The government wants to increase home ownership. But life is tough for many new homeowners |
On Tuesday, the Albanese government struck a deal with the Greens to allow sweeping changes to negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount to pass parliament.
The government has consistently asserted it is sharply focused on helping more Australians into home ownership. Key actions have included expanding the 5% deposit scheme and other government assistance programs, and overhauling housing tax concessions in this year’s budget.
But at the same time as we try to help more people get a foot on the property ladder, are we forgetting to pay attention to what it’s like for those who do?
This week, new research from Roy Morgan showed 29% of Australian mortgage holders (equivalent to about 1.54 million people) were “at risk” of mortgage stress, an increase of 65,000 compared to a month earlier. This follows a string of rate hikes from the Reserve Bank.
Roy Morgan says more than two-thirds of this group are considered “extremely at risk” of mortgage stress, meaning even meeting the interest payments on a mortgage costs more than 25–45% of their after-tax income.
Many recent homebuyers have been hit with an undesirable trifecta of high purchase prices, high loan-to-value ratios and rising interest rates.
Now, with auction clearance rates plummeting and house prices projected to fall around the country, there are........