Nearly two million households have been effectively locked out of the property market, states a new report from Digital Finance Analytics (DFA). 

Not surprisingly, the majority of such households can be found in New South Wales (33%), where more than half-a-million households (668,049) are unable to purchase their own homes.  

Other aspiring property-owning households by state and territory are listed below:

  • Victoria (26%) – 525,451 households
  • Queensland (20%) – 401,962 households
  • Western Australia (11%) – 223,450 households  
  • South Australia (6%) – 129,859 households
  • ACT (2%) – 35,738 households
  • Tasmania (1%) – 33,969 households
  • Northern Territory (1%) – 19,815 households  

These aspiring property-owning households can be further segmented using the DFA’s core analytics. “Around 8% of these we classify as ‘first time buyers’, who are actively seeking and saving to purchase; 28% we identify as ‘want to buy’, who are saving with the hope to buy in the future; and 64% as ‘property inactive’, who for all intents and purposes are not actively seeking to enter the market at the moment,” said Martin North, principal of Digital Finance Analytics.  

The inactive group continues to grow relative to the general population, said North. Moreover, all three groups are likely to be renting, living with family or friends, or living in less permanent housing options.

In New South Wales, 228,000 households are actively trying to enter the property market. This number is significant in three other states: 185,000 in Victoria; 158,000 in Queensland; and 85,000 in Western Australia.

“This is [a] critical additional perspective, which we need to bear in mind as we consider the 20% of existing households with a mortgage who are in some degree of mortgage stress at the moment and the 30% of households who hold investment property,” said North.
 

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