First home buyer mortgage pressure on rise
First home buyers in Brisbane and Melbourne are facing mortgage pressures on par with Sydneysiders, new research has revealed.
Despite Sydney being widely considered the nation’s most unaffordable city, research by the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM) at the University of Canberra has found, mortgage pressures in Brisbane and Melbourne have increased significantly over the past decade.
According to NATSEM, more than half of first home buyer households in all three cities pay more than 30 per cent of their disposable income on housing costs.
Over the past decade mortgage pressures have remained high but stable in Sydney at 56 per cent.
In the same period, mortgage pressures have increased dramatically in Brisbane and Melbourne, from 43 to 58 per cent and 36 to 53 per cent respectively.
“The higher pressure on first home buyers is driven by disposable incomes growing by just 64 per cent compared to house prices growing by 132 per cent over the past decade,” principal researcher Ben Phillips said.
Mr Phillips said there were no signs of the situation easing.
“The removal of the first home buyer’s grant bonuses through 2009 and the prospect of higher interest rates offer a bleak outlook for potential first home buyers and recent first home buyers, many of whom either have a large mortgage or continue to battle a tight rental market.”