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Housing inventory growth is starting to stall, despite elevated mortgage rates. As new listings begin their seasonal decline, we might have already reached our peak percentage growth rate for 2025. The recent stalling has already gradually reduced the year-over-year growth percentage by a slight amount. For the rest of the year I’ll be watching to

Nearly two-thirds of retirees are dissatisfied with Social Security benefits, according to a new survey conducted by The Senior Citizens League (TSCL). The average monthly Social Security check reached north of $2,000 this year, according to the survey, with just 10% of the 1,920 respondents saying they were satisfied with that amount. Roughly 63% reported

Nearly two dozen members of Congress recently sent a letter to Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), that supports his decision to accept VantageScore 4.0 credit scores for mortgages purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The lawmakers, led by Rep. Mike Flood (R-Neb.), said that the move will help President

Another merger and acquisition deal has hit the housing industry. Real estate and mortgage intelligence provider InGenius announced Wednesday that it has acquired SIMPL, a recruitment platform designed to support retail mortgage branch managers, and it has incorporate it into its existing data tools. Built by Fobby Naghmi and John Perry, SIMPL stands for Strategic

Inside an unassuming church hall in Hervey Bay, a group of amateur singers is belting out classics from the likes of John Denver and Gerry and the Pacemakers. Some voices are in tune. Some are breaking with laughter. Others are singing the wrong song. But being pitch perfect isn’t the goal. For the Forget Me Not singing group, music is their medicine — the choir is made up of people diagnosed with dementia and their carers. “I like the songs they sing, they’ve got music out of my vintage,” says Dick Legge, who was diagnosed three years ago. The Forget Me Not singing group meets twice a week between Hervey Bay and Maryborough. (ABC Wide Bay: Lucy Loram) The group meets twice a week between Hervey Bay and the nearby heritage city of Maryborough for what founder Julie de Waard describes as a “dementia-friendly” two hours of singing and shaking maracas and tambourines. “Singing allows you to release endorphins and make you feel good,” says Ms de Waard, who is the seniors liaison officer with Fraser Coast Regional Council. “At the same time, they’re opening up their lungs … we’re doing things like looking for the page numbers and looking for the songs in the book.” The group allows people with dementia and their carers to regularly socialise with others. (ABC Wide Bay: Lucy Loram) Every breath between lyric or shake of an instrument is an exercise in combating the debilitating condition. “It’s targeting hand-eye coordination and all of those physical attributes as well as memory,” Ms de Waard says. For John Dineen, who has been managing his frontotemporal dementia diagnosis for 40 years, the singing group is helping his mind and soul. “I come here because I lost my wife, I’m on my own,” he says. “I don’t sing very well because my breathing is no good, but it doesn’t matter. I enjoy it … and the singing helps me socialise.” John Dineen says the singing helps him improve his breathing. (ABC Wide Bay: Lucy Loram) Regional Queenslanders at risk Hervey Bay, a fast-growing city three hours north of Brisbane, is a popular destination among retirees. Almost a third of residents on the Fraser Coast are aged over 65, and the Hervey Bay Neighbourhood Centre projects that figure will reach 35 per cent by 2041. Yet, locals lament a lack of face-to-face dementia support services. Julie de Waard founded the singing group. (ABC Wide Bay: Lucy Loram) “It’s very limited … so specific dementia services, we have maybe three or four at tops,” Ms de Waard says. There are more than 85,000 Queenslanders living with dementia, according to Dementia Australia, but people in regional areas face additional barriers to accessing support. “There are a range of modifiable risk factors … like excess alcohol consumption, high blood pressure and depression … that might come into play more consistently for people living in regional and remote areas who perhaps have less access to services and supports,” executive director Kaele Stokes says. Dr Kaele Stokes says face-to-face support services are critical to managing dementia. (ABC News: Scott Jewell) Dr Stokes says there is a demand for more social group services like dementia-friendly choirs across the country. “Certainly face-to-face services and supports can make a real difference, particularly to people who do feel socially isolated in communities that are geographically dispersed,” she says. “It often creates a level of cognitive stimulation that can be a really valuable part.” Singing promotes a rush of endorphins for those with dementia. (ABC Wide Bay: Lucy Loram) When words fail, the music speaks Gil and Jeni Jagels’ lives were forever altered when Gil was diagnosed with dementia a year ago. “He’d been in and out of hospital a couple of times with heart issues,” Ms Jagels recalls. “[Doctors] had to really look at what happened and change medications before he could come home … and he came home a different person. “[The nurse] just said, ‘He has dementia’, and I just fell apart.” Jeni Jagels cares for her husband Gil since his dementia diagnosis a year ago. (ABC Wide Bay: Lucy Loram) What followed was a flurry of information that overwhelmed the pair until Ms Jagels stumbled across the Forget Me Nots. “The singing group is the only real support we have,” she says. “I’ve been finding out more information [about support services] through the singing people, they’ve been a godsend.” Ms Jagels says she has struggled to find resources to assist her husband in Hervey Bay. (ABC Wide Bay: Lucy Loram) Mr Jagels has become a man of few words, but when his words fail, the music speaks. “Well, it’s something I did as a young … ,” he trails off. “You’ve always loved singing, haven’t you?” Ms Jagels prompts her husband. “Yes,” he replies. “He might be singing a different song, but what the hell — he’s using his voice and he’s belting it out,” Ms Jagels says. Ms Jagels says the singing group has helped her connect with local dementia support services. (ABC Wide Bay: Lucy Loram) ‘I just wish there was more’ As the group breaks for morning tea mid-rehearsal, Ms Jagels reflects on how her husband has improved since joining the choir. “I don’t think he even would have asked for his cup of tea or coffee before, but now he asks for mine too and lets them know what biscuit he wants,” she says. “I think it shows he feels comfortable there, thank God … I just wish there was more [support groups] to get us out of the house to see people.” This story is part of a series exploring how regional Queenslanders are aging well outside the capital city. Read More

It was less than week to Christmas and only two days away from finishing his barley crop harvest when farmer Tim Haslam came face-to-face with a bushfire in 2023. Unable to escape the flames, he incurred burns to 38 per cent of his body. Two years on from the incident, Mr Haslam realises he made critical mistakes and wants to ensure others do not follow in his footsteps. ‘Extraordinarily lucky’ Mr Haslam said on the day of the fire the conditions were not particularly bad, with winds around 12 kilometres per hour. But he said everything changed in an instant. “It was harvest and we were at the closing stages of our 10,000 acre cropping program, we probably had two days to go,” he said. “I was harvesting and had just finished a run line. I looked in the rear-view vision mirror and saw flames, so it was then that I went and got a fire unit. “All I could see out of my windscreen was orange flames. “I immediately turned the ute left and I then got bogged. I also realised I had a flat tyre.” Tim Haslam says one of the biggest mistakes he made during the fire was leaving his vehicle.  (Supplied: Tim Haslam) Mr Haslam said it was then that he made the first of several mistakes. “I got out of the ute and I just ran, probably four or five steps. I tripped and landed hands-first into the [burning] barley stubble,” he said. After being found by an employee, he was flown to Fiona Stanley Hospital in Perth, where he spent 10 days in the Intensive Care Unit. For seven of those days, he was in a coma. An ambulance was called to Tim Haslam’s farm in Popanyinning. (Supplied: Tim Haslam) When Mr Haslam woke, he was told he had suffered 38 per cent burns to his face, arms, legs, hands and feet. “I was extraordinarily lucky to be in Fiona Stanley, it is by far the best burns unit in the world,” he said. “[Plastic surgeon and burns specialist] Fiona Wood has done an enormous amount of research since and prior to the Bali bombings. Tim Haslam was airlifted to Perth after the incident. (Supplied: Tim Haslam) “They developed spray-on skin, and on top of that, I’m also wearing compression garments that I have to wear for 24 months.” Mr Haslam said the support from his wife Sally and the wider farming community during his treatment and rehabilitation had been unwavering.  “Undoubtedly, I was given a second chance. I’ve had 15 surgeries, I’ve lost all the ends of my fingers, the corners of my mouth have also webbed together,” he said. “But I have a fantastic quality of life thanks to the incredible work that Fiona Wood and her team have done.” ‘What I should have done differently’ When asked how day-to-day operations had changed for him on his farm in Popanyinning, Mr Haslam said they had changed enormously and also very little. “I do all my farm jobs. I do them fairly slowly and it is quite painful, but is that age, arthritis or burns-related?” he said. The farmer echoed this year’s Farm Safety Week message of second chances and using them as powerful learning opportunities. “It happened in an instant and it could happen to you. It changes your life forever. Everyone thinks it would never happen to me,” he said. “Now while I am harvesting, I will always look at the wind direction and where it is coming from. “On December 20, 2023, I had a pair of shorts and a short-sleeve shirt on. “I urge people for the period of harvest just wear long pants and a long-sleeve shirt. “I just simply reacted. What I should have done is sat there for a second and just assessed, ‘What are my options?’” Mr Haslam admitted that stepping out of his vehicle during the fire was a mistake others should learn from. “My employee who picked me up could have quite easily run me over, but fortunately the smoke had cleared by then,” he said. In a true show of community spirit, neighbours completed the Haslams’ harvest in 2023. (Supplied: Sally Haslam) Looking out for your neighbours The family was just two days off finishing their harvest when Mr Haslam was injured.  Already a busy time of year for other farmers trying to finish their own harvest, one of his neighbours organised a working bee to get the rest of the crop off.  “There were four or five headers, trucks. They all turned up to finish off the harvest, and drink my grog,” Mr Haslam said. “My local bowling club also turned up. They were all such incredible support. I refer to them as my bowling family. “I had the photos of the harvest hanging in my hospital room. It was a way of keeping me connected to home.” Read More

Marbled beef is synonymous with premium prices at high-end restaurants and lamb producers are working hard to compete for top spot on the menu. After years of development, Australian breeder Lambpro has created lambs with a high distribution of fat in the meat. General manager Tom Bull said they had reached a marbling score of 7 per cent or more. “It’s that level ahead … it’s really hard to go back to eating generic lamb once you start eating the really good stuff,” he said. The lamb industry is hoping to elevate its marbled meat to rival wagyu. (Supplied: Lambpro) ‘Customers willing to pay’ Marbling of meat changes the flavour when it is cooked, making it more tender and juicy. That flavour edge motivated the lamb industry to increase marbling levels, working for over a decade to make it happen. “Now the technology is really coming together, we can start to really pull out those top-end lambs,” Mr Bull said. “The biggest advantage for us now we can do that, we can actually charge a lot more and we’ve got customers willing to pay.” Mr Bull said average lamb marbling was 4 per cent in Australia, and he was hoping the meat would feature more prominently on fine dining menus as quality shifted. “We really need to sell the product better than what we’re doing now, otherwise we’re always stuck on the cheap seats and the menu, jammed with chicken and pork in a corner,” he said. Tom Bull says people are willing to pay more for higher quality meat. (ABC Landline) A point of difference Joseph Abboud, chef and owner of Rumi Lebanese restaurant in Melbourne’s Brunswick East, uses a lot of lamb in his dishes. “Lamb is a really important part of Middle Eastern cuisine,” he said. Mr Abboud said using lamb with high levels of marbling had not been an option before. “I just don’t think there’s the spectrum of lamb where you have such a noticeable difference,” he said.  “A wagyu beef compared to just regular beef, they’re almost different products.” He said the 7 per cent marbled lamb “sounds great” and he would be interested to see what it would be like. “For us the flavour is the most important part of the lamb … we’re looking for a more robust flavour and we tend to go towards an older lamb,” Mr Abboud said. “A marbled lamb sounds like it could give us that tenderness which you get in the young lamb, but also that richness of flavour.” Chef Joseph Abboud is keen to try the 7 per cent marbled lamb in his restaurant. (Supplied: Joseph Abboud) Consistency of quality and supply One of the biggest sticking points for the production of high-end lamb has been consistency. “Chefs are used to having the likes of a wagyu and Angus where you might have a marble score of 10-plus and every piece of meat is the same,” Mr Bull said. Lambpro developers have worked to calibrate their testing machines in the abattoir to sort and pack the meat into different marbling grades. But Mr Bull said the years of work had been worth it. “There’s a real incentive to be able to breed a lamb that hits 7 per cent and financially you certainly get rewarded,” he said. “We can sell racks at almost double what a commodity rack goes for.” Lamb is a common item on the menu at Joseph Abboud’s restaurant in Melbourne. (Supplied: Joseph Abboud) The hefty cost of marbled lamb would not deter Mr Abboud in his restaurant. “When you have something like that to offer, it’s generally worth it because it is something tangible that’s different,” he said. Read More

Australia’s vast distances are perhaps the reason the idea of the cross-country trek — in the form of a convoy, a cavalcade or a relief column — has imprinted its tracks so deeply into the nation’s collective consciousness.  The inland mission of Burke and Wills met with disaster, but when the doomed duo left Melbourne months earlier in August 1860, the stately tread of their travelling party’s horses and camels was accompanied by the cheers of a 15,000-strong crowd. The men were in search of pastures green — a sight that has, of late, been a little hard to come by across swathes of southern Australia. The painting Memorandum of the Start of the Exploring Expedition, in the Art Gallery of South Australia’s collection, is from around the time Burke and Wills set off. (Wikimedia Commons/Art Gallery of South Australia) For months, drought has been ravaging the continent’s temperate zone, leaving many South Australian farmers without water and fodder, and there is a prevailing sense of a final straw. But, in time-honoured tradition, help has been on the way — and it has been coming from way out west. Along the Eyre Highway and across the Nullarbor Plain, a veritable “hay fever” of sorts has broken out. For the past two days, a convoy that would stretch an estimated 3 kilometres if all its trucks were lined up bumper-to-bumper has been bringing thousands of bales of fodder from Western to South Australia. Organisers estimate the convoy would extend more than 3 kilometres if lined up bumper-to-bumper. (ABC News: Che Chorley) “This is logistically the biggest hay run ever and it is a massive machine,” convoy participant Karen Smith said. “Every bale and every person and every kilometre travelled and every little part of this moving machine that makes it all go around — all of those little important parts make it happen.” The enterprise has been not so much a “bailout” as a “bales on” — on, that is, to the backs of the approximately 85 trucks that are now destined for 400 farming businesses across Eyre Peninsula, the Adelaide Hills and other South Australian regions that have been battling the impact of the drought. When Ms Smith — who runs a transport business in Esperance — got wind of what was brewing, she knew she had to be involved. Karen Smith is proud to have taken part in the logistically complex operation. (ABC News) “We were on a holiday in the Kimberleys up north and we cut it short to do this trip because it’s very important to us,” she said. “This is our third hay run … [and] once you get involved, that’s it — it’s kind of like a lifetime membership. “It’s addictive in that you just love the fact that Aussies are helping Aussies, and I guess in this case it’s farmers helping farmers, but you’ve also got the transport industry, which is obviously what helps get it there.” ‘Always been the Australian spirit’ The convoy is the brainchild of two charities, Farmers Across Borders and Need for Feed, and support has also been provided by the South Australian government. Transport costs have been covered by $2 million from the state’s drought relief fund. Anyone overlooking the trucks before they set off from Norseman in WA on Friday might have been struck by their resemblance to a giant cattle drive or muster — the vehicles and their cargo of provender were packed together like sheep in a pen. The convoy assembled at WA’s Fraser Range Station over the past week. (ABC News: Mark Bennett) But when they hit the road, they quickly metamorphosed into a narrow column. As that column arrived to a warm welcome in Ceduna on SA’s west coast on Saturday afternoon, it presented the kind of spectacle that might have sparked the imagination of Henry Lawson, had the bush poet been born into the age of the B-double and the dual carriageway. “We’ve got truckies here from New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia,” said Need for Feed chair Graham Cockerell as he refuelled his truck in Ceduna. “Ceduna is probably the first of the real welcoming committee but there’s been a few farmers come out onto the road, which is a bit emotional for us. “We’re blown away by that — by the level of support right from the top downwards.” Need for Feed chair Graham Cockerell (centre) has taken a prominent role in the convoy. (Facebook: Need for Feed Australia) Among the army of drivers is Shepparton truckie and hay run veteran Andrew Linehan, who left for WA nine days ago in order to participate in the operation. For him, the chief appeal of the enterprise is the camaraderie afforded by the open road. “It’s always been a bit of fun — you get to catch up with some like-minded people as well, and you get the added bonus of helping somebody out who’s struggling a little bit,” he said. “I get the impression that remote farmers would potentially feel a bit isolated, and this is just a way of showing them that people know what they’re going through and care enough to help.” Progress was painstaking — rain meant the drivers had to take extra care on the road. Along roadsides, wellwishers gathered to salute the convoy. (ABC News: Che Chorley) While some noted the irony of delivering drought relief amid downpours, Adelaide truckie David Aylett was delighted that the convoy had coincided with the wintry weather. “It’s bringing the rain, which we need in South Australia,” he said. “The farmers — they do it tough at times, and it’s just good to do a bit for the country. “We’re here to help one another, and that’s always been the Australian spirit. I think over the years we’ve lost a little bit of that and it’d be good to get it back.” But some of that spirit was very much on show along roadsides, where smiling, waving

You’ve just topped up your Kenya Power (KPLC) prepaid meter, but the crucial message containing the 20-digit code either fails to arrive or, in a moment of oversight, is accidentally deleted from your phone.  Well, there are ways you can quickly resolve this common issue, ensuring you regain access to your purchased tokens. One of

Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba has dismissed claims that the government has revoked capitation for free primary and secondary school education. Addressing the press on Saturday, July 26, Ogamba clarified that the government had only reduced the capitation fee due to budgetary adjustments in the current 2025/2026 fiscal year. The CS noted that the budget