Australia: Housing Affordability Sinks

Australian housing affordability has sunk so low that the majority of Australians who have yet to take out a mortgage expect that they may never purchase a home, new figures show. The report also shows that many Australians with a mortgage are finding it difficult to meet their mortgage repayments.

Over half of those without a mortgage who took part in a survey by Datamonitor said they expected to never be able to purchase their own home.

Australian Bureau of Statistics’ data showed that Australian house prices rose by 12.3 per cent last year, and budding homeowners also have to contend with higher rents making it very difficult to save. The cost of renting a three-bedroom house rose by an average of 12.6 per cent last year.

The survey found that 15 per cent of mortgagees had no deposit for their main mortgage, and a further eight per cent had a deposit of less than five per cent of the value of the property. Only 34 per cent reported having a deposit of 20 per cent or more.

Meanwhile, many with a mortgage say they expect to continue struggling to meet their repayments for at least the next five years. Some 24 per cent of respondents who had a mortgage said they would find it “quite hard” or “very hard” to maintain their repayments, the survey found. Only 18 per cent said they expected to find it “quite easy” or “very easy” to meet their repayment obligations.