Current Market Insights
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Current Market Insights
Episode 97: Rate Hold Pressure, Rezoning & Market Moves
Hosts Ciaran O'Brien and Peter O'Malley unpack why a rate hold can still feel like a squeeze for households, even as Sydney’s property market shows firmer prices, mixed clearance rates, and ultra-tight rental conditions. With rezoning plans, first home buyer support, and global risks shaping the outlook, this episode explores the forces driving today’s market.
We also discuss:
- RBA holds rates as the board signals caution on future cuts
- Gold surge and US tariffs raising the risk of imported inflation
- Housing strength playing a central role in monetary policy decisions
- Sydney prices edging up as stale stock starts to move
- Auction volumes rising, with clearance rates holding in the low 50s
- Rental conditions tightening further as arrivals lift and tenants negotiate early
- Investors staying cautious amid soft yields and tax settings
- First home buyer support helping at the entry-level but not B-grade units
- Lending limits on sub-40sqm apartments creating barriers for buyers
- Inner West rezoning approval for 30,000+ dwellings over 15 years
- Delivery risks around construction quality, schools, and infrastructure
- Practical plays for buyers, sellers, tenants, and investors in today’s market
As always if there is a specific topic you would like for us to cover, please reach out and let us know!
Hello and welcome to another edition of Current Market Insights. My name is Kieran O'Brien and with me is Mr. Peter O'Malley. Peter, hello. Kieran, great to see you. Great to see you for another week, Peter. I want to jump in today's episode. We're going to talk a lot about sales and rentals and what's going on in the Sydney market. But I thought if it's okay with you, we might start the episode today just discussing uh the latest decision from the RBA around their monetary policy, given it's probably the most important thing that's happened in the last week since we last spoke.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, thanks, Kieran. Look, in a surprise to no one, um they've kept rates on hold. The decision was unanimous by the board. Uh probably the thing that uh uh you know caused the most discussion coming out of the meeting was that there was a sense that we may have seen the last of rate cuts for the time being. There wasn't anything in here to suggest the RBA are ready to pull the trigger again. And they're acutely aware that um uh the employment market is still tight and that household confidence um has returned on the back of three rate cuts this year. And uh therefore um there could be in the future some um upward pressure on inflation, and uh that's uh you know aided and abetted by what's going on in America with the tariffs and Trump's policies are inflationary and obviously inflation's rising in America as we've discussed previously, and they've cut interest rates while inflation is going up. Um the price of gold, um, which is a barometer for it was about 5200, I think, when I saw it yesterday. Uh Australia uh well no, it's a lot higher than that. It's fifty done nudging fifty, nine hundred Australian and um nudging thirty eight hundred and fifty dollars, three thirty eight hundred and sixty-three dollars American.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, wow.
SPEAKER_01:So to give people an idea, if we want to talk gold, in the last thirty days, the price of gold in Australian dollars has moved from fifty four hundred to fifty eight hundred and forty-four. And in the last thirty days in US dollars, uh it's moved from just over thirty-five hundred to three thousand eight hundred and sixty-two dollars as we speak.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, 10%. That's a crazy rise. I um uh as you say, no surprise from the RBA that they did decide to hold rates, and they do mention their policy that you know unemployment's steady, but it's still kind of in a bit of a precarious situation. Uh, one thing that they do mention in this statement, which I thought was interesting and obviously ties into what we talk about a lot, is they mention that the housing market is a key factor in their decision making here. You know, they say the housing market is strengthening, uh, it's a s they think it's a sign that interest rate cuts are having an effect, whether it's the desired effect or not, uh, remains to be seen. But they, you know, to me, they make the point that housing is too strong, credit's available, and the concern that if anything, it's just going to run from here. Uh, and they to me it seems like they're leaving the door open to go up or down, depending on you know, really what happens on the city.
SPEAKER_01:I'm glad you raised that point because I go to an economist that's a bit of a contrarian when it comes to these matters, uh, Judo Banks Warren Hogan. And he wrote on social media after the uh rate decision he said the RBA is tiptoeing away from rate cuts. The next move is now evenly balanced between a hike and a cut. Time frames are important as the rate cut window likely closes around mid-2026. The hiking window opens around May 2026.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. So he's suggesting that the same thing. It's a bit of a line ball at this stage, but we have a so what I mean. He's saying it's a line ball as to whether the next move is up or down. But what's his rationale for the timing? Do you think? Why, you know, why is he suggesting that if we don't do anything before May, as in cut before May, that it's an inevitability we got?
SPEAKER_01:I think markets um have priced in that inflation in in 12 months will be moving up again. Um uh could be picking up again based on what's happening in America.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, okay.
SPEAKER_01:So if you look if you look at the yields, you know, the yields in America, they are suggesting that the um, yes, they the uh Federal Reserve can cut at the moment, but inflation and markets will force them to increase by even more later. Warren, they can, but should they?
SPEAKER_02:I mean, that's the the million dollar question, right?
SPEAKER_01:Uh well it'll take someone big to to stand up to Trump if that's what's going to happen. But um, in fairness to Warren Hogan, he was someone when everyone was calling for rate cuts, saying be careful about what you wish for, because a rate cut can today can mean a rate hike tomorrow, which will ultimately help nobody.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And as we said for oh, however long now, 12 months, maybe longer, on the podcast here, um, there was a whole period, and there still is for many people, where a rate hold is akin to a rate rise because of the excess stress. So his argument holds really in line with what we had said that uh a little bit prolong, you know, a bit more prolonged pain at a current level is going to be better in the long run than a bit of short-term gain and then inevitably a hike again, which I I suspect will will come as a surprise to a lot of people if it does happen. You know, that we've we've kind of been through this period of tough economic conditions. Now we've had relief, and I think there'll be a lot of people that think, oh, well, we can't, surely we're not going to go back up now.
SPEAKER_01:Look, there's a couple of factors to this. The first is that inflation can be imported into Australia no matter what Australia's doing.
SPEAKER_02:Yep.
SPEAKER_01:So the RBA are not in complete control of the inflation number here in Australia, nor is the government. Um, the other one, which I think is coming through here, is that if we cut rates to give cost of living relief and then it pops out as higher property prices, as we've always said, people will refine against their new new refinance against their newfound equity in their house and continue expanding and living in the economy as they were, meaning the rate battle's not being won, but the property bubble is just expanding. Yeah. And the property bubble is going to continue to expand under certain conditions because not enough supply. Not enough supply. And people coming in through the front door.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I uh I've got I've got your card next to me that outlines your two key points. Look, uh that's it's actually a pretty good segue, I think, Pete. Um one of the other things I want to talk about, uh actually, before we do that, do you think that most people had expected the RBA would hold? Do you think that there's been any shift in sentiment as a result of the announcement uh on the 30th? And uh, you know, anyone that you've spoken to in the market, are they expressing disappointment? Are they expressing kind of ambivalence? Is there any uh sense out there that people actually, you know, really pay that much attention to this particular rates announcement?
SPEAKER_01:Uh, I think the statement was bigger than the decision on this particular month. No one really expected the RBA to cut, um, or hike for that matter, uh, on September 30. I've seen some seasoned economists, people who know a lot more about money markets than than you and I do, and and they are slowly but surely saying, forget two rate cuts. You'll be lucky if you see one more. Yeah. Uh that was Mark Burrus's view for what it's worth. Um he he he sort of picked up the same tone in in the RBA statement that most of us did, that they're you know, based on the current trajectory, they're at pretty much close to the end of uh of their rate cutting cycle, um, barring um an international event. Now the um RBA in their statement did use those lines that I have been talking about after every RBA meeting, which is the board stands well positioned to respond decisively to international developments if they do occur.
SPEAKER_02:And yeah, and um well, as you know, they say here they'll be attentive to the data and the evolving assessment of the outlook and risks to guide its decisions. In doing so, it will pay close attention to developments in the global economy and financial markets, trends in domestic demand and the outlook for inflation and the labour market, all the things you have mentioned. Um But it I mean, they've said that in the past and they made decisions that seem counter to the data that exists. So, I mean, this statement to me though does seem a little bit more definitive than the last one, in the sense that it's uh, you know, it seems to close the loop a little bit and say, well, we really now uh are we've made the decision we can and we have to now look outward and see where where the next moves are.
SPEAKER_01:The data didn't support um a rate cut or a rate hike.
SPEAKER_02:Not this time, but the one before.
SPEAKER_01:I think it was but but back in July, the data was right where it needed to be. Yeah, but there was something that spooked the RBA to say we're not gonna cut, we're gonna shock the market, we're gonna sit on hold and we're gonna watch. Yeah, then they're essentially you're going about power being bullied in America. Well, the RBA were essentially bullied into a rate cut here in August. Of course, yeah. After not delivering in July. Um, but then data came out after that meeting, it was like, oh, now I see, as we discussed in one of our previous podcasts, now I see what the RBA is saying because there was a little bit of upward pressure um on inflation and and where the economy was going and property prices. Prop track have got Sydney property prices up 0.7% for the month in Sydney, uh annualized. That's decisive growth. Strong. Um so there's just a few things there that are probably got the RBA saying no, we're we've got us we've got our settings about right.
SPEAKER_02:And it can't be just before we move on to talk about PropTrack and uh SQM's kind of data for for the week and the month, uh, we also can't forget that you know, globally, excluding economy, we're moving into a pretty uncertain geopolitical environment at the moment. I think this is probably the most active uh geopolitical climate we've been in for quite some time. And to me, certainly it feels like this thing's constantly evolving, uh, and that has to be playing a role on, you know, we've talked about the physical impact of things like shipping lanes, but it's also playing a role on the sentiment of just global relations, I think, which is going to impact the market here.
SPEAKER_01:It's it's absolutely clear that a number of major countries are preparing for war. Yeah. Or actively beginning. Yeah, yeah. Like America are doubling their uh stockpiles.
SPEAKER_02:All the generals just got called in for a for a weird, France seemingly pointless meeting.
SPEAKER_01:France has told their hospitals to be ready on alert for for for war in the next few years and to be able to take a certain number of casualties. Oh, it's really dialing up. It's it's absolutely frightening.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Yeah. Housing in Sydney will be the least of uh least of the world's concerns, that's for sure. Uh as we move forward then, Pete, uh, you mentioned PropTracks got house prices up 0.7% in Sydney for the month uh annualised, which is very strong. What uh what else does PropTrack have to say about Sydney sales and how uh you know, alongside that, how does SQM researchers data around auction clearances uh and and you know stock levels on the market?
SPEAKER_01:We're going into grand final weekend, October Day long weekend in Sydney, um, a pretty quiet weekend. So the auctions last weekend in terms of numbers were very high. 1623 auctions last week in Sydney with a clearance rate of 53%. Um, 474 were sold prior, 387 under the hammer. So again, vendors on the whole are taking the early money, um, which is understandable. Um so what Sydney's experiencing, whilst it's strong, um, we're also seeing that more broadly around the country that house prices are edging up. Um so uh there's no doubt that um uh as PropTrack have said in a recent statement, demand has reaccelerated, reaccelerated in Sydney and Melbourne, marking a turnaround from the slower conditions observed in late 2024. Uh Darwin has swung from inertia in 2024 to leading annual growth amongst the capitals. And Melbourne is closing in on its 2022 peak with relatively with relative affordability and strong population growth restoring its appeal. So property markets are starting to bubble, which will definitely keep the RBA on the sideline. And if it gets too strong, force the RBA's hand, as Warren Hogan has suggested. On the ground, um, we're seeing really tight conditions in the rental market. Vacancy's really low. We expect that uh when there's another wave of international students and people coming into the city for the new year, rental open houses over the summer will be hotly contested. Tenants that don't want to move should really uh look to lock in, lock in uh something with their landlord at the moment. And uh interestingly, um, you know, you've always as a real estate agent, you've always got hot stock. A percentage of your stock is always hot, and there's a percentage of it that's always stuck and needs a little bit more work. Um, we've started selling some of our listings that have been around longer than we would like, but have started started selling, and that's always an interesting sign that the market's coming alive when um um the buyers start picking off stock that's been around a little bit. Um, so that that suggests the market's really you know coming to the fore.
SPEAKER_02:That's particularly interesting. Uh you you talk about the old stock being kind of cherry-picked by buyers, particularly because I'm sure last time we went through SQM's numbers, the total auction figure was about 1100. Uh I mean now it's 1600 odd. So that's a huge jump.
SPEAKER_01:That's essentially a double weekend because you'll see the numbers come right back. Oh, weekend, of course. So it won't be 1,600 every weekend. Keeping in mind, just a quick recap, spring has three phases to it mid-August to the October long weekend, October long weekend to essentially the Melbourne Cup Day, and then Melbourne Cup Day to early December. They're the three phases, unofficial phases of the spring market, and you'll find that um most uh vendors slot themselves into one of those three phases. So a whole wave of sales and stocks gone through. It'll be a bit of a quiet weekend because of the weekend it is school holidays, long weekend, and then it'll come out um in the next weekend or two after that.
SPEAKER_02:You mentioned uh also that one of the good ideas for tenants who are in leases at the moment would be to try and solidify something for the future, which you know is always a good idea if you're happy with where you are. Um, are you finding through your own uh kind of contacts and clients within the business, is that are you finding that your tenants are firstly kind of educated to the market dynamics? And secondly, are you having requests come through the business to lock in uh even preemptively? Or um is the trend still, and I'm reflecting a little bit back to COVID, a trend still to just try and hunt around lease end time to get a better deal somewhere to try and you know move around where that's a dangerous game right now.
SPEAKER_01:There's no one, there's no, there's not many. I won't say there's no one. There's there's very few people looking to play the game from a tenant's perspective. They're just so preferring to sit still. Uh no, well, um, if the if the if the increase is fair and justifiable, they're agreeing to it. If it's excessive, they're not saying I won't pay it, I'm leaving. They're saying, look, that seems excessive. I've gone on domain, realestate.com, and this is what I've seen that's comparable and what it's priced as. So I think this should be what the uh the basis of the uh you know the increase should be. So they're negotiating, which is which is fine. And then sometimes a landlord will run with that and sometimes uh they won't. Um but yeah, that that point that you we saw during COVID, which is um if you suggested an increase because the rental market was so soft during COVID, they'd just go online and they wouldn't even attempt to negotiate with you. They'd just send you a termination letter and it's like I found something with cheaper, don't worry about it, I'm out of here. Those days are long gone.
SPEAKER_02:With the then with the relatively low vacancy rates and the increased stock levels coming to market, have you seen any indication at this stage, and it's still early in spring, as as you've said, that investors are looking to return into the Sydney market? No. What's the major factor, do you think? Is it prices, yield?
SPEAKER_01:What's you know what's all of the above prices, yield, overregulation. Um, you can get a decent return on cash still. We've only had three interest rate cuts cuts, of course. So the cash rate's 3.6%. So what's the bank paying you? 4%? Uh so my bank's paying me 4.85.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, well, that's that's probably overs for the current. I think it would that's with ING for anyone who's interested. Uh they tend to pay high savings rates.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so it's it's somewhere in the fours. So if you can go fours risk-free or go and buy a property market that is uh rising and looks fully priced to get a to get a you know, a fairly underwhelming yield relative to a risk-free four point something percent with the bank, yeah. You'd sit on your cash, you'd um you might play the um buy some gold. Yeah, maybe it's too late, maybe it's not.
SPEAKER_02:Well, it's a finite resource. I don't think you can be too late.
SPEAKER_01:Everyone I read too says that you know, until you sell see C silver break through$50, there's still run price to run there as well. Um, so yeah, that's I think there's plenty of other places to park cash. Why would you park cash in in property as an investor and then pay land tax?
SPEAKER_02:Oh, look, I I agree with all of those things. Uh, but that doesn't change the fact that there are you know there are investors always coming to the market, and it's something you know we've got.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I wish I wish there was. That's what they tell us in the media. That there's these greedy investors all taking advantage of negative queuing. It's like, well, I haven't met any in 10 years. You know what I mean? So um, this is the thing is that uh people are squealing about the rental market. Let's beat up landlords. It's like you can beat up landlords as much as you like, they'll just move their money somewhere else, which is what they've done. Rental books are shrinking right across the real estate industry. There's no new supply, as much as there's um, you know, new supply muted in the uh in the pipeline, and they're muted's the right word. Yeah, and they've got um they've they've got um uh you know the the welcome to Australia doors wide open uh at the airport and people are just freely flowing in here. So what do you think is going to happen to the rental market?
SPEAKER_02:Do you think, and this is uh maybe asking a challenging question, but one of the big things in the US that that tenants are constantly kind of barking about is uh you know, large corporate, you know, Blackstone-style companies investing in large swathes of rental property and land banking, etc. etc. Do you think with the poor yields, the high prices, the unpredictability, the costs, do you think that that is something of an inevitability or a likelihood here? As you know, mum and dad investors realize that it's a terrible opportunity for them. There's so many costs and risks involved. Do you think it will end up being a situation where corporates end up, you know, corporates for lack of a better term, end up buying rentals and investments and then really monopolizing and and making it worse?
SPEAKER_01:Look, never say never, you would hope not, but the way we're going, it can't be ruled out. I think the conditions suit it, right? Um, yeah, I don't think it'll be in Sydney. Um, but you know, if you're if you're getting out into the regions um uh in in the right locality, that could work with the right infrastructure.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Well, let's hope it doesn't happen, that's for sure. Um as we move towards the end of today's discussion, Peter, there's a couple of more things I want to just check off uh with you. Uh the first one being at the time of recording, we uh have just entered the phase where the first home buyers grant has come into effect. Um, I know we we've touched on this a few times over the weeks, and you know, you don't want to give too much credit to it, which is fine. I don't really want to talk about it too much either. But um, my question for you is given that the policy is now theoretically in effect, have you had any shift in conversations? Has anyone come to you already and said, hey, you know, I have access to this money now, we can get on board with it. Or inversely, have you had any vendors uh have discussions with you about their pricing or the campaign strategy now that this has come into effect?
SPEAKER_01:Well, the bottom end of the market's been very sluggish for a long time. So when we've spoken about the strength of the market, it has tended to be higher prices. This will add some much needed stimulus and support for the bottom end of the market. And because um there is uh a lot of B-grade built units out there, it'll take time for this to really you know have an impact on the market, but over time it could. So it's not like a complete cash um you know, cash incentive that sort of turbocharges the the first home buyer. It it is very generous conditions for the first home buyer. Um, and I think it'll play a bigger role in in some markets than others. So I think affordable housing around a million dollars in you know Western Sydney, for example, um will probably go really, really well. Yep. Um whereas uh when we um we come into the inner city, is this going to make one bedroom apartments around 800,000 that have got high strata levies and building defects, is of which unfortunately there's too many of, is that gonna make them suddenly appealing to first home buyers? We're not seeing that. We are seeing some first home buyers fresh to the market take a look at it on the back of this, but it's not gonna create a boom instantly.
SPEAKER_02:I wonder too, uh, one of the things that I found in real estate, which I didn't realise before coming into the industry, is the banks or the the lenders' hesitancy to lend out on uh apartments that are less than 40 square meters. So, you know, those that then require a much higher LVR, 50% I think was kind of the standard. I wonder, and I don't know if you know the answer to this, but does the government's policy also override those sub 40 square meter apartments and allow for a 5% deposit? Because if it does, I think that will open up a huge section of the market that has previously been unattainable for many people because they couldn't get 50% up front.
SPEAKER_01:Uh, I don't think so. I don't think that would um override the the lenders' uh issues around that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Okay. Well, look, one of the big problems that first-home buyers have at TUF is supply, and we talk about this all the time. Yeah, I think it's particularly important or relevant to talk about the fact that just uh in the last couple of days, your friends in the Inner West Council, uh particularly Mayor, you know, led by Mayor Darcy Byrne, uh approved 31,000 new apartments for the Inner West, uh, which was met with huge amounts of opposition. It was also met with huge amounts of support. Uh it was a really strong and polarizing outcome. That seems like a good, you know, it's a it's one of the first positive things to come out of the idea to get more housing built. Um, have you any thoughts about, firstly, the Inner West's decision to approve those 31,000? Uh, and you know, any sense that there's been any real movement on this housing supply issue?
SPEAKER_01:Uh, look, so couple of couple of things that have come out in recent times. We've discussed the 10,000 new homes in Willara. Yep. I saw a report, they've slated 4,000 new homes to go in cow paddocks out at Mulgoa. Um, that was a Channel 7 report. I think Murvack are behind that one. Yep. And then, as you quite correctly say, 30,000 new apartments were approved by Inner West Council for over the next 15 years. The ABC reported it as such. Lay back councillors have used their numbers to push through a controversial plan to rezone swathes of residential land in Sydney's Inner West to build more than 30,000 high-density apartments over the next 15 years. The Our Fairer Future Plan was passed by a single vote by the Inner West Council with all eight Labour councillors supporting the motion and the remaining seven councillors voting against. The packed public gallery erupted as the result was declared with applause from rows of supporters wearing Sydney Yimby t-shirts and cries of shame from residents opposed to the proposal. Now, uh, you say that there's uh widespread opposition to um 30,000 uh dwellings and um widespread support. I would say there was support was for for all of these apartments. My guess is it was fairly well confined to the three rows of people at that leading.
SPEAKER_02:I think that's uh that's probably a little bit pessimistic, Peter.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I I I do well, I don't know how I don't know if that is the case. Yeah. I am not running into anyone that's saying I have a plan that works. Can you hear me out? And I say, what is your plan? Let's say, let's build 30,000 more new apartments in the inner west, besides apparently the people that took up the front three rows with Yimby t-shirts on at this meeting.
SPEAKER_02:Do you know I it doesn't escape me that the leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party just this week said that the Liberal Party he leads is a Yimby party into the future.
SPEAKER_01:Oh well that's that's that's fine. That's I'm I'm not talking along political lines. I don't I don't see a case where the people have said flood the city with new entrants and then we'll build tens of thousands of new dwellings in every region to house them. I'm just not seeing anywhere where that has been a something that the people were looking for. Yeah. And and now we've been gaslighted saying that um, you know, we're um what are they saying about people who are anti this? Shame from residents opposed to the proposal and and using, you know, what would you say, um you know, carefully crafted um uh slogans like our fairer future plan.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, that's that's an inspiring name for a plan, our fairer future. Everyone wants a fairer future. I look the the bit I the the the approval process I think was inevitable because the US Council is strong Labour, we know that. Um I am interested, or actually what caught me by surprise, and I don't know if it caught you by surprise, but 8,000 of the 31 are for the Parameter Road Corridor that we've talked about last time or the time before we spoke, um, and a number more uh sorry, 8,000, I think around Camperdown and so on and so forth. Uh but what was surprising was the original proposal was for more than 31,000. Uh, and a large majority of those ended up being negotiated out at the last minute in places like Dulwich Hill and Marrickville and possibly Petersham? I can't remember the third suburb.
SPEAKER_01:Well, that's overreach. The government will overstate what they want, means of bringing it back so they're looking like they're uh listening and and all of that. The reality is that Labour has a complete majority on the Inner West Council.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Of course.
SPEAKER_01:So who of the Labour Party was really going to go against their their seven other colleagues on the night to make sure this didn't get up?
SPEAKER_02:Well, you know, the the optimistic, you know, democratic participant in me suggests that they're, you know, working for the interests of their voting membership, right? And and their constituency, that's the whole idea. Uh but I do apply.
SPEAKER_01:They're not working for their constituents because no one's asking for this. They're working for their masters higher up. We've got to call it for what it is. Yeah. The federal government want this, the state government want this, the the uh local Labour council here are just towing the line. Yeah. They're not working for the constituents.
SPEAKER_02:No, I know they're not. Yeah. I'm just again, I you know, I'm putting out there that that's what you're hoping your elected officials will do. But of course, in this case, it's all to fulfill you know Chris Minne's agenda, which is to get these houses out and elbows 1.2 million homes or whatever it might be.
SPEAKER_01:Um I And I'm not against development, but development in development of that magnitude in high density areas, um, the strain on the schools, the infrastructure, the roads, um, uh, the trades. Yeah. It's like I mean, the the schools is a massive one.
SPEAKER_02:Most of the schools in the inner west are completely at capacity. Yeah. You cannot, you know, you you can't get in anywhere. And there is, you know, even where I live, uh, which is in the Strathfield LGA, there are some local schools, public schools that are saying, look, you know, we don't we don't have space. Doesn't matter that you live here. Yeah. Which is crazy to me.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Uh and it is going to get worse.
SPEAKER_01:So we'll see how it all plays out. But, you know, Chris Mins, we've discussed it before. Chris Mins was elected and then told us the week after he was elected that he had a mandate to build all these apartments in the inner city, and I'm going to build up and not out. And it's like, I don't remember that being discussed at all.
SPEAKER_02:Now, I suspect that's what uh Chat GPT tells him when he downloads his conversations to it at night time, Peter.
SPEAKER_01:I'll let you confirm or deny that with him next time we have dinner with him.
SPEAKER_02:Look, uh, interesting discussion. I I certainly hope, look, regardless of the outcome with the uh approval, I certainly just hope that they have some rigorous standards in place to make sure that this is not another mass building project that ends up with shoddy construction, poor outcomes, opal towers, and and you know, the like. Um, because Sydney does need to solve the crisis in some way. Whether this is the right answer or not, who knows? But uh at least, you know, I can only hope that they do it properly, regardless. Look, uh, along our Outside of that, Peter, good robust discussion today. I certainly appreciate you coming to talk.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, good to catch up. Thanks, Kieran.
SPEAKER_02:Good to talk to you, Peter, and thanks to everyone for listening to Current Market Insights. We look forward to speaking with you next time.
SPEAKER_00:Thanks for joining us on the Current Market Insights podcast. Brought to you by Harris Partners Real Estate. The podcast providing real estate insights you won't find anywhere else.
