House prices should fall … or heads will roll
A recent poll saw Australians state frankly that it would be best if the country’s home prices dropped.
Responding to a poll by RedBridge at the behest of housing campaign Everybody’s Home, 54 per cent of the 2,000 Australian voters surveyed said that it would be “best if over the next five years house prices in Australia declined”.
The majority of those – or 34 per cent of everyone polled – said that a gradual decline would be better for the nation, while 20 per cent said a sharp decline would be beneficial.
Almost a fifth said prices should stay the same, while 16 per cent said that a gradual incline would be best, and 5 per cent selected a sharp incline. The remainder said they were unsure how to answer.
Across all demographic categories – age, sex, education, country of birth and religion – all respondents seemed to agree that it would be better if house prices gradually declined, with that answer garnering between 30 per cent and 38 per cent of affirmative responses across the various population groups.
Income, employment and even home ownership type did not change this result, with 33 per cent of mortgagees agreeing that a gradual decline was the best option.
The responses are informed by an increasing worry about the state of Australian housing – seemingly also spread across demographic categories. Overall, 84 per cent of respondents said that they were either very worried or somewhat worried about housing affordability for young Australians.
Even the oldest voters polled – those 65 and older – still overwhelmingly agreed, with 77 per cent stating their concern for younger generations’ housing prospects.
Everybody’s Home spokesperson Maiy Azize said the results of the research showed it was a “tired trope that home owners want house prices to keep rising”.
“Many Australians are in housing stress, sacrificing their basic needs to cover housing costs, and worried that their children may never afford to move out of the family home. Most voters believe that expensive housing is widening the gap between the rich and poor and making it harder to live near the jobs they want and we all rely on,” Azize commented.
Based on this data, Azize predicted that “housing affordability will be a defining election issue”.
Of the respondents to the poll, 69 per cent said they supported increased government spending on public housing.
Moreover, 79 per cent said they agreed with the statement that Australia needed “more drastic solutions to housing affordability than the government is currently considering”.
Azize described this as a reiteration of the message that Everybody’s Home hears every day.
“People are tired of piecemeal solutions,” she said.
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