Uptick in affordability fails to woo first home buyers
Housing affordability has improved, but first home buyers are still missing from the property market.
Housing affordability has improved, but first home buyers are still missing from the property market.The Adelaide Bank/REIA Housing Affordability Report has found the proportion of median household income needed to make the average home loan repayment decreased by 1.3% to 30.4%. In spite of the improvement, REIA President Malcolm Gunning said first home buyers still comprised only 13.4% of the owner occupied market.
“It will be interesting to see the effects that stamp duty exemptions and concessions announced in Victoria, and more recently in NSW, have on first home buyers. “We anticipate that more first home buyers will be enticed to enter the marketplace. However, it will take time for any response to filter into our data as the changes do not come into effect until 1 July 2017 in either state,” Gunning said.
Aussies struggling with affordability
Gunning said the average loan size for first home buyers fell by 3.2% over the March quarter to $313,433.
Renting, meanwhile, became more difficult across Australia. The proportion of median family income required to meet rent payments rose 0.1% to 24.6%. However, the REIA said the result varied considerably across states and territories, with rental affordability seeing a marginal improvement in New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
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