Sydney venues heave as workers abandon desks for Socceroos knockout dream
Australia's World Cup qualification sparked unprecedented daytime venue crowds and workplace absenteeism as Sydney's CBD offices emptied for the Paraguay match.
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Listen · 13 July 2026 · 0:57
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Sydney in 5 minutes. Sydney venues heaved as workers abandoned their desks for the Socceroos knockout dream with Australia's World Cup qualification sparking unprecedented daytime venue crowds and workplace absenteeism as the city's CBD offices emptied for the Paraguay match. On the housing front Sydney median dwelling values rose 3.4 per cent in the three months to June ahead of the 2.1 per cent lift recorded in the same quarter of 2025. Sydney renters are spending well past the old affordability threshold and the gap between renting and buying has never been harder to close. Sydney's rental vacancy plummeted to 0.9 per cent in June 2025 as more than 40 tenants competed per property and rents hit 730 dollars a week. With a mere 1.5 per cent of properties available for rent in some suburbs tenants faced intense competition for a place to call home.
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