Month: August 2022

Home prices in ‘affordable’ regional Queensland towns continue to rise as national housing market drops

Post author By mangakiko
Post date August 3, 2022
No Comments on Home prices in ‘affordable’ regional Queensland towns continue to rise as national housing market drops

Man and woman smiling in front of their weatherboard home painted blue and cream, near a tree.

A 25-year-old buying a two-storey house with a picturesque garden for just over $300,000 harks back to the early 1990s.

But in outback Queensland towns such as Longreach, it’s the norm.

The Reserve Bank of Australia yesterday raised interest rates for the fourth consecutive month, but Longreach resident Ben Galea said he was not stressed.

“When it comes time for my fixed interest rate to change … I don’t have to change my lifestyle,” Mr Galea said.

“It’s a great town. It’s buzzing. There are a lot of young people here. There are lots to do, lots of sports. It’s brilliant.

“There are things that we don’t have out here. It costs money to fly back to the coast. You don’t see family as often. These are the things you give up.”

As interest rates rise, home values in Australia are dropping at their fastest pace since the global financial crisis, with the latest data showing that the nation’s median property value has dropped by 2 per cent since the beginning of May, to $747,182.

Lush green backyard with smoke rising from a pizza oven. — Mr Galea purchased his home last year for $310,000 at a “beautiful” fixed rate of 1.9 per cent.(Supplied)

But parts of regional Queensland are tipped to be more insulated from price drops than cities, and some regions have continued to see property prices increase in the last month.

Regional Australia Institute chief executive Liz Ritchie said it was mostly due to housing affordability in the regions.

“What we won’t see is the markets in regional Australia and regional Queensland fall as sharply,” she said.

“In the past couple of years, regions have seen significant price growth… but this is off years of just having steady incremental growth.

“The shocks that we’re seeing with interest rate hikes just won’t be felt in the same way, particularly in Queensland’s more rural and remote communities.”

Regional buyers ‘not overly worried’

Toowoomba-based Heritage Bank’s chief operating officer Dan Dredge said recent hikes to interest rates had not affected the number of people applying for home loans in regional Queensland through his bank.

Young man lighting a fire with a circle of friends. — Mr Galea says he loves the lifestyle and community in western Queensland.(ABC Western Qld: Victoria Pengilley)

“We’re not seeing people being overly worried about interest rate rises,” Mr Dredge said.

“What we’re seeing is people budgeting and setting their expectations on higher interest rates, moving forward.”

Data from CoreLogic found dwelling values in regional Queensland fell by 0.8 per cent in July, compared to larger falls of 2.2 per cent in Sydney and 1.5 per cent in Melbourne.

It was the first monthly decline for regional Queensland since August 2020 and follows record annual gains, with regional house prices increasing by 19 per cent over the past year.

But the data is not as simple as it seems.

CoreLogic head of research Eliza Owen said the decline in regional Queensland in July was a result of large price drops of more than 1 per cent in the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast markets, where median house prices were higher than in Brisbane.

“The Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast have seen more accelerated declines in recent months due to interest having more of a dampening effect on these relatively expensive markets,” Ms Owen said.

“Smaller and more affordable markets of Queensland may have shown modest gains over the month of July, but even here, monthly growth rates have been broadly slowing since earlier in the year.”

In July, property prices fell by 1.1 per cent on the Gold Coast and 1.4 per cent on the Sunshine Coast, according to CoreLogic. (ABC News: Dominic Cansdale)

House prices on rise in ‘affordable’ regions

Bucking the trend of capital cities, home values have continued to increase in July at a slowing rate across Wide Bay (up 0.6 per cent), Toowoomba (up 0.7 per cent), the Darling Downs – Maranoa (up 1.8 per cent), and Cairns (up 0.1 per cent).

“It is expected that these markets may also see a decline in values in the coming months against higher interest rate settings,” Ms Owen said.

Mr Dredge expects continued demand for new home purchases in regional Queensland.(Supplied)

But Mr Dredge said strong growth in regional areas would continue to drive demand for housing and home loans.

“You continue to see for hire or job signs in windows on the main street and Toowoomba. I don’t see that going away anytime soon,” he said.

“I think that’s going to lead to continued demand for new home purchases and home loans.

“Historically, as long as people have good jobs and good savings buffers, they’re able to service their home loans.”

The Regional Australia Institute also forecasts a continued movement of people from capital cities into regional areas.

Ms Ritchie urges there needs to be a government focus on increasing housing supply and infrastructure to ensure a smooth transition for regional Australia.

“We continue to believe that city to regional migration will continue to flow at similar, if not even higher levels,” she said.

“If you look at the way that our country has shifted due to COVID, the ability to move, flexibility … to live where you love and have that opportunity.

“You’ve got a trend that is not going to stop any time soon.”

Tags affordability, australian regional, Housing, interest rates, longreach, Outback

Technology

‘Apex Legends’ wants cross-progress “sooner than later”

Post author By mangakiko
Post date August 3, 2022
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Respawn Entertainment has revealed the details for apex legends season 14, as well as the long-term goals the studio has for the battle royale.

During the season 14 press event, the developer talked about its future plans for the free-to-play first-person shooter in a Q&A. It touched on ranked updates and in-game gifting and most notably the long-awaited cross-progression. According to the design director Evan Nikolich, this is something the development team wants “sooner than later.” (via VG247).

“We’re actively working on cross progression, but there’s no release date on it,” Nikolich said. “The game wasn’t built with it in mind, which makes it complicated. But I hear you, and I want cross progression too. It’s something we’re definitely working on – we want it sooner than later.”

Cross-progression would allow players to keep their progress and rewards when playing apex legends on multiple platforms, whether it be PC or console.

Apex Legends. Credit: Respawn Entertainment.

“It is a very technically complex problem,” he added. “Our game wasn’t built, from the foundation, to address cross-progression. But I hear you – I want cross-progression… it’s something that we definitely are working on and want to get in sooner than later” (via PCGamesN).

In terms of in-game gifting, senior game designer Eric Canavese explained that this is something Respawn is “actively working on” but “we want to make sure it’s something people enjoy, something that doesn’t feel grindy”.

Season 14, entitled Apex Legends: Hunted is set to launch on August 9 and will introduce a brand-new champion named Vantage, as well as an increased level cap. Respawn has already provided new details on season 14’s reorganized Kings Canyon map.

In other news, the Russo Brothers have called The Last of Us Part 2 one of the greatest games ever made.

Sports

Many footballers are not ready when the tap on the shoulder comes

Post author By mangakiko
Post date August 3, 2022
No Comments on Many footballers are not ready when the tap on the shoulder comes

Geelong told me my time was up about three games before the end of 2015. I had asked whether I could go another year, play VFL and get to 200 games, but I was, as every former player will understand, starting to get a feeling the club had made the decision to finish me up.

David Mundy announced his retirement this week.Credit:Getty Images

Looking back I don’t begrudge them at all. I was over 30 and couldn’t kick further than 35 meters. I would have done the same if I was in their shoes but at the moment it was hard. Eventually, after some sleepless nights where I wrestled with the sense I had unfinished business, I decided to confront the reality. I went into football manager Steve Hocking’s office and said, “let’s hug it out, I understand”.

My former teammate Cam Mooney was a great mentor through that time. We’d speak weekly and he said “even if you don’t like the decisions, the only thing that will reflect on you is the way you deal with the news”. I wasn’t perfect, but I tried, and I realized now everyone else was also doing their best to handle an uncomfortable period too.

I decided to focus on the 98 per cent that was positive about my time at the club: the friendships, the fun, the opportunities, the networks and the financial reward rather than the part that made me feel horrible at the end.

The fortunate part for me when Geelong’s door shut is that I was as prepared as I could be because I had managed to take advantage of enough of the opportunities the club and the game provided to set up the life I wanted to live post playing.

Neville Jetta retired at the end of 2021 and joined Collingwood as an assistant coach.Credit:eddie jim

Being drafted at 21 helped because I understood the real world’s reality better than many who had gone straight from school to the club. The whole time I was playing I studied or did work experience. My work experience was at Cotton On, Werribee, and Melbourne Zoo. For most of the back end of my career I worked in the Geelong community department on my days off and then during my last year as a player, spent my day off working with the AFL. They employed me full time four weeks after my last game at Geelong.

I was probably at the peak of my career when I worked at Cotton On alongside Max Rooke, but I was there to do the job they wanted me to do. It was humbling, and important.

My manager, Tom Petroro, was critical to that because he was always honest about where I was at and set up ways for me to stay connected to the real world and learn skills that were essential to live life as I matured. He was never afraid to question me and for that, I’m forever grateful.

I think most of our clubs and the AFL Players Association do more than enough to educate players on the importance of using their time productively, but from what I have seen not enough players take the opportunity time in the game gives them to establish the path their life takes until it is potentially too late.

Most playing careers don’t last long. It’s important to network, talk and engage with sponsors, board members, influential people at the club and people who work at the club and not just people in the football department because it will help when the tap comes. It might set you up or, at least, give you a place to start your next chapter.

The key is to find passions outside football and see whether you can leverage that into a career. Mine was always to help better my people and my connections to people in the First Nations community locally was so vital in learning about life and keeping a perspective on what working in that space was like.

Looking back, the best years of my career were 2008, 2013 and 2014 when I was doing work outside the club. Don’t stress about the time not spent on football because the break will ensure you are switched on when you arrive at the club to work on football.

Some players can expect too much to be done for us while we are playing. I sometimes cringe when I hear former players complaining about the lack of support they received during and after their careers.

Our player development managers were brutal if I did not conduct myself well in doing basic things such as returning a call or replying courteously to an email.

But you need to realize that the responsibility is on you, while you are playing.

Otherwise, unhappily wearing tracky dacks on the couch could become your refuge after it’s all finished.

. One of the greatest, Joel Selwood, played game No.350 on the weekend. My definition of greatness is making players around you better. He not only improved other players, but they walked taller when playing with him (I needed any help I could get in this area). I’ve never seen a player come up big in the biggest moment more often than “Selsy” but it’s the man himself and the human he is, that makes me so proud to call this man a great teammate and a brother for life.

Mathew Stokes is a Larrakia man who played 200 games with Geelong and Essendon. I have played in Geelong’s 2007 and 2011 premiership teams.

Australia

Iranian asylum seeker on bridging visa wants permanency in Australia to care for her sick daughter

Post author By mangakiko
Post date August 3, 2022
No Comments on Iranian asylum seeker on bridging visa wants permanency in Australia to care for her sick daughter

A woman sits at her kitchen table looking off to the side. Her expression is pensive.

Elham Amareh is used to feeling fear and uncertainty, having fled Iran with her husband, son and daughter and making the treacherous journey to Australia by boat in 2013.

“My family is very strict with religion, and I didn’t follow my religion, and because I lose my hijab and lose my religion [sic]I cannot go back,” she said.

“If I return to my country, they will kill me straight away, and they will kill my daughter as well.”

Ms Amareh has lived in Australia for a decade now, but her attempts to secure a protection visa have been denied.

Instead, her family has lived on six-month bridging visas for most of that time.

Life’s uncertainties became too much to bear in January this year, when her 16-year-old daughter was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoma – a type of blood cancer.

A woman stands next to a teenage girl in a hospital bed whose hair has fallen out from cancer treatment — Elham Amareh’s 16-year-old daughter, Areezo, is undergoing treatment in hospital for T-cell lymphoma. (Supplied)

“I am depressed [and] I can’t sleep,” she said.

“My whole family is depressed about [my daughter].

“As a mum, it’s hard when I see my child sick.

“I can’t go back to my country [because] it is hard to find her treatment in my country, and very expensive.”

People in limbo for years

Ms Amareh gradually reduced her work hours after her daughter’s diagnosis, and eventually quit, to spend more time at the hospital.

She said her husband was too depressed to work more than a few days each week, and her family was currently living in a house offered up as a short-term option by a friend.

While her visa arrangements include Medicare access, other supports such as those available through Centrelink are not included.

“I’ve been here a long time, we pay taxes, and we have children here,” she said.

“I just want a good life for my kids.”

A man sits next to a woman who is affectionately holding the shoulders of a teenage girl, they are sitting in a restaurant — The Amareh family has been living on six-month bridging visas for most of the last decade.(Supplied)

Immigration lawyer Chris Johnston said there were many others across the country struggling to find stability under current visa arrangements.

He said some were asylum seekers, like Ms Amareh, who had been denied refugee status, but were unable to return safely to their home country – creating a state of limbo.

“The system is messy, and it leaves many people in limbo for long periods of time,” he said.

“People are on bridging visas for up to a decade, and their life goes on [and] their children grow up and they’re still on bridging visas.

“There’s the uncertainty of, ‘If I get this visa refused, am I going to be put into detention? If I get put into detention, am I going to be deported?’

“It’s very stressful.”

Mr Johnston said the six-monthly renewal requirement, as well as some restrictions on access to healthcare, welfare, and education, made it extremely difficult for traumatized people to move on with their lives.

“They’re spending a lot of time just trying to access things, and get the basics for life,” he said.

Mr Johnston suggested a longer time frame between renewal could be applied, to reduce the pressure of six-monthly applications.

Giving refugees permanency

Around the same time Ms Amareh arrived in Australia, the number of asylum seekers traveling to the country by boat was increasing dramatically.

Successive Labor and Coalition governments brought in a range of policies designed to stop the arrival of boats carrying asylum seekers and deter people smuggling.

When the last Labor government was defeated in 2013, the Coalition reintroduced Temporary Protection Visas, available for a period of three years for people who arrive in Australia without a visa and were found to be owed international protection obligations.

Female hands holding two photographs — Elham Amareh fled Iran with her husband and two children in 2012.(ABC News: Trent Murphy)

In the lead up to this year’s federal election, Labor promised to abolish that scheme, along with the Safe Haven Enterprise Visas (SHEVs), and “transition eligible refugees onto permanent visa arrangements.”

About 19,000 refugees on TPVs and SHEVs could be “eligible” under the changes.

Mr Johnston said the government had a “difficult challenge ahead” to develop the details of that “transition” in a timely fashion.

“Immigration policy is not an easy thing to do,” he said.

“But this is the time to do it, in the first year of their term.

“We don’t want to see this go on for another three years, or another six years.

“The time to act is now.”

Immigration Minister Andrew Giles said he was “currently considering options on how best to resolve the current cohort’s visa status.”

“This Government will stop wasting taxpayer money reassessing their visas every three or five years … [and] will deliver on our commitment to convert those on temporary protection visas and safe haven enterprise visas to permanent protection visas,” he said.

A woman stirring a pot in a kitchen — Elham Amareh wants to live in Australia to care for her daughter.(ABC News: Trent Murphy)

What about bridging visas?

While the new Labor Government’s plan is a source of hope to certain visa-holders, the changes won’t help others stuck on bridging visas, like Ms Amareh and her family.

She said her family was desperate to stay in the country permanently, and focus on her daughter’s treatment.

“I want to be treated like an Australian citizen,” she said.

“Please — I want this government to look after us.”

The Minister for Immigration, Andrew Giles, has the power to intervene in migration matters.

A spokesperson for the Minister said he was unable to comment on individual cases, but that “every case was assessed on its individual merits.”

The Federal Government declined to comment on whether any policy changes were being considered around bridging visas held by asylum seekers, specifically Bridging Visa E (050).

Tags Andrew Giles, asylum seeker, bridging visa, chris johnston, citizenship, Immigration, Iran, refugee

Mega Millions $1.3B winner’s identity still a mystery

Post author By mangakiko
Post date August 3, 2022
No Comments on Mega Millions $1.3B winner’s identity still a mystery

Check out what’s clicking on FoxBusiness.com.

The lucky Illinois ticket holder who won the $1.3 billion Mega Millions jackpot on Friday night remains a mystery as the fortune sits thus far uncollected.

Mega Millions allows winners to remain anonymous if they so choose — most often to afford negative attention or unwanted solicitations for money. However, the winning ticket for last week’s historic jackpot has not been claimed at all.

Lottery officials are encouraging regular players to double-check their numbers.

“Congratulations to the Illinois Lottery for selling the winning ticket for the $1.337 billion Mega Millions jackpot,” Ohio Lottery Director Pat McDonald said in a statement. “We are thrilled to have witnessed one of the biggest jackpot wins in Mega Millions history.”

MEGA MILLIONS JACKPOT: HOW MUCH WILL WINNER OWE IN TAXES?

Speedway in Des Plaines, Illinois, where Mega Millions winning ticket was sold

A Mega Millions jackpot winning ticket was purchased at a Speedway location in Des Plaines, Illinois, Friday, July 29, 2022. (Google Street View / Google Maps)

The winning ticket was sold at the Speedy Cafe Speedway gas station on East Touhy Avenue in Des Plaines, Illinois. The winning numbers were listed as 13, 36, 45, 57, 67 and the gold Mega ball was 14. The Megaplier was 2X.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS

Individual states can have public disclosure laws that require the identity of winners to be published, but Illinois does not.

A lottery ticket vending machine sits a convenience store, July 21, 2022, in Northbrook, Ill. The next Mega Millions drawing is Tuesday, July 25, 2022 with a jackpot at $790 million. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, file/AP Newsroom)

MEGA MILLIONS DRAWING: ILLINOIS SPEEDWAY GAS STATION THAT SOLD WINNING TICKET IN LINE FOR BIG COMMISSION

“If your prize is $250,000 or greater, you may request to keep your name and municipality of residence confidential by indicating that choice on the Illinois Lottery Winner Claim Form,” according to Illinois Lottery rules.

The regulations continue, “You must make this request at the time of claiming the prize. If you do not, to assure the public that prizes are won and awarded, the Illinois Lottery will routinely publish winner information, including the winner’s name, home city , and the amount won.

The Mega Millions lottery game is played in 45 states as well as Washington, DC, and the US Virgin Islands. The game is coordinated by state lotteries.

Business

What people are ditching as the cost of living soars

Post author By mangakiko
Post date August 3, 2022
No Comments on What people are ditching as the cost of living soars

KeepCups for coffee and money — Aussies are tightening their belts to save money. *(Source: Getty)*

Soaring and have many Aussies rethinking their spending habits, with “fun” expenses on the chopping block for many households.

Going to restaurants was the first thing Aussies had been cutting back on, according to a Finder survey of more than 2,000 people.

Almost a quarter (22 per cent) said they would forgo meals out to save money.

Online shopping was also a popular expense to bin, with 13 per cent putting it down as the first thing they would stop doing if their budget was under pressure.

TV subscriptions were also a popular sacrifice (10 per cent), followed by nights out at the pub (9 per cent).

Others were prepared to cut their gym memberships (6 per cent), takeaway coffees (6 per cent), car trips (5 per cent) and even heating and cooling in the home (5 per cent).

Only 2 per cent said they would stop their health insurance, and 1 per cent said they would ax their child’s music or sport lessons.

Around 15 per cent said they wouldn’t curb their spending at all, even if their expenses rose suddenly.

Young people were much more likely to cut back (94 per cent) than boomers (68 per cent) in the face of financial pressures.

“Australians are tightening their belts and making some tricky decisions about how they spend their cash,” Rebecca Pike, money expert at Finder, said.

“’Fun’ has been forced to take a backseat as households grapple with pressures to their budget, including rising interest rates and inflation.”

Pike recommended grouping expenses into essentials and non-essentials.

“Cut from the non-essentials column first and shop around – now is the time to really think about where and how you can save money,” she said.

If your expenses started to suddenly increase, what would be the first thing you would cut out to save money?
Going to restaurants	22%
I wouldn’t cut anything out	fifteen%
Online shopping	13%
TVsubscription	10%
Going to bars/pubs	9%
gym membership	6%
take away coffee	6%
driving my car	5%
Heating/cooling my home	5%
health insurance	two%
other	two%
My child’s sport/music lessons or extracurriculars	1%
life insurance	1%
Toys for my kids	1%
Kids school fees	1%

Data source from Finder.

Inflation a bigger concern than mortgage debt

The cost of living was found to be the biggest financial concern for Aussies at the moment (61 per cent), according to a Money.com.au survey.

This was followed by having a financial buffer in case of an emergency (43 per cent) and having enough cash flow to pay bills (39 per cent).

The ability to meet mortgage repayments amid interest rate increases ranked sixth – chosen as one of the top concerns for 27 per cent of respondents.

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Technology

League Will Stop Getting New Champions

Post author By mangakiko
Post date August 3, 2022
No Comments on League Will Stop Getting New Champions

With Nilah League of Legends now has over 160 champions, but how many more will fit into the game? Does Riot have a cap?

sorceress lux — How many more champions can Riot make? | © RiotGames

League of Legends has a repertoire of over 160 champions. Do other games have the same number of characters? Hardy. Dota 2, the biggest competitor, has recently released hero number 123. Sure, Super Smash Bros. has a large cast as well, but the 80 playable characters can’t reach League of Legends and their number of champions.

But that begs the question, when is it enough? Can Riot sustain constant creation of champions in the game, and when will they reach a limit? In a recent appearance on the Australian podcast Broken by Concept, head of the balance team Matt “Phroxzon” Leung-Harrison addressed this exact question. Will League of Legends stop making new champions?

Is There An End of New Champions in Sight?

According Phroxzon, the League of Legends team has already been considering an end for new champions. So, if you were wondering whether one day we won’t be getting any new champions in the biggest MOBA, then the simple answer is yes. But we don’t want to jump to conclusions right now because Phroxzon elaborated in the podcast.

It’s definitely been a discussion. I think we’ve still got a lot of flex to go.

So, while the team has discussed it and are thinking about capping out at a certain number of champions, the champion’s team won’t let this happen just yet. So, don’t worry guys, there will still be some more champions coming. We’ve still got a new top laner to look forward to and a bunch of other characters from Arcane or Legends of Runeterra we’d love as champions, right?

While you have an existential crisis about the potential lack of new champions, we give you some more food for thought:

When Will Riot Stop Making New Champions?

Phroxzon added in the podcast that he believes once champions are ‘unintuitive’, then they should stop making new champions. What does he mean by ‘unintuitive’, though? Basically, I have described it as champions creating situations that just won’t make sense in the eyes of a player. Sure, you could argue that a yone ult Shredding through five champions could be considered unintuitive, but we’re talking about completely bonkers scenarios here.

There are a few things that make a lot of champions unsustainable. One is if champions are unintuitive. Let’s say I run into Thresh, he throws a hook, and it looks like a hook, but it just goes over somebody. You’d be like ‘what the hell is that?

He explains that situations like this will make it harder for players to understand the game and properly play it as well. The learning curve would be too big for beginners and adding in such mechanics will just dishearten longtime players as well.

So, every player needs to consume and understand 160 champions to play the game effectively. That becomes a lot more difficult when every hook champion has its hook like function in a slightly different way.

So, while it could be daunting to have new abilities in the game, keeping champions fresh and unique without being too repetitive, the champions and balance team do not want to make things too unintuitive. So-while Gwen’s W – an example from the podcast – was mentioned in terms of new and unintuitive mechanics, there were also some specific design philosophies behind her W that still made sense to the champions team, which is why she was added to the champion pool.