Housing affordability within Australia has continued to rise according to the Housing Industry Association (HIA), with the HIA-CBA Housing Affordability Index recording a 4.4 per cent increase over the June 2013 quarter.
HIA chief economist, Dr Harley Dale, said "a synchronised increase across the capital cities and non-metro areas drove the further improvement in the June 2013 quarter," taking housing affordability 16.7 per cent higher than in mid-2012.
"These are certainly encouraging results for those entering the market at this time in the cycle," said Dr Dale, adding that "the considerable reduction in interest rates is more than offsetting recent dwelling price increases."
However, Dr Dale noted that "current improvements in housing affordability do not represent structural shifts in Australia's affordability; rather, they represent the dominant impact of cyclical changes in lending rates which will of course be prone to reversal at some point."
"Genuine, structural improvements to affordability are contingent on a stock of housing supply that grows commensurately with the population and its housing needs," he explained.
"Policy reform, led by the Federal Government, needs to be implemented to drive a sustained improvement to residential construction so as to genuinely address the housing affordability challenge in Australia."
In the June 2013 quarter, the HIA-CBA Housing Affordability Index increased in all seven capital cities reported. The strongest quarterly increase occurred for Brisbane, which saw a rise of 10.4 per cent, followed by Hobart (10.0 per cent), Adelaide (7.7 per cent), Canberra and Perth (4.1 per cent), Sydney (3.3 per cent), and Melbourne (2.2 per cent).
Outside of the capital cities, affordability improved in all six non-metro regions reported. The strongest quarterly increase was seen in regional Queensland, with a rise of 9.6 per cent, followed by the non-metro areas of Tasmania (8.1 per cent), South Australia (7.7 per cent), Victoria (5.3 per cent), Western Australia (4.5 per cent), and New South Wales (2.9 per cent).
For more information about the residential property market in your area(s) of interest, please feel free to stop by your local Century 21 Real Estate office for clear and expert advice.