Connections
Puzzle #475
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Aged like milk
It's also worth noting that the "ZY" or "KSY" pronunciations might be misleading to English speakers. The "Y" in both of those is actually like the vowel in "fly", not like in "baby".
downside is exporting would-be investors to other capital cities
Isn't that still a good thing for Victoria? The only thing further investors would do is drive up prices due to increasing demand. Relieving that demand by pushing it elsewhere is obviously worse for those other places, but it's not like when one country increases income tax leading rich people to shift their money overseas if there isn't a coordinated approach, where you actually get a local negative.
21
People are trying to blame population growth for rising housing costs, but Melbourne's property market is - generally speaking - cooler than Brisbaneβs, even though Melbourne's population is growing much faster than Brisbaneβs (Melbourne population growth is faster than Brisbaneβs both in overall numbers and as a percentage rate).
The data suggests there's no significant difference between the rates of private housing construction in Melbourne and Brisbane that would explain why Melbourne is becoming comparatively more affordable. There are lots of variables that contribute to these divergent trends, including that Brisbane homes are generally bigger (which is partly reflected in the price of homes). But one of the biggest and most obvious differences is that in Queensland, a higher proportion of homes are being purchased by property investors, whereas in Victoria, the proportion of investors hoarding houses and apartments for profit seems to be around 5% lower.
Recently, Victoria has made at least two significant changes affecting the property market:
- increasing land tax, and
- Introducing SLIGHTLY stronger renters rights compared to other states (Victorian renters rights are still VERY weak compared to many European jurisdictions, but stronger than Queenslandβs)
When Victoria reformed its land tax system and proposed new protections for renters, the real estate industry kicked up a stink and warned that property investors would leave the market and that this would reduce the supply of rentals.
But people like myself have long been pointing out that when profit-motivated investors sell up, the homes themselves don't disappear - they are often purchased by first home-buyers who would otherwise be competing in the rental market.
The warnings from the property industry have been PARTIALLY correct, in that the changes to Victorian legislation and taxation HAVE discouraged property investors and led to some landlords selling up and shifting their capital elsewhere. But contrary to their fear-mongering, the exodus of profit-driven investors seems to be putting downward pressure on both rents and house prices - a good thing for ordinary people.
The fewer property investors there are buying up housing, the cheaper prices become. If buying gets cheaper, renting also gets cheaper. I'd be interested to hear alternative explanations of what's going on, but to me, the divergent trends between major Australian cities seems to be showing quite clearly that population growth is not the primary driver of rising prices, and that it's the treatment of housing as a commodity - and the number of property investors - that's the real problem.
Connections
Puzzle #474
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The only country whose opinion should matter here is Taiwan. If and when they decide they want to be recognised officially, they should be. Not before, and not after.
The only country whose opinion should matter here is Taiwan. If and when they decide they want to be recognised officially, they should be. Not before, and not after.
Connections
Puzzle #473
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π¨π¨π¨π¨
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I read a story the other day about a guy whose lesbian friend operated an OnlyFans account. At one point she went to him and asked for help creating a video that one of her fans had requested. Not PIV sex, but sexually-charged activities (the story didn't specify exactly). She paid him a portion of the money she got from it.
Following this, the guy started following her OnlyFans anonymously, and began paying for more of the same content on a regular basis. Pretending he was one of her random online fans, paying so she would do sexual acts with him, and getting back some of the money he paid when she paid him.
The majority of comments under the post seemed to think this was absolutely fine. But if you ask me, that was sexual assault. Because it was sexual acts done under a dishonest premise.
Transcription
The "I Guess We Doin Circles Now" meme, with the factory labeled as "IKEA", and the object coming out of the factory normally being a simple bed. The worker pulls up a Blahaj shark, and says "I guess we doing sharks now".
Transcription
A screenshot of a Facebook post by Queensland Rail. The post is a video, currently paused showing a frame of an aerial shot of train tracks with text reading "POV: You're a test train entering the Cross River Rail tunnel for the first time."
The video has been shared along with a text description reading
We were excited to be part of a major milestone recently as a test train made the first journey through the Cross River Rail tunnel with our train crew at the helm! π
This marks a significant step forward, highlighting the incredible progress and hard work that goes into bringing this important project to life.
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Your leave resets? That sounds illegal.