Queenslanders push for further measures to enable home ownership

Australia Broadcast Center

16 hours ago

A Sunshine Coast woman who works four casual jobs but still can not save enough money for a home deposit says a new shared equity scheme for first home-buyers fails to address the root cause of housing stress.
The Boost to Buy Home Equity program announced in this year's Queensland state budget was designed to help 1,000 eligible first home-buyers enter the property market.
The government said it would contribute 30 per cent equity for new builds and 25 per cent for existing homes, for properties up to the value of $1 million.
It was designed to allow Queenslanders to purchase a home with a two per cent deposit.
Buderim woman Jade Weatherill said the scheme would not help low-income households spending more than 30 per cent of their income on rent.
She said the equity home buying schemes were only accessible to couples or higher-income earners.
"Those schemes are great when it's a couple and they're both working full time and they might be lucky enough to have parents help them out with the deposit," she said.
"But a single woman on casual employment … I'm not even going to bother trying."
Ms Weatherill said flexible mortgage structures that allowed people to qualify for a loan regardless of their income and pay it off at a lower rate over time would be a better option.
Ms Weatherill, who works as a face painter, writer, artist, disability support worker, teacher's assistant and in retail, said she still was not earning enough to guarantee housing security.
"Any full-time proper job that I try and apply for there's thousands of people [also applying] and you hardly even hear back," she said.
"So, I take the casual jobs hoping for something better one day."
She said real estate agents constantly turned her applications away because she was a casual worker.
"I don't apply for rentals anymore because I don't earn enough," she said.
"There is nothing affordable."
She said she rented privately but having no record of renting and no regulation could cause issues.
"Landlords want cash because they don't want to claim it on tax," Ms Weatherill said.
"You've got no security.
"Stop making housing an investment for the rich.
"It's a human right."
Queensland's property market has never been more expensive.
The latest Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) data shows the median sale price for Queensland houses grew 0.61 per cent across the first three months of the year to $812,000.
Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) data from March showed million-dollar medians were maintained in Noosa ($1.34m), Brisbane ($1.215m), Gold Coast ($1.15m) and Sunshine Coast ($1.077m).
REIQ chief executive Antonia Mercorella said the latest figures reflected an active market in early 2025 and highlighted an exponential five-year transformation with some regions doubling in value.
"In March 2020, as Australia was shutting its borders and grappling with economic uncertainly, Queensland's annual median house price was just $490,000," she said.
"Today it's $790,000, representing a staggering 61.22 per cent increase.
"Queensland units have similarly surged from $385,000 to $640,000 — a 66.23 per cent increase in the median sales price over the same five-year period.
"As prices have climbed, units have become a popular go-to option for buyers seeking more affordable entry points."
Singles earning up to $150,000 and households with two adults earning up to $225,000 will be eligible for the new shared equity scheme.
The $30,000 first home buyers grant that was due to expire at the end of the month has been extended to June 2026.
But Anglicare Southern Queensland chief executive Sue Cooke said research showed the scheme did not go far enough for the state's most vulnerable.
"We understand that Queensland's Boost to Buy Home Equity scheme will enable some Queenslanders to purchase a home with a two per cent deposit," she said.
"There is still some way to go in assisting low-income households to achieve home ownership."
Ms Cooke said research from the Queensland Council of Social Service (QCOSS) on living affordability revealed people on low incomes were unable to make meaningful savings.
"Making a deposit as small as two per cent is unachievable for many Queenslanders," she said.
"There is an opportunity for the government to assist with these cost-of-living pressures by reconsidering measures such as the $1,000 energy relief to ensure all Queenslanders can receive a fair go at achieving home ownership."
Ms Cooke said mortgage guarantees and targeted shared equity arrangements, replacing stamp duty with universal land tax, and/or increasing the stamp duty threshold and land lease arrangements would make a more meaningful difference.
"Whilst we welcome funding announcement for social housing to achieve the LNP's ambitious commitment to deliver over 2,000 homes in its first year; we are keen to understand specific detail of the Securing our Housing Foundations Plan, including how 52,000 people currently on the social housing waitlist will be supported," she said.