Fall In Jobless Rate To Fuel Higher House Prices
Unemployment is at its lowest since figure March 2020.
By Terry Christodoulou
Fri, Mar 19, 2021 11:13am
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Unemployment has fallen sharply over February and is now close to pre-covid shutdown levels.
According to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the national unemployment rate seasonally adjusted fell sharply by 0.5% over February to 5.8%, the lowest rate since the pre-covid results of 5.2% recorded over March 2020.
Following strong buyer demand in Australian capital cities, with Sydney and Melbourne housing prices rising sharply in the first quarter of the year, experts are tipping lower unemployment figures to fuel higher housing prices.
“A rapidly improving labour market will enhance housing affordability and confidence, adding upward pressure on already strongly growing prices,” Dr Andrew Wilson, Chief Economist My Housing Market said.
All states reported falls in the jobless rate over February with Queensland performing strongest, falling 0.8%. NSW and VIC reported the lowest jobless rates at 5.6%.
“Concerns over the possible significant negative impact on the economy of the tapering of the Job Keeper allowances at the end of this month will also likely to be misplaced – again,” Dr Wilson added.
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The imposing stone structures, with towers, turrets and a hot tub room, lord over the landscape near the mountain resort town of Sandpoint.
By Liz Lucking
Mon, Jul 13, 2026 2 min
2 min
Idaho is not a place that’s often associated with Medieval castles, but a pair have just hit the market for $6.25 million.
The imposing stone structures have towers, turrets, ramparts, arrow-slit windows and even a drawbridge, and might just be the most authentic-looking castles this side of the Atlantic.
“Who expects to see a castle like this in Idaho?” said listing agent Brenda Burk of Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller Realty, who brought the property to the market last week. They are, she said, “extremely unusual.”
Schweitzer Castle and Château de Melusine, as they’re known, stand within Schweitzer Mountain Resort in the Selkirk Mountains and overlook the nearby mountain resort town of Sandpoint. They take in panoramic views of Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho’s largest lake.
The pair of ski-in/ski-out homes each have three bedrooms, two bathrooms and three stories, Burk explained. They are “so authentic,” she said. “Every single stone was handlaid.”
Schweitzer Castle, she said, wasn’t built for “functionality,” but has been modernized and adapted and now has everything a 21st-century residence requires, along with a dungeon, which for some buyers may also be a requisite.
The chateau, meanwhile, has a hot tub room with mountain views, as well as a garage.
The property is being sold furnished, and will come complete with the hand-carved statues, armor, mounted swords, stained-glass windows and a host of antiques dating to the 15th and 16th centuries.
The owner, an antique collector who couldn’t be reached for comment, “is always looking for that hidden jewel and he found that here,” Burk said.
The next custodian is likely to stem from a varied pool of buyers, Burk said, that would include “the trophy-home buyer, someone who can say ‘I own a castle.’”
The property could also appeal to someone looking for a vacation home, or a multi-generational estate, and beyond that “there’s the dreamers,” she said. “We definitely try to market to people who like Medieval history or maybe do Renaissance fairs.”
The seller “really wants it to go to someone with the same passion.”
