Housing affordability has improved in all states and territories, and more first-home buyers are entering the property market, according to the September quarter edition of the Adelaide Bank/REIA Housing Affordability Report. 

The proportion of median family income required to meet average repayments decreased by 1.2 percentage points to 30.3%. 

Malcolm Gunning, president of the Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA), said first-home buyers now make up 24.5% of the total owner-occupied housing market (excluding refinancing) – making this the highest rate since September 2013 after dropping steadily over the past five years. 

“The number of first home buyers increased by 22.8 per cent for the quarter and by 32.6 per cent over the twelve months with the largest increases being in New South Wales (57.7 per cent), Victoria (32.2 per cent), the Northern Territory (14.3 per cent) and the Australian Capital Territory (20.0 per cent),” Gunning said. 

“Overall the number of loans increased across the country by 4.2 per cent.” 

New South Wales

The proportion of income required to meet loan repayments decreased to 36.1% in the September quarter, a fall of 1.9 percentage points and a decrease of one percentage point compared to the September quarter in 2016. 

However, with the proportion of income required to meet loan repayments 5.8 percentage points higher than Australia’s average, NSW remains the least affordable state or territory for homebuyers. 

The number of loans to first-home buyers increased to 6,775 during the quarter, an increase of 57.7% and a rise of 70.9% compared to the September quarter in 2016. 

Victoria

The proportion of income required to meet repayments decreased to 32.2%, a decrease of 1.2 percentage points over the quarter and a decrease of 0.2 percentage points compared to the same quarter in 2016.

The number of loans to first-home buyers increased to 8,786, an increase of 32.2% over the quarter and an increase of 33 compared to the September quarter in 2016. 

Western Australia

The proportion of income required to meet loan repayments decreased to 22.4%, a decrease of 1.2 percentage points over the quarter and a decrease of 1.4 percentage points compared to the September quarter in 2016. 

The number of first-home buyers increased to 4,432 during the quarter, an increase of 7.4% over the quarter and an increase of 17.9% compared to the same time last year.

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