An ugly scene’: WA home owners in mortgage stress as repayments soar
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Loading... - Liam Burton
- 22 Mar 2023
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Interest rates are starting to bite in Western Australia with new data showing the proportion of family income needed to meet loan repayments has jumped over the past year.
The latest Real Estate Institute of Australia Housing Affordability Report shows the proportion of median family income needed to make loan repayments rose 2.3 percentage points to 33.8 per cent for the December 2022 quarter.
That is up from 31.5 per cent in the September quarter and 25.3 per cent in the December 2021 quarter.
Once again, Sydney mortgage holders fared the worst. They required 54.8 per cent of their median weekly income to meet their mortgage commitments.
The number of home loans approved in WA declined slightly over the quarter, down to 10,535 from 10,701 in the September quarter.
First-home buyer loans, which constitute a third of WA’s owner-occupier market, also decreased, down 4.8 per cent to 3802, which is 28.8 per cent lower than a year ago.
It comes as separate modelling from the 2023 Domain First Home Buyer Report showed it would take the average first home buyer couple three years and seven months to save for an entry-level Perth home. That is one month quicker than five years ago. Read More…
