Adam Schwab wrote up our fourth report on speculative vacancies in Crikey yesterday. Shortage or glut? Feast or famine? The question of whether Australia is suffering a housing shortage continues to be hotly disputed, with the real estate and construction lobbies arguing a desperate shortage exists, while other independent bodies, such as Prosper Australia, disputing [...]

“With 46,220 properties vacant in Melbourne, the myth we have a housing shortage cannot go on much longer,” Earthsharing Australia spokesperson Karl Fitzgerald said today. Earthsharing’s Speculative Vacancies report highlights that tightness in rental stock does not equate to a lack of housing. The much quoted REIV’s 1.7% vacancy rate (Nov 2010) only refers to [...]

Australia’s endless debate about property prices pivots on the balance of supply and demand. Earthsharing’s Speculative Vacancies in Melbourne 2010 Report demonstrates that nearly five percent of all houses in Melbourne are simply empty and unused. The report identifies and measures the scale and extent of speculative vacancies – properties held out of use in [...]

Author: Tom Curtis Research Director: Karl Fitzgerald Executive Summary We estimate the Speculative Vacancy Rate for Melbourne in 2011 to be 4.94% or 46,220 of 935,305 properties surveyed. Our Estimated Speculative Vacancy Rate is more than twice the REIV’s Rental Vacancy rate for the same period of 1.7%. The rental vacancy rate is the rate [...]

Tuesday May 3rd, 7pm Presenter: Tohm Curtis Where: Prosper Australia rooms, 1/27 Hardware Lane, Melbourne Entry: RSVP pls and gold coin entry (to cover drinks and nibbles) For four years we have been pointing to the hidden supply of privately held speculative land as a major issue for the ‘nowhere to live’ media cycle. Instead [...]