‘10.6 years': Dire reality for Aussies revealed in State of Housing System report
The Australian dream of homeownership is looking more hopeless than ever.
A median-income household now needs to save for 10.6 years just to afford a deposit and start a whole new challenge of servicing a new mortgage, the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council's annual State of the Housing System 2025 report shows.
It notes that mortgage repayments continue to increase faster than incomes, and affordability continues to deteriorate though at a slower pace compared with 2023.
About 50 per cent of median household income was needed to meet repayments for new mortgages in 2024, according to the report.
It does not look good for renters either, as 33 per cent of median wages are needed to meet rental costs in new leases.
Rental stress has affected more than 50 per cent of lower-income renter households in 2023. Sixty per cent of these households also experienced stress the year before, showing how persistent the issue is.
Only 14 per cent of new homes sold in 2023-2024 were affordable for the median-income household, the lowest on record.
NSW residents have drawn the short straw, as new mortgages and home deposits remain the least affordable in Australia, whereas the Northern Territory has the most affordable mortgages and home deposits.
Rents in regional Queensland were the least affordable, but rents in Canberra were the most affordable.
New housing supply is the lowest in a decade, and the 1.2 million target for new houses to be completed during the Housing Accord period will not be met – even under optimistic economic estimates, the report says.
No state or territory will meet their target, and supply is insufficient to meet underlying demand.
The report has called for systemic reform, government support measures and industry innovation to address the issues, but the NSW government says it is heading in the right direction.
'The Minns Labor government inherited a system that was working against achieving the Housing Accord targets. It was also never assumed that, given macroeconomic conditions and the costs of construction, it would be a straight line between now and mid-2029,'
Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully said.
'We are turning around the system. Planning approvals are 15 per cent faster today than they were in March 2023, the number of applications lodged is up 28 per cent on the same time last year, and NSW has the most homes under construction in the country.
'There are thousands more homes and DAs being finalised that are embracing our planning reforms such as the Housing Delivery Authority and the low and mid-rise policy. We're building a pipeline that will actually deliver homes.
'The State of the Housing System report shows us that we have our work cut out for us, but as a government we've got our priorities right.'
Weak supply has been attributed to a lack of commercial feasibility – it costs more for developers to build than what they would earn selling it.
Elevated costs, labour shortages, high financing are all constraining supply but should be easing, the report says.
Property Council chief executive Mike Zorbas said the report showed the need to increase
productivity in the construction sector, simplify planning systems and encourage investment.
'The alarm bell continues to sound on national housing supply,' Mr Zorbas said.
'The sad fact is that many Australians feel that homeownership is out of reach.
'We have seen the federal and state governments co-ordinate their efforts on boosting supply,
but more must be done.
'Our skills and planning systems are not yet match fit for this century.
'More than 30 per cent of the cost of a new home is government taxes and charges.
'East coast states have daft foreign investment taxes that are barbed wire to overseas
institutions that want to send their money to help Australian companies build the assets our
cities need.
'The least cost answer for indebted states is to modernise our planning systems and put
measures in place to boost the proportion of skilled workers coming into the country.
'We need to bring forward federal environmental approvals and force power and water
providers to stop delaying the delivery of new homes, industrial and commercial assets that our communities need as they grow.'
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Trump's administration has justified the existing steel tariffs as a measure to protect national security. He has already announced, threatened or implemented numerous other tariffs. In addition to a new penalty tariff of 10 per cent of the value of goods on almost all imports, he has announced specific, higher tariffs on imports, including from major trading partners such as China and the European Union. Unlike the EU, Australia will not retaliate against Trump's "wrong" tariff hike decision on steel imports. Trade Minister Don Farrell is calling on the Trump administration to reverse the decision and drop all tariffs on Australian steel and aluminium. "We don't believe that retaliation is the right way to go here," he said. "We're going to cooly and calmly argue our case for the removal of these tariffs." The European Union has spoken out against US President Donald Trump's latest tariff announcement on steel imports and has threatened countermeasures. 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Early last week, European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed some optimism about sorting out the trade dispute, following a phone call with Trump. But now it appears all bets could be off. Speaking at a rally at a US steel plant near Pittsburgh on Friday, the US president said the additional import fees would strengthen the national steel industry. He added that tariffs were his absolute favourite word. Trump's administration has justified the existing steel tariffs as a measure to protect national security. He has already announced, threatened or implemented numerous other tariffs. In addition to a new penalty tariff of 10 per cent of the value of goods on almost all imports, he has announced specific, higher tariffs on imports, including from major trading partners such as China and the European Union. Unlike the EU, Australia will not retaliate against Trump's "wrong" tariff hike decision on steel imports. Trade Minister Don Farrell is calling on the Trump administration to reverse the decision and drop all tariffs on Australian steel and aluminium. "We don't believe that retaliation is the right way to go here," he said. "We're going to cooly and calmly argue our case for the removal of these tariffs." The European Union has spoken out against US President Donald Trump's latest tariff announcement on steel imports and has threatened countermeasures. "We strongly regret the announced increase of US tariffs on steel imports from 25 per cent to 50 per cent," said a spokesman for the European Commission in Brussels, which is responsible for EU trade policy. "This decision adds further uncertainty to the global economy and increases costs for consumers and businesses on both sides of the Atlantic." The EU is ready to take countermeasures, the statement continued. This could also happen earlier than July 14. As things currently stand, EU counter-tariffs already planned due to Trump's initial tariff decisions would automatically come into force on this date. The bloc had wanted the measures to come into force on April 14, but held back after Trump granted many countries and the EU a 90-day pause from certain tariffs. This window of opportunity had been intended to be used for negotiations. The EU has repeatedly emphasised that it will introduce decisive measures against US tariffs if the talks fail. Early last week, European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed some optimism about sorting out the trade dispute, following a phone call with Trump. But now it appears all bets could be off. Speaking at a rally at a US steel plant near Pittsburgh on Friday, the US president said the additional import fees would strengthen the national steel industry. He added that tariffs were his absolute favourite word. Trump's administration has justified the existing steel tariffs as a measure to protect national security. He has already announced, threatened or implemented numerous other tariffs. In addition to a new penalty tariff of 10 per cent of the value of goods on almost all imports, he has announced specific, higher tariffs on imports, including from major trading partners such as China and the European Union. Unlike the EU, Australia will not retaliate against Trump's "wrong" tariff hike decision on steel imports. Trade Minister Don Farrell is calling on the Trump administration to reverse the decision and drop all tariffs on Australian steel and aluminium. "We don't believe that retaliation is the right way to go here," he said. "We're going to cooly and calmly argue our case for the removal of these tariffs."
