‘10.6 years': Dire reality for Aussies revealed in State of Housing System report
The Australian dream of homeownership is looking more hopeless than ever.
A median-income household now needs to save for 10.6 years just to afford a deposit and start a whole new challenge of servicing a new mortgage, the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council's annual State of the Housing System 2025 report shows.
It notes that mortgage repayments continue to increase faster than incomes, and affordability continues to deteriorate though at a slower pace compared with 2023.
About 50 per cent of median household income was needed to meet repayments for new mortgages in 2024, according to the report.
It does not look good for renters either, as 33 per cent of median wages are needed to meet rental costs in new leases.
Rental stress has affected more than 50 per cent of lower-income renter households in 2023. Sixty per cent of these households also experienced stress the year before, showing how persistent the issue is.
Only 14 per cent of new homes sold in 2023-2024 were affordable for the median-income household, the lowest on record.
NSW residents have drawn the short straw, as new mortgages and home deposits remain the least affordable in Australia, whereas the Northern Territory has the most affordable mortgages and home deposits.
Rents in regional Queensland were the least affordable, but rents in Canberra were the most affordable.
New housing supply is the lowest in a decade, and the 1.2 million target for new houses to be completed during the Housing Accord period will not be met – even under optimistic economic estimates, the report says.
No state or territory will meet their target, and supply is insufficient to meet underlying demand.
The report has called for systemic reform, government support measures and industry innovation to address the issues, but the NSW government says it is heading in the right direction.
'The Minns Labor government inherited a system that was working against achieving the Housing Accord targets. It was also never assumed that, given macroeconomic conditions and the costs of construction, it would be a straight line between now and mid-2029,'
Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully said.
'We are turning around the system. Planning approvals are 15 per cent faster today than they were in March 2023, the number of applications lodged is up 28 per cent on the same time last year, and NSW has the most homes under construction in the country.
'There are thousands more homes and DAs being finalised that are embracing our planning reforms such as the Housing Delivery Authority and the low and mid-rise policy. We're building a pipeline that will actually deliver homes.
'The State of the Housing System report shows us that we have our work cut out for us, but as a government we've got our priorities right.'
Weak supply has been attributed to a lack of commercial feasibility – it costs more for developers to build than what they would earn selling it.
Elevated costs, labour shortages, high financing are all constraining supply but should be easing, the report says.
Property Council chief executive Mike Zorbas said the report showed the need to increase
productivity in the construction sector, simplify planning systems and encourage investment.
'The alarm bell continues to sound on national housing supply,' Mr Zorbas said.
'The sad fact is that many Australians feel that homeownership is out of reach.
'We have seen the federal and state governments co-ordinate their efforts on boosting supply,
but more must be done.
'Our skills and planning systems are not yet match fit for this century.
'More than 30 per cent of the cost of a new home is government taxes and charges.
'East coast states have daft foreign investment taxes that are barbed wire to overseas
institutions that want to send their money to help Australian companies build the assets our
cities need.
'The least cost answer for indebted states is to modernise our planning systems and put
measures in place to boost the proportion of skilled workers coming into the country.
'We need to bring forward federal environmental approvals and force power and water
providers to stop delaying the delivery of new homes, industrial and commercial assets that our communities need as they grow.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Ford Ranger PHEV built for choice not compliance, says exec
Ford Australia has launched the Ranger PHEV to broaden customer choice, not meet emissions regulations, according to senior global product executive Jim Baumbick. The Ranger PHEV joins a growing collection of electrified Ford models in Australia that includes the all-electric Mustang Mach-E SUV and E-Transit and E-Transit Custom vans, as well as a plug-in hybrid version of the Transit Custom. All will serve as key pillars of Ford's initial response to the New Vehicle Emissions Standard (NVES) in Australia, with sales of the greener vehicles set to help offset fines accrued by dirtier models in the lineup such as diesel versions of the Ranger and the Everest SUV, as well as the petrol-powered Mustang sports car. However, Mr Baumbick says that Ford was working on diversifying its Ranger lineup well before the strict new emissions regulations were announced, and that the Ranger PHEV complements its other ute offerings. Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. Supplied Credit: CarExpert 'This is not a compliance play, it's a portfolio of options,' Mr Baumbick told Australian media at the international launch of the Ranger PHEV. 'At Ford, we want to let the customers choose so they can pick the right tool for the job. 'The regulatory requirements in Australia have changed very rapidly, faster than normal process. But we already had this in development, and we'll continue to enhance the portfolio. 'We're launching it now, but we didn't do this because of the new requirements. It's part of our overall mission to offer a portfolio of options.' Despite his insistence that the plug-in hybrid version of the Ranger wasn't an emissions-led project, Mr Baumbick admitted that Ford was caught on the back foot by tightening regulations across the globe. Supplied Credit: CarExpert The ink officially dried on the Australian Government's New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) at the start of this year, bringing with it regulations designed to reduce the carbon footprint of the Australian car market. While the NVES came into effect on January 1, 2025, penalties won't start being accrued until July 1. 'Going electric isn't a light switch,' explained Mr Baumbick. 'We're trying to move as fast as we can, and when things change quickly there are development lead times, so stay tuned. 'It's going to be a portfolio of solutions over a longer arch of time. We're going to continue to improve the efficiency and emissions of our systems and a migration to hybrids over time will make a big contribution to the challenge of reducing emissions. EV will play a significant role, but it's got to be the right tool for the job.' Supplied Credit: CarExpert As for the other measures Ford is set to take to survive in the Australian market, the brand is committed to shielding consumers from the financial burden of NVES fines. 'We're not jacking up prices due to our regulatory status,' Mr Baumbick asserted. 'As we always have, we continue to work on our broader mission to improve year over year. Every model is going to continue to improve.' MORE: Explore the Ford Ranger showroom
7NEWS
an hour ago
- 7NEWS
Ford Ranger PHEV built for choice not compliance, says exec
Ford Australia has launched the Ranger PHEV to broaden customer choice, not meet emissions regulations, according to senior global product executive Jim Baumbick. The Ranger PHEV joins a growing collection of electrified Ford models in Australia that includes the all-electric Mustang Mach-E SUV and E-Transit and E-Transit Custom vans, as well as a plug-in hybrid version of the Transit Custom. All will serve as key pillars of Ford's initial response to the New Vehicle Emissions Standard (NVES) in Australia, with sales of the greener vehicles set to help offset fines accrued by dirtier models in the lineup such as diesel versions of the Ranger and the Everest SUV, as well as the petrol-powered Mustang sports car. However, Mr Baumbick says that Ford was working on diversifying its Ranger lineup well before the strict new emissions regulations were announced, and that the Ranger PHEV complements its other ute offerings. Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. 'This is not a compliance play, it's a portfolio of options,' Mr Baumbick told Australian media at the international launch of the Ranger PHEV. 'At Ford, we want to let the customers choose so they can pick the right tool for the job. 'The regulatory requirements in Australia have changed very rapidly, faster than normal process. But we already had this in development, and we'll continue to enhance the portfolio. 'We're launching it now, but we didn't do this because of the new requirements. It's part of our overall mission to offer a portfolio of options.' Despite his insistence that the plug-in hybrid version of the Ranger wasn't an emissions-led project, Mr Baumbick admitted that Ford was caught on the back foot by tightening regulations across the globe. The ink officially dried on the Australian Government's New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) at the start of this year, bringing with it regulations designed to reduce the carbon footprint of the Australian car market. While the NVES came into effect on January 1, 2025, penalties won't start being accrued until July 1. 'Going electric isn't a light switch,' explained Mr Baumbick. 'We're trying to move as fast as we can, and when things change quickly there are development lead times, so stay tuned. 'It's going to be a portfolio of solutions over a longer arch of time. We're going to continue to improve the efficiency and emissions of our systems and a migration to hybrids over time will make a big contribution to the challenge of reducing emissions. EV will play a significant role, but it's got to be the right tool for the job.' As for the other measures Ford is set to take to survive in the Australian market, the brand is committed to shielding consumers from the financial burden of NVES fines. 'We're not jacking up prices due to our regulatory status,' Mr Baumbick asserted. 'As we always have, we continue to work on our broader mission to improve year over year. Every model is going to continue to improve.'
Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
Donald Trump ‘snubs' Anthony Albanese at the G7
Sky News Political Editor Andrew Clennell discusses US President Donald Trump's decision to leave the G7 early to address the escalating conflict in the Middle East. 'Now, since that snub, the President has reached out to two other leaders who he also cancelled G7 meetings with,' Mr Clennell said. 'Despite the failure of Mr Trump to hang around to meet Mr Albanese, the Australian government's view is that Donald Trump has agreed to a meeting. It really is just a question of when it occurs.'
