REIA President Hayden Groves said affordability for both home buyers and renters had become a key issue and with interest rate rises looming, affordability could worsen.
“We are urging governments to get on the front foot with this issue by prioritising housing supply shortages which is the most effective way of getting affordability under control,” he said.
The report found the number of first home buyers decreased to 37,620, a fall of 0.4 per cent during the quarter with first home buyers now making up 34.1 per cent of owner occupier dwelling commitments, a decrease of 7.8 percentage points over the year.
The average loan size to first home buyers increased to $470,548, an increase of 12.9 per cent over the past 12 months, while the number of owner-occupied dwelling loans increased to 110,230, a slight increase of 0.3 per cent over the past 12 months.
Mr Groves added that the proportion of income required to meet median rent, increased to 23.0 per cent, a 0.1 per cent change over the quarter and a 0.3 per cent change over the year.
Rate rise to hit home affordability
HOUSING affordability continued its decline over the December quarter of 2021, with the proportion of income required to meet loan repayments reaching 37 per cent, the latest Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) Housing Affordability Report has found.