The Illawarra faction of the Property Council has labelled a new report a “wake up call” for governments about the current housing affordability crisis.
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The great Australian dream of home ownership is sliding rapidly according to one of the country’s largest household surveys, with predictions fewer than half of all adults will own their own home in 2017.
The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Report (HILDA) reveals home-ownership is going backwards and is especially being pushed out of reach for young people, while couples over 65 were the nation’s wealthiest.
Illawarra regional manager of the Property Council Jancey Malins said this was a “damning report card” on the collective failure of governments to act.
“Housing affordability has remained a public policy orphan for too long and there is a compelling case for change given the acute problem being faced across the board,” Ms Malins said.
The report also revealed median household incomes among those in their 20s and 30s had flat lined in recent years.
Professor Roger Wilkins, the report's author and an economist at the University of Melbourne, said the research shows a generational divide in the nation’s household wealth over the past 15 years.
“Overall there’s been very little growth in household wealth since 2006, particularly with the younger generations where we’re seeing wealth actually declining. Whereas for the older generations it’s been rising quite strongly,” Mr Wilkins told the ABC.
Ms Malins has called on all levels of government to act to prevent inequality being entrenched between generations.
“We need strong leadership from both the Commonwealth and State Governments to provide action and deliver real policy outcomes,” she said.
“The NSW planning system is in desperate need of an overhaul of the dysfunctional systems that add to the time, cost and red tape of driving much needed housing supply.”
Managing director of Ray White Helensburgh Simon Beaufils said the number of houses his business was selling to first homebuyers was negligible to what it was four to five years ago.
“Unless a 20 to 30-year-old person has assistance from their parents either as a guarantor or free loan to be able to afford the deposit, they’ve got buckleys of getting into the market,” Mr Beaufils said.
“I fear for my children … being able to afford something when they are in their early 20s or in their 30s.”
He said even when young people were able to buy property their lives became very limited as all they can afford is to pay their mortgage and not do much else.
Mr Beaufils applauded the Property Council for taking a stand but said concrete strategies needed to be put in place to fix the mounting problem.
He suggested introducing a HECS style arrangement for deposits or releasing Crown land solely to first homebuyers at a discount.
Read more about the HILDA report here.