House prices are falling across every capital city for the first time in 15 years and the second time on record, according to figures from Domain’s September Quarter 2026 House Price report.
House prices in Sydney are at a two-year low after falling 4.7% in the September quarter, to $1.66m.
Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (D), now running for U.S. Senate, promised a Somali audience in 2023 to seek funding for “culturally relevant treatments and care” and support multifamily housing.
As protests continue to ripple across European cities, the Italian Green MEP Benedetta Scuderi reflects on her own experiences of police repression, from holding a peace flag near a Brussels protest to facing the fury that followed the flotilla to Gaza. She spoke to EUobserver about the EU’s housing priorities, Italy’s elections, and how the far-right has captured freedom of expression for its own use.
You were detained by police in July, a few hundred meters from a far-right protest calling for “re-migration”. How has the rise of the far-right stalled some key areas, like freedom of speech?
The rise of the far-right is really threatening European democracy as we know it. It has never been perfect, but it allowed people to protest. Now, we only let certain people express their dissent.
In the European Parliament, people can discriminate and use hate speech because of their freedom of expression, but as you go out of parliament with a Palestinian flag, then you’re a terrorist. So, how is it possible that last Strasbourg plenary, I could hear my colleagues saying that Muslims are a threat, and there are no consequences? And then I go out and I say, “Free Palestine,” and I’ll be arrested.
This double standard is extremely problematic. The fact that not allowing fascist symbols within the parliament also meaning that no other symbol can be shown, is not okay. Because we need to be fine to say that certain things are discriminatory and against European values, without having to say that everything else is not allowed.
We also need to be able to accept dissent. What is happening all over Europe, with violence increasing towards activists, we’re seeing it target only a certain kind of activists. In Italy, fascist protests are ignored by police. Farmers can come to the parliament with tractors, and that’s completely fine. And then we have 20 people doing a sit-in for Palestine in front of the parliament, and getting their heads smashed.
This article continues, but the full version is available only to EUobserver.com subscribers. Visit account.euobserver.com/membership
The lack of teachers (particularly in areas where rents are at their highest: viz. Lisbon/ Algarve) has led municipalities to start thinking outside the box. Two town halls (Grândola and
The implicit interest rate on mortgage loans rose again in September, extending the upward trend to 3.194%, reaching its highest level since September 2025, according to data released by INE
Students and teachers in Athens and Thessaloniki demand affordable housing, higher wages and increased funding for public education.
Students and teachers in Greece have mobilized in Athens and Thessaloniki to demand affordable housing, higher wages and greater investment in public education, joining a wave of youth-led protests over rising living costs and housing insecurity across Europe.
Tents have been erected in Athens’ Syntagma Square and in Thessaloniki as demonstrators call for fair rents, more university housing and increased funding for public education.
Authorities deployed more than 3,000 police officers in Athens to monitor a demonstration scheduled for Wednesday, organized by students and teachers. The protests come amid similar mobilizations in France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Albania, where young people are challenging housing costs that they say make it increasingly difficult to combine work or study with securing a home.
Students pitch tents near Greek parliament over rising costs
📍 Students set up tents in Athens’ Syntagma Square, near the Greek parliament
The Greek primary school teachers’ union, DOE, called a 24-hour strike to demand a 20% pay rise, housing assistance for teachers assigned to work in other cities and improvements to school facilities.
Around 20 student associations in Athens joined the mobilization, planning to march alongside teachers. Their demands include decent housing for all university students, particularly those from low-income families who move to other cities to pursue their studies, higher student allowances and more places in public university residences.
Students are also calling for lower electricity and heating fuel costs, highlighting the pressure of energy expenses alongside the cost of accommodation.
The demonstrations reflect broader grievances among young Europeans over housing affordability. Protesters across several countries have pointed to property speculation, tourism-driven pressures on housing and austerity policies imposed by the European Union as factors affecting their ability to secure a home.
Athens Mayor Haris Dukas, a social democrat, expressed support for students and teachers while making clear his opposition to violent protests.
The demonstrations add Greece to a broader wave of Generation Z mobilizations across Europe over housing costs, economic pressures and access to public services, with students and educators pressing for changes to living and working conditions.
Protesters condemn police violence after authorities dismantle a housing encampment.
On Tuesday, thousands of people gathered in central Lisbon for a popular assembly where they decided to set up again the housing encampment that police dismantled in the early hours of the morning.
At Don Pedro IV Square, citizens protested with signs and chants against the housing crisis and condemned police violence. They were particularly critical of Prime Minister Luis Montenegro and Interior Minister Luis Neves, whom they blamed for the beatings, shoving and removal of tents while people were still inside them.
In this context, the protesters said security conditions were not in place to continue the encampment on Tuesday, but left open the possibility of pitching the tents again Wednesday.
“The proposal is as follows: Is there a popular will in this square to resume the encampment with tents starting tomorrow?” one of the movement’s spokespeople asked before inviting anyone who wished to speak to present their demands. Those in attendance voted in favor of setting up the tents again tomorrow.
🇵🇹 À Lisbonne et à Porto, aux premières heures de la matinée du 20 octobre, la police portugaise a démantelé les tentes des manifestants qui y avaient campé pour revendiquer un logement décent, à Lisbonne et à Porto. pic.twitter.com/kDn9ZIh8Jj
The text reads, “In the early hours of October 20, Portuguese police dismantled the tents of protesters who had been camping in Lisbon and Porto to demand decent housing.”
Demonstrations and protests for the right to housing have spread across the country, including in cities such as Faro and Coimbra, although the largest gatherings have been in Lisbon and Porto.
“More than 400 people gathered at 8 de Maio Square in Coimbra, near City Hall and the Monastery of Santa Cruz, to demand solutions to the housing crisis,” Portuguese outlet SIC Noticias reported.
“‘I want a roof, I want a floor, I want the right to housing,’ protesters shouted. They also called for concrete and urgent measures to resolve a problem that persists across all ages and social classes.”
“Housing is a right. Without it, nothing works,” “The housing problem cannot be solved with baton blows,” “Peace, bread, and the right to housing” and “Homes to live in, not to speculate on” were among the slogans chanted by protesters.
Gathered at Largo da Republica, demonstrators also held signs emphasizing that the “Right to housing is enshrined in the Constitution.”
Tensions between protesters and authorities have been escalating for several days, as the government maintains that street protests cannot continue into the early hours of the morning.
“There is a right to demonstrate and to explain the reasons for doing so, all of that in complete peace of mind, with complete normality and within the law. Anything that crosses the boundaries of legality and constitutes a violation of the law will, naturally, receive an appropriate response from the security forces,” said the Interior Minister, who believes the encampments have come to an end.
Login
