Australia’s home builders continue to be inundated with work, yet building starts slowed in the March quarter, according to data released this week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The latest figures show that the total number of dwelling units…
Outdoor lighting is a wondrous thing, but sometimes it happens that the light just doesn’t shine where you want it. The Kettle 22 portable light from Nordlux offers a handy and elegant solution. Powered by a USB-chargeable, inbuilt battery, the…
Two Australian suburbs have been named in Timeout’s list of the world’s 51 coolest neighbourhoods. The Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy came in at number 27, noted for its terrace houses, narrow streets, street art, second hand shops, vegan cafes and…
Lending took another fall in August yet first-home buyers soared by one-tenth, according to data released this week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The latest figures show that the value of new loans for housing fell 3.4% to…
With the government offering further incentives, prospective first home buyers are faced with a dilemma. Interest rates are rising, but rents are also going up. Would it be better* to borrow and pay interest on your own home, or keep…
As the weather warms up, Australians are beginning to look forward to days spent in and around the backyard pool. Yet with an ongoing threat of La Niña weather conditions over the next few months, that pool might need more…
Cement has long been an important component in the construction of roads, buildings, bridges or dams, yet is widely recognised to be a major pollutant, due to the carbon dioxide emitted in its production. According to research conducted by scientists…
An air-conditioning system that needs no power to run sounds like a dream, but in reality, the ‘Nave’ is winning awards. Drawing from Egyptian architecture and traditional Palestinian cooling systems, designer Yael Issacharov created Nave to operate on an irrigation…
The first month of spring saw another slight drop in housing values, property data firm Corelogic announced this week. Corelogic’s national Home Value Index (HVI) recorded a 1.4% decline in values in September, showing the rate of decline easing back…
Approvals to build new apartments rebounded in August, according to data released this week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The figures show that approvals for ‘dwellings excluding houses’ rose 99.1% in August, with a sharp bounce back in…
