ANZ CoreLogic Housing Affordability Report: Triple Threat for Australian Housing

The news comes in the release of the ANZ CoreLogic Housing Affordability Report, which looks at the state of affordability of home ownership in Australia over the past 12 months.

"What we've seen through this year is rare circumstances where home prices have gone up quickly, at the same time that interest rates have gone up quickly at the same time that rents have gone up," said ANZ Senior Economist, Adelaide Timbrell.

"So if you're a renter, you're facing higher costs. If you have a mortgage, you're facing high costs through interest rates, and if you're a prospective buyer, you're facing a higher home price.

"It's a triple threat."

Nationally, the time to save a 20 per cent deposit has climbed to 10 years national, and to 12.6 years in Sydney.

In regional Australia the time to save a 20 per cent deposit has now reached 9.7 years.

That's a jump from the 7.5 years that it took to save for a deposit in the regions at the start of the pandemic in March 2020.

Meanwhile a whopping 44.7 per cent of the median household income is required to pay a new mortgage in regional Australia.

That is still behind the 58 per cent that households in Australia need to service a mortgage in Sydney.

However one regional city, Wollongong just under 100km from Sydney, is more unaffordable when it come to paying off a mortgage.

The portion of the median household income required to pay a new home loan in Wollongong is 59.1 per cent.

"When we look at the median income of some places in regional Australia, it does mean that some of these areas are less affordable than Sydney," Ms Timbrell said.

"Although Sydney is one of the least affordable places to live in Australia and certainly has some of the most expensive housing in Australia, it's not necessarily the least affordable because the average income is higher.

"What it means though, is if you're not on an average income in Sydney, it's very unaffordable.

"And if you're not on an average income, in other regional areas with those high housing prices such as the Illawarra you're getting more and more locked out of those markets."

And its not just home owners who are feeling the pinch with renters also hit.

Paying rents today nationally taken up 31.0 per cent of the median household income level.

Those rising rents are also hurting people in the rental market who are trying to save to buy a home who already face some of the most challenging conditions.

"People who are looking to purchase their first home are facing extreme challenges at the moment," Ms Timbrell said.

"Housing prices are almost back at their all time high, the cost of living pressure with high inflation means that people are spending more of their money on the bare essentials such as groceries and utilities.

"On top of that in they are in the rental market while saving for a home, they're paying on average 7.6 per cent more for a rental than they were a year ago."

Next year there is expected to be more pain when it comes to housing affordabiity.

"In 2024, housing affordability is likely to get worse before it gets better," CoreLogic Head of Australian Research Eliza Owen said.

"Dwelling supply will continue to be strained by the high interest rate environment, which has reduced approvals and potential for new housing development in 2024. Demand will probably be the only thing can adjust in the short term, so we may see average people per household rise."

But there is one bright note.

"The one upside in 2024 is that we believe real incomes and real wage growth will rise," Ms Timbrell said.

"We think that the cost of living increase will be smaller than the average salary or wage increase. So people will actually have more money to put aside next year than this year for that savings hurdle or to cover rent and still have some money aside for the funds."