Sat, 1st Feb 2025

In this episode of the Weekly Finance News Wrap, Paige Estritori reviews major economic trends and events. She begins with Australia's housing industry, noting a stark increase in Melbourne's standalone house prices compared to units, as data from CoreLogic reveals a 51.1% price gap. The surge in house prices in capital cities to 123% since 2010 outpaces the 64% rise for units, perhaps due to land scarcity and population growth, potentially making the traditional upgrade from units to houses a relic of the past. The podcast then delves into international markets, impacted by China's DeepSeek open-source AI model breakthrough causing dips in major indices, tech stocks, and the US dollar. The commodities market showed minor fluctuations, with Bitcoin falling below the $100,000 mark. Lastly, Australia's housing market shows distinct trends among capital cities, with dwelling value dips in Sydney and Melbourne, but possible growth in Brisbane.n