too early to accurately assess the monetary policy implications of these weather events, given that the scale of destruction and economic disruption are only now…

A majority of Canadians believe that Ottawa is on the wrong track when it comes to handling issues the public deems important, and its actions to address them have produced “little in the way of tangible impact thus far,” according to confidential polling conducted for the federal government. The polling results, reported to the Privy…