Monday, June 26, 2006

Housing Affordability Survey Results June 2006

Interesting article on home affordability appeared in the WA Business News this week.
Here it is in full. It highlights once again, the importance of making sure you do your homework when you are building or renovating so you know UPFRONT what your costs are going to be...and that they cover EVERYTHING you are expecting!


Affordability remains barrier for Aust house hunters - report
23-June-06 by AAP

Thinking of renovating your home or even starting from scratch?

For many Australians, affordability remains the biggest hurdle for achieving either of these dreams.

A recent survey by the Housing Industry Association (HIA) showed sentiment in the residential sector remained solid in the March quarter with 69 per cent of Australian households planning to buy a home or renovate.

A large proportion of home buyers were first-timers - 38 per cent - while 28 per cent were buying their second home.

HIA executive director of housing and economics Simon Tennent said the numbers showed sentiment in the slowing market was improving.

However, housing affordability still loomed large with the report clearly showing it to be the biggest barrier to home ownership.

Incredibly high property prices - a legacy of the strong housing boom of the past decade - was the main reason Australian were not buying new homes.

Fifty-eight per cent of respondents who had neither bought new property in the past year nor were looking to in the next year said they couldn't afford it.

"The report card for Australia's builders is a good one with high levels of satisfaction among households who have had a home built or renovated, while for local councils, red tape and regulation were almost universally the biggest headache," Mr Tennent said.

Council delays posed the biggest problem faced by those who had bought a new home in the past year, with 39 per cent of home purchasers citing council regulations and deliberations as a hindrance to construction.

Building a home also required a great investment of time to research needed to make complex planning and construction decisions.

However, one in four respondents who had bought a new home reported they had no problems.

"Once building starts, hidden costs and delays in completing the home are the biggest issues," the report said.

The largest problem in this regard was hidden and unexpected costs, affecting 27 per cent of people building new homes.


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