First home buyers at lows never before seen by Australian Bureau of Statistics
First home buyers have been recorded by the Australian Bureau of Statistics at their lowest levels since the data set was initially collected, and persistently low compared to the long-run average
The Real Estate Institute of Australia’s president Peter Bushby said that the latest Adelaide Bank/REIA Housing Affordability Report saw home buyers making up just 12.5% of the owner occupier market in the December 2013 quarter, compared to 13.6% for the preceding quarter.
“Following the changes to the First Home Owner Grant introduced by the Victorian government, which skew assistance away from existing dwellings (the clear preference of first home buyers), that state continued to show a fall in the number of first home buyers, down by 22.7% over the quarter and 28.1% for the year,” said Bushby.
“The report also shows the proportion of income required to meet loan repayments increased 1.0 percentage point over the quarter to 30.8%.”
Downturns in affordability were recorded in every state, other than the Northern Territory.
“The ACT remained the most affordable state or territory in which to buy a home, largely due to the high average income and NSW remained the least affordable.”
“Rental affordability improved in Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, the Northern Territory and the ACT but worsened in NSW and Tasmania with the proportion of median income required to meet average rent rising 0.3 and 0.9 percentage points respectively,” he said.