Affordability To Worsen
Housing affordability is expected to worsen in the next 12 months, according to the latest ANZ CoreLogic Housing Affordability Report.
While many would expect rising interest rates to push home prices down, the report says the market is actually going through a period of recovery, driven by population growth and a lack of supply.
ANZ senior economist Adelaide Timbrell says savings are being depleted by rising rents making it harder for those who want to buy to save a deposit.
The report says rents have increased 28.4% since the start of the pandemic.
“It becomes harder to accumulate the initial deposit needed to secure a loan,” Timbrell says.
“This is compounded by rising deposit requirements as home values rise, and smaller loan amounts as mortgage rates increase.
“Such conditions help to explain why homeownership has fallen more substantially across lower-income households over time and may result in weaker first home buyer activity going forward.”
