Housing affordability on par with early 2000s levels

A new report shows that housing affordability slightly eased Australia-wide over the September quarter, lessening the impact ever so slightly on mortgage stress.

housing coins investor

The Adelaide Bank/REIA Housing Affordability Report shows that over the September quarter, the nationwide percentage fell to 30.3 per cent, a decrease of 1.2 per cent over the quarter and 0.6 per cent compared to the September quarter last year.

“Housing affordability has improved across the country in all states and territories, whereas rental affordability has improved in some states and territories but declined in others during the third quarter of 2017,” said Malcolm Gunning, president of the Real Estate Institute of Australia.

Darren Kasehagen, head of business development at Adelaide Bank, said that housing affordability had improved so much that it “is approaching levels last seen consistently in the early 2000s”.

Total non-refinancing loans saw an rise of 4.2 per cent over the quarter and 12.5 per cent compared to last September quarter to 118,112, while the average loan size fell by 1.5 per cent over the quarter and rose by 1.5 per cent compared to this quarter last year to $380,915.

Rental affordability is also on its way down, falling to a required percentage of 24.6 per cent of income, which is a rise of 0.3 per cent over the quarter and 0.4 for the September quarter last year.

The report also breaks down how each state and territory is handling housing affordability and rental affordability:

You need to be a member to post comments. Become a member for free today!

Comments powered by CComment

Related articles