Economic News

Rich Australian suburbs suffer housing stress

A coalition formed to highlight property affordability issues nationwide has revealed a diverse mix of Perth local councils as the worst sufferers of housing stress.

New modelling commissioned by Australians for Affordable Housing (AAH) shows the Perth local government areas where renters and home buyers are struggling with high housing costs, and according to AAH, the figures are dire.

The leading council for housing stress was Kwinana, which saw residents doing it tough regardless of whether they were renting or held mortgages.

The results from AAH suggested 20 per cent of home buyers in Kwinana were under financial pressure, and 38 per cent of renters were really feeling the pinch.

Interestingly, the affluent council of Mosman Park came in as the second most stressed, with 17 per cent of residents feeling housing stress and 35 per cent experiencing stress from renting.

Perth, Victoria Park, Mandurah, Wanneroo, Armadale, Belmont, Swan and Gosnells rounded out the top 10.

AAH campaign manager, Sarah Toohey said the high cost of housing in Perth is not new.

“But these figures show where the pain is being felt the most,” she said.

“Mandurah has the highest proportion of people in the rental market in housing stress (42 per cent).

“Areas such as Kwinana, Armadale, Mandurah and Wanneroo all have rates of rental stress over 36 per cent, as well as high rates of mortgage stress with over 17 per cent of home buyers in those areas under financial pressure.”

She said housing was the single biggest cost of living issue in Australia and when low income households spend more than 30 per cent of their income on housing costs they are officially in housing stress.

“This means they have very little left over to cover other costs such as food, transport, bills or money for emergencies,” she added.

“The WA Government has produced an excellent housing strategy for the state. Now we need the state and federal governments to work together to fund that strategy and deliver the housing system that WA needs.

“Australians for Affordable Housing is urging Perth residents in housing stress to join the campaign to convince governments to work together to address the housing crisis. More information can be found on our website www.housingstressed.org.au .

“We need collective action at all levels of government to ensure that we fix our broken housing system, and take the pressure off families struggling with high housing costs and lack of affordable options.”

 

 

Source:   News.com.au

Related Stories:

• More evidence of increasing housing stress for Australian households: Yet Federal, State and Local Govt lack coordinated management of housing affordability
• Australian first home buyers laugh about RBA 0.25% rate cut, as it offers only $48 pm saving, which is peanuts
• First home buyer numbers still low despite interest rate cuts: affordability and fear factors.
• RP Data make misleading claim that Australian housing affordability is back to 2003 levels.
• NSW housing stress soars Fairfield residents show 34% mortgage stress and 51% private rental stress.
• Almost 90 per cent of homes are out of reach for Perth workers
• Search for affordability

Find Property

• Use the best real estate search engine available on the market today