Exclusive: Economists say falling house prices are largely in the more expensive parts of Sydney and Melbourne’s markets and are less likely to affect first-time property owners

Fears that first-time buyers with tiny deposits will find their mortgages are worth more than their homes may be assuaged by new data showing falling prices are concentrated in the top end of the Sydney and Melbourne property markets.

Climbing inflation, interest rates and worries about the economic fallout from the Middle East conflict have helped depress housing values in the country’s two biggest cities.

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© Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

© Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

© Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

The Trump administration cited misspending among the reasons for blocking funds to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. Mayor Karen Bass warned that “people will lose their lives.”

© Kenny Holston/The New York Times

Fatima Jabbe-Bio kept tenancy in Southwark despite living for much of year at presidential lodge in Freetown

A social housing flat rented by Sierra Leone’s first lady has been seized by a London council.

Southwark council confirmed it had repossessed the two-bedroom home in Walworth previously occupied by Fatima Jabbe-Bio, whose tenancy was reported by the Times last year.

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© Photograph: Ahmed Jallanzo/EPA

© Photograph: Ahmed Jallanzo/EPA

© Photograph: Ahmed Jallanzo/EPA

Employees at artificial intelligence companies are coming into gargantuan sums of money amid boom in IPOs

Home prices in the San Francisco Bay Area’s already expensive market are skyrocketing as employees at leading artificial intelligence companies come into gargantuan sums of money thanks to a boom in initial public offerings.

With San Francisco’s OpenAI and Anthropic, as well as SpaceX, which operates a major facility in the Los Angeles area, eyeing debuts on the stock market, the hot housing market may not abate soon. If their initial public offering (IPO) is well-received, the companies’ multibillion-dollar valuations are poised to produce massive wealth for employees and executives holding shares, which experts say could trigger an uptick in demand for the Bay Area’s limited housing stock.

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© Photograph: Ethan Swope/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ethan Swope/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ethan Swope/Getty Images

A cohort of young Millennial and Gen Z politicians have centered their campaigns this year on housing costs, and the divide is more generational than partisan.

© Sophie Park for The New York Times

Crowds gather at sites across Belfast after Sudanese man charged with attempted murder

• Full report: Man seriously injured in Belfast stabbing Starmer describes as ‘sickening’

Badenoch said, after the murder of Stephen Lawrence, it was right that people wanted to ensure this did not happen again.

It led to the Macpherson report, she said.

[It] wanted to put right what went wrong with policing in the 1990s.

However, in attempting to do so, it also enshrined a principle which I believe is wrong that a racist incident is racist if it is perceived as racist by the victim or any other person.

Equality law, properly designed, should protect us all in the same way. It should be a shield, not a sword.

It should protect people from discrimination. It should protect people from being treated differently because of their race, sex, religion, sexuality, disability or age.

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© Photograph: PA

© Photograph: PA

© Photograph: PA

Measures being considered to crack down on practice that has grown as a result of Britain’s housing crisis

London councils could be banned from “dumping” homeless families hundreds of miles across England under measures being considered by ministers, the Guardian has learned.

MPs said vulnerable people, including women fleeing abuse, were being “coerced” into choosing between rough sleeping or moving to cheap, sparsely furnished properties in some of the poorest parts of the country.

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© Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

© Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

© Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

Statistics show fewer than 1% of homes are bought by foreigners, as race discrimination commissioner warns against blaming migrants for housing woes

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One Nation’s Barnaby Joyce has claimed that “people who look like they’ve recently arrived” are knocking Australian buyers out of home auctions, despite tax office data showing fewer than 1% of dwellings are bought by foreigners.

The federal race discrimination commissioner subsequently warned against “demonising migrants” in the debate about housing affordability.

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© Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

© Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

© Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Government-funded JobsPlus trial in 10 neighbourhoods could be scalable nationwide, evaluation shows

• We would like to hear from young people in the UK about their job-hunting experiences

A government-funded pilot of “hyperlocal” job support in 10 neighbourhoods across England has shown “promising early signs of effectiveness”, including for young people, and could be scalable nationwide, a new evaluation has shown.

The JobsPlus scheme, backed by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Youth Futures Foundation, an independent non-profit organisation, focuses intensive support in a small area of predominantly social housing. Echoing a similar, long-established scheme in the US, “community champions” at each site help to engage hard-to-reach people in the local area.

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© Photograph: Gary Calton/The Guardian

© Photograph: Gary Calton/The Guardian

© Photograph: Gary Calton/The Guardian

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Is Australian music at risk of extinction? Here’s what the data tells us

The music that charts in Australia has changed considerably over the past couple of decades – rock is out, country is in and old tracks are new again.

Because of Richard’s brilliant research, advanced Melanoma went from a death sentence to a curable disease. As a result of that breakthrough, in a country with the highest melanoma rates on earth, thousands of Australians are alive today. …

After being diagnosed with brain cancer, Australians got to know Richard as a man of warmth and hope. He faced his disease with optimism, with a smile, and with a deep sense of purpose. Just a few months ago, living with stage four brain cancer, he was still riding his bike through Tasmania, raising money for a cure.

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© Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

© Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

© Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

House prices in Portugal are expected to remain high, with measures to stimulate supply taking effect later (rather than sooner), and risks associated with the ability to repay loans –

The post House prices in Portugal “expected to remain high” – DBRS appeared first on Portugal Resident.