Copyright theage
By studying movements in property prices and rents before, during and since COVID in Sydney’s train-stop suburbs compared to those without stations, researchers found that in 2025, the shift to remote and hybrid working has significantly reduced buyer demand for houses and especially units, near stations. There was strong demand from tenants, however, potentially pushing up rents – and defeating the aim of providing more affordable homes for renters. “Increasing housing supply is a very good idea but where should we be doing that?” asked Dr Song Shi, associate professor of property economics at the School of Built Environment, UTS. Shi is the lead author, with UTS senior lecturer Dr Yuming Ou, of the new report The Impact of Train Accessibility on Housing Affordability. “It must be in places where it matches demand otherwise, worst-case scenario, no one wants to live there.”
