Higher interest rates make Brisbane Australia’s toughest property market for couples to buy

Compare the Market property expert Andrew Winter Brisbane has earned the shock title of Australia’s least affordable capital for couples trying to buy a home. A damning analysis of national income and house price data by Compare the Market shows falling home values have failed to improve affordability, with larger loans and higher interest rates leaving working Queenslanders still unable to buy median-priced homes in most suburbs. The study from the upcoming Household Budget Barometer shows just 12.76 per cent of Greater Brisbane suburbs remain affordable for first-home buyers on two average salaries — marking a sharp decline even from last year when couples could buy in 43.43 per cent of suburbs. Steep loan repayments and a lack of supply have locked buyers out of the River City housing market It makes the Sunshine State capital the hardest market in the country for dual-income households to crack, followed by Adelaide, where 14.95 per cent of suburbs are still affordable, then Sydney at 16.88 per cent and Perth, 22.11 per cent. The analysis covered 3,363 suburbs nationwide and compared estimated repayments with median earnings, assuming an 80 per cent loan-to-value ratio. A prope...