Housing affordability declined across all Australian states in the December quarter of 2016, with New South Wales remaining the least affordability state or territory for homebuyers, according to the Real Estate Institute of Australia.
The latest Adelaide Bank/REIA Housing Affordability Report saw the proportion of income required to meet loan repayments rise to 30.4 per cent, an increase of 0.9 percentage points over the quarter but a decrease of 1.9 percentage points compared to the corresponding quarter of 2015.
REIA President Malcolm Gunning said historically low interest rates and modestly rising incomes were unable to offset the increasing size of mortgages resulting in the rise in the proportion of the median family income required to meet average monthly loan repayments.
