Loulé Council has issued a stark warning over the Algarve’s housing crisis, describing the situation as both a “housing emergency” and a “human emergency” and calling for exceptional powers to

The post Loulé demands emergency powers to tackle Algarve housing crisis appeared first on Portugal Resident.

As house prices plateau, the gap between the cost of buying and renting is narrowing in dozens of suburbs

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

High rents and falling property prices have opened a rare window for Australian tenants to become homeowners, with mortgage repayments cheaper than rent in dozens of suburbs.

Guardian Australia’s analysis of Cotality data shows that median rents in inner-city Melbourne, suburban Canberra and Darwin are now nearly matching weekly home loan repayments.

In one in 10 suburbs and towns across the country, repayments are less than $200 a week higher than rent, for the typical property. In some suburbs, they are actually cheaper.