Dec
08
Nobody’s Home: Australian Boom Leaves Swath of Empty Properties
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Foreign buyers leave properties unused and reap price gains
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Vacant homes in Melbourne surge to 82,724, report says
Australia’s three-year property boom is leaving Melbourne awash with empty homes.
In the country’s second-biggest city, growing numbers of local landlords and absent overseas owners have locked up their properties — forgoing rental income as they focus instead on price gains, a report by Prosper Australia said Wednesday.
Some 82,724 properties, or 4.8 percent of the city’s total housing stock, appear to be unused, said the report, which estimated occupancy rates by gauging water usage. In the worst-hit areas, a quarter of all homes are empty, said Prosper. The Melbourne-based research group is lobbying for more affordable housing through tax reform…
Nobody’s Home: Australian Boom Leaves Swath of Empty Properties
