Australian Housing Grows More Unaffordable

According to the findings of a new report, housing in Australia has gotten increasingly unaffordable over the last year, with first time buyers needing stump up 10 per more for a deposit.

The report which was released by Bankwest suggests that a couple in Australia now needs to raised $85,800 as a deposit for a median priced home, which compares with $78,100 just a year earlier.

It now takes 4.5 years for a young couple to save enough cash for a 20 per cent deposit on a new home, up from the 3.7 years the report predicted last year.

The major cities experienced and even more acute situation with buyers in the more expensive parts of Melbourne, Perth and Sydney having to spend as long as a decade saving up for deposits just to be able to enter the property market.

Saving for how that was priced in the median range requires less effort with first time buyers needing at least four years to save the $76,900 deposit.

Saving for a median-priced unit was marginally less daunting, with first-home buyers needing to find $76,900 for a deposit – a four-year task.

Bankwest Retail chief executive Vittoria Shortt said a growing army of first home buyers were being locked out as established property owners benefited.

“This is the stark reality of a strong Australian property sector,” she said.

Still, home borrowers are likely to have some relief on Tuesday.

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