- The Housing Minister does not want prices to drop
Australia’s Housing Minister has stated that Anthony Albanese’s government does not want house prices to fall, even though they are very unaffordable for young people.
Clare O’Neil recently admitted on Triple J’s youth-oriented Hack show when she was hit by an avalanche of questions about the property market being “against young people”.
“We want to make house price growth sustainable, so we are not trying to drive down house prices,” Ms O’Neil said.
“But we don’t want to see some of the growth that we’ve seen in some parts of the country, where you’re seeing double-digit increases in house prices year after year.”
This led a surprised presenter, David Marchese, to ask: “Why don’t they want house prices to go down?”
“If you are thinking about entering the market, if you are a young person looking at what awaits you, definitely “I want housing prices to go down.”
O’Neil rejected the argument and said the government was committed to building more housing and reducing rental vacancies.
“That may be the opinion of young people, but not the opinion of our government,” he said.
Australia’s Housing Minister has stated that Anthony Albanese’s government does not want house prices to fall, even though they are very unaffordable for young people. Clare O’Neil admitted to Triple J’s youth-oriented Hack program
Such comments could alienate young voters as Labor is under intense pressure from the Greens, who are campaigning to scrap negative tax breaks for landowner investors.
Baby boomer homeowners would welcome an increase in home prices.
Labor lost the 2019 election after promising to remove negative gearing for future purchases of existing investment properties and halve the capital gains tax discount to 25 per cent.
Since then, he has focused on keeping middle-aged and older voters in marginal seats who own investment properties, but exposing them to a backlash from younger renters who want to enter the housing market.
Melbourne is the only major capital where house prices have fallen over the past year.
While the median home price of $923,422 is unaffordable for the average full-time worker on $100,000, you still have affordable suburbs near the water like Frankston North, where $591,214 is the midpoint.
This is achievable for someone earning $91,000, following a 2.3 per cent drop in metropolitan Melbourne in the year to November as a state land tax discouraged potential investors, data from CoreLogic.
Even Brisbane is becoming increasingly unaffordable for young people, with the median house price soaring 11 per cent over the year to $974,396.
Such comments could alienate young voters, with Labor under intense pressure from the Greens, who are campaigning to remove negative tax breaks for property investors (pictured, swimmers at Sydney’s Bondi Beach).
Baby boomer homeowners would rejoice at a rise in house prices (pictured, voters in Cronulla, in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire)
Affordable satellite towns such as Ipswich, Logan and Caboolture are now falling out of reach for people on average incomes as house prices rise by double figures.
More suburbs have a median price above the $650,000 level that would be achievable for an average-income borrower with a 20 per cent deposit.
The median house price in Perth has soared a whopping 20.7 per cent over the past year to $842,227, decreasing the availability of affordable housing.
Sydney was already unaffordable with a median house price of almost $1.5 million, or 15 times an average full-time salary before a 20 per cent deposit is taken into account.
Even the apartments are very unaffordable: $865,422.
Houses in Sydney’s southwestern outer suburbs typically cost $1 million, meaning only working couples can afford a house with a backyard.
Darwin is the only capital city where people on average incomes can buy a median-priced home on their own, with a median of $580,091.