With residential property prices ten times the average salary in Melbourne and Sydney, U.S. forecaster Harry Dent expects the Australian market to mirror the collapse witnessed in the California.
When house prices reached ten times income levels in California they signalled the peak that turned into the crash, and Harry Dent predicts the same future awaits the Australian market. In conversation with personal finance editor John Collett and business columnist David Potts, Dent, an economist and demographer, suggests that prices could halve.
The 2013 median house price in Sydney reached a record high of $763,169. Dr Andrew Wilson, senior economist with Australian Property Monitors, rejected Dent's conclusions stating that prices in Sydney would continue to increase by 15% over the next year. Wilson added that this growth was unsustainable would probably slow but that it was "a long way short of a catastrophic fall in house prices" as the "preconditions [we]re not there".
Economists Christopher Joye and Steve Keen agreed. Joye stating that interest rates were unlikely to stay at such low levels indefinitely and that this would slow the market down, while Keen predicts that the market will continue to grow for at least another two years.
Read the full story: Property prices will plummet, says specialist
A Bold High-Speed Rail Plan from Australia
Not only would a new $150.6 billion proposal build a high-speed rail project to connect Sydney and Melbourne, it would also build eight new cities along the way.
Checking in on the Bicycle Backlash
Alan Davies writes from Down Under about a recent controversy in the Australian media about the “menace” of cycling in the urban core—where some are tired of the bicycle lobby's advancements of its cause.
Picturing Ten Urban Qualities Important for Every City
Writing in The Atlantic Cities, Chuck Wolfe provides ten illustrated examples of enjoyable environments that reflect an evolving recognition for the qualitative aspects of the urban experience.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion
Overuse and climate change have caused the Colorado River’s water levels to plummet.
NYC DOT wants faster, more permanent street upgrades
The city is examining ways to build more concrete infrastructure without getting entangled in 'decades-long' projects.
'Something we’ve never seen before:' rising utility rates could strain city finances nationwide
Data centers, climate change and other factors have caused utility rates in the United States to increase by 38% since 2020.
Trump to overrule local leaders, lease millions of acres of America’s Pacific Island territories’ seafloors to mining companies
International law says that the Indigenous people of America’s territories have a right to prior and informed consent regarding projects that impact their countries.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
KFH Group Inc.
Greater Baltimore Committee
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello