APOLLO BAY- HERE AND THERE

The Apollo Bay P-12 College recently completed a ’24 hour Challenge’ which has raised a whopping $21K+ for cancer research. The Bay community banded together with over 300 Apollo Bay locals and 250 school students completing a combined total of 2790 laps swam and 3642 basketball goals scored in support of Year Nine student Harry Arthur who was diagnosed with leukemia in September and teacher Tim Nolan who was diagnosed with colon cancer earlier this year, an amazing effort from all involved!

Source: Colac Herald

APOLLO BAY- MARKET ROUNDUP

Finding an affordable rental has become much more challenging with the national median weekly rent having increased by 15%, from $480 to $550, resulting in fewer new properties being listed below $400, and the median weekly rent in regional Australia currently at $490, up 9% on last year. In October, only 11% of total listings were within the affordable bracket nationally, although the figure is not reflective of the affordability crisis being experienced in the cities.

The latest National Shelter-SGS Economics and Planning Rental Affordability Index shows only three Victorian postcodes outside of Greater Melbourne have affordable rentals in 2023. These are Kerang in the state’s north (3579), Nhil in the northwest (3418) and Numurkah north of Shepparton (3636). An affordable rental, with a rental affordability index (RAI) score of between 151 and 200 is when rent comprises up to 15 per cent of household income.

Tenants Victoria chief executive Jennifer Beveridge said the situation for renters remained “very worrying”. “Rental affordability is a challenge for people not just on very low incomes but is extending to Victorian households that have access to more resources and previously did not struggle, as they do now, to secure a safe, secure affordable home for themselves and their families,” Ms Beveridge said.

Tenants in regional Victoria are struggling to keep a roof over their heads as rental affordability hit historic lows.

The average rental household earning a gross income of around $81,500 a year in regional Victoria was putting 27 per cent of their income towards renting, with conditions in the Surf Coast and Geelong regions continuing to worsen.

Apollo Bay was considered “severely unaffordable” as of June 2023, where tenants were spending 38-60 per cent of their income on rent compared to 2019 when affordability was deemed “acceptable”.

Rural Councils Victoria (RCV) chair Mary-Ann Brown said the shortage of safe, affordable housing presented unique challenges for rural and regional communities. “In the Housing Blueprint report we commissioned last year, we found they’re not the same issues that are challenging metropolitan and regional cities,” she said.

According to RCV, an estimated 87,400 new homes need to be built in regional Victoria in the next 15 years alone.

CoreLogic economist Eliza Owen says there is a shortfall of rental listings at a time when people are once again migrating to Australia in big numbers. Another factor she attributes to the past three year’s rental crunch is a growing desire among people post-pandemic to live in bigger homes with fewer people. Along with this, she says, there has been a shortfall in investors building new properties for renters as interest rates have risen. “You’ve got real volatility with the private rental market and with the more vulnerable lower-income households,” she says.

However, CoreLogic’s data shows the price of asking rents is no longer soaring as quickly, likely because households simply can’t pay anymore. Ms Owen believes investors may get back into building new rentals in coming years, as economists predict that interest rates will ease off for lending. She is also hopeful that new state and federal government initiatives surrounding social and public housing may ease the pressure on the most vulnerable renters.

APOLLO BAY- QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me”

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