Despite strong market conditions, Western Australia is still the mostaffordable state for housing and rentals, according to the Real EstateInstitute of Australias (REIA) latest Housing Affordability Report.
The report found that the proportionof family income needed to meet loan repayments in WA during the March 2021quarter was 24.8 per cent, while the proportion of family income needed to meetrent payments was 18.7 per cent.
REIWA President Damian Collins said rentalaffordability in WA was the best of any state or territory in the country. Housingpurchase affordability was also amongst the best, with only the NorthernTerritory and Australian Capital Territory more affordable than WA.
Despite the WAproperty market being firmly in a recovery phase, WA buyers and tenants enjoythe most affordable prices of any other state in the country.
To put the WAfigures into perspective, in New South Wales, the proportion of income neededto meet repayments for housing was 43.5 per cent during the March quarter,while the proportion of income needed to meet rent payments was 28.6 per cent.
That is significantlymore than WA and highlights that despite the buoyant market conditions, WAbuyers and tenants remain in a favourable position when it comes toaffordability.
The findings of thisreport are further evidence that the biggest issue facing WA right now is notaffordability but the shortage of available properties to buy and rent.Thankfully, with listings for sale up 14.9 per cent during the last threemonths and listings for rent up 7.4 per cent during that same time frame, weare starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel.
While there is noquestion that for some people in WA access to affordable housing is still outof reach, it is pleasing that for most people, WA remains a very affordableplace to live, Mr Collins said.
