Divergent Housing Pressures: Sales, Prices, Rent Hikes

Reporting shows divergent housing pressures across regions: in regional Victoria, Australia, pandemic-era migration has boosted demand for one- and two-bedroom homes, prompting buyers to stretch budgets and local councils like Wangaratta Shire to call for government support to deliver appropriately sized housing for projected household growth. In the United States, affordability remains acute: a Badeloft USA study ranks San Jose the most expensive major U.S. city to buy a home (average near $1.43 million), with San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles also among the priciest markets. Some U.S. metros — including parts of the Sun Belt — are seeing faster sales cycles as supply and job-growth dynamics shift, giving buyers more leverage in certain markets even as other coastal and Midwestern metros remain highly competitive. In New York City, the Rent Guidelines Board approved increases to rent-stabilized guidelines (3% for one-year leases, 4.5% for two-year leases) affecting roughly 1 million units, effective Oct. 1, a decision unfolding amid a reshaped mayoral race and calls from candidates to freeze stabilized rents. The city's housing calendar shows upcoming land-use hearings, oversight sessions and affordable-housing lotteries, underscoring ongoing policy efforts to address affordability and displacement and highlighting a need for coordinated policy support across government levels.