AFFORDABILITY REMAINS KEY ISSUE AS INVESTORS FLOCK TO COVID-FREE STATES

November 1st,2021

The value of new loan commitments for housing fell 1.4 per cent in September 2021 (seasonally adjusted), driven by a 2.7 per cent fall in new owner-occupier loan commitments, according to statistics released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) President, Adrian Kelly said new loan commitments to owner occupiers fell while investors increased their interest in zero COVID states.

“The figures show the number of new loan commitments to first home buyers saw its eighth consecutive fall, down to 5.6% in September, 2021 with the number 11.4% lower than the previous year.

“COVID-hit Victoria saw a massive drop of 12.7% in the value of owner-occupier lending due to their sixth extended lockdown but saw a slight rise of 1.4% to investors,” he said.

Mr Kelly said housing affordability has been on the decline for the past 20 years and will continue to be an issue if inflation rises and household income fails to increase.

REIA’s report, Housing Affordability Report: the past 20 years, shows that access to the market for first home buyers has declined over the past two decades.

REIA President, Adrian Kelly said coinciding with this, the average home loan has skyrocketed over the past two decades inflating from $150,271 to $500,219 and this continues to rise.

He said the ABS found that the average loan size for owner-occupier dwellings (construction, purchase of new dwellings and existing dwellings) rose slightly at the national level and across most states.