Housing affordability a key issue in Australian elections
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House prices on the up dominate election day down under. Hello, you're listening to the Marketplace Morning Report and we're live from the BBC World Service. I'm Leanna Byrne. Good morning.

Australians head to the polls tomorrow on what's being called a cost of living election with housing front and centre. House prices there have soared over the past two decades. Since the pandemic, rents have shot up too, making it nearly impossible for many young people to save for a deposit. The BBC's Vivienne Nunes reports from Melbourne.

Housing issues are front and centre of this election campaign. And I've come to a property that's open for inspection in Box Hill. That's just about half an hour outside of central Melbourne. And I'm here with the real estate agent. Daniel, thanks so much for letting me come and have a look at this house. Tell us about the property first of all. Well, this is a mid-century 1960s build. I call them old walk-up houses.

apartments with double carport, three bedrooms. It is first floor, but it has a private little courtyard. We anticipate this will sell somewhere between around $550,000 and $600,000, ideal for sort of your first home buyer market. Around $600,000 Australian, we're talking about $380,000 US. How hard is it for first home buyers that you see coming in? It is difficult for first home buyers to get into the market in these inner city fringe sort of suburbs with the better facilities and infrastructure and transport and schools and the likes.

$600,000 Australian dollars is a substantial amount of money, particularly when the home really could undergo a major renovation in order to get it up to today's living standards. I think we've got a prospective buyer coming in, so I'll let you go and have a chat. Thank you. My name's Chanel, so I'm 32. It is challenging for people to get into the market at this point.

And I'm definitely feeling that myself. I have a pretty decent job, but still being able to sort of afford rent and all of the expenses and then being able to save that deposit buying within the area that I'm keen to buy in is extremely challenging. Most banks want a 20% deposit before they'll sign off on a loan. That means young people need to save around $120,000 Australian dollars for an average entry-level home.

For many, that's an astronomical figure and saving it all is out of the question since rental costs in Australia's capital cities have risen far faster than incomes since the pandemic. So how did Australia get to the point where working couples are unable to afford a home without moving in with mum and dad?

Brendan Coates is a housing expert at the Grattan Institute, a think tank in Melbourne. The reason is because Australia hasn't built enough homes to meet the needs of a growing population. And so Australia is only one of four countries in the OECD where housing per person has gone backwards over the last 20 years. And we actually have some of the least housing per person of any country in the OECD. So despite being an island nation with an enormous landmass, most Australians live in our five major cities.

which means that if we don't build enough homes in those cities, then housing becomes increasingly expensive, which is what we've seen in Australia. This election marks the first time millennial and Gen Z voters outnumber the property-owning baby boomers. Both sides of politics are desperately trying to win over younger voters. By the end of the weekend, we'll know which party was more convincing. I'm the BBC's Vivienne Nunes for Marketplace. Now, let's do the numbers.

Hong Kong stocks hit a near one-month high on Friday as signs of easing US-China trade tensions gave markets a lift. And the oil giant Shell posted quarterly profits of almost $5.6 billion. That's down from last year, but still beating expectations.

Meanwhile, Japan's top negotiator says talks in Washington have been constructive as Tokyo tries to avoid any steep new tariffs. Japan is facing some of the highest proposed duties because of its big trade surplus with the US. Officials say discussions focused on boosting trade and strengthening economic security ties. But Yoko Isakura, professor emeritus at Hitoshi Bashi University, says a trade deal will only succeed

if Japanese consumers are willing to buy U.S. goods. I think it's much more depending upon the consumers. If consumers want American cars, they will buy, but the government cannot force the Japanese consumers to buy American cars if they don't like it. But when it comes to the agricultural products such as soybeans and things, we can still have quite a bit of potential demand.

to import more of the U.S., particularly rice. We have such a shortage of rice in Japan, and rice is a staple food, but the price has gone up like crazy. So I know that trading companies in Japan started importing some of the U.S.-made rice. That was Yoko Isakura, Professor Emeritus at Hitotsubashi University. Thank you.

Now here in the UK, the luxury department store Harrods has been targeted in a cyber attack. It comes days after two other retail chains, the Co-op and Marks & Spencer, were also hit. The BBC's technology editor Zoe Kleinman reports. Harrods became the latest retailer to take measures to contain an attempted cyber attack yesterday by restricting internet access at its sites. It said its online shopping service and stores were unaffected.

Businesses are bombarded by attempted cyber attacks all the time and it's not yet clear whether recent incidents are connected but retailers are currently on high alert since a ransomware attack hit Marks & Spencer and is still affecting it several days later.

Zoe Kleinman there. Now, analysts suggest retailers are a target because of the customer data they hold and the high impact that any disruption can have. Nick Stowe is chief executive of the fashion chains Monsoon and Accessorise. We're targeted constantly. And I think just along with, you know, most of the other retailers, there are attacks that go on in

various shapes and forms all the time. I think people don't realize that, but it's a constant issue for us. I think they generally want money. They might have some core celebra, but I think this is about money. The challenge with some of these attacks is it can completely sink the business. I mean, I think our

Our going in principle is we wouldn't pay a ransom. And I think most people would be in the same boat. I think how you navigate that when it's actually happening is probably another matter. We haven't had to cross that bridge yet. Nick Stowe there on the UK's National Cyber Security Centre says all organisations in the UK need to be vigilant against cyber attacks. I'm Leanna Byrne with the Marketplace Morning Report from the BBC World Service.

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