Worst time on record for first-home buyers, new study reveals

It’s officially the worst time to be a first-home buyer in at least 56 years. New figures have revealed first-home buyers face the most challenging buying conditions since price records began in 1970 due to soaring debt, high interest and minimal growth in wages. And recent falls in prices in many suburbs and generous government support have done little to help, the FoundIt research noted. The study flies in the face of recent claims by Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek that: “It’s never been a better time to be a first-home buyer”. It also throws in doubt Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s claim his budget would help first-home buyers. Back in May, he claimed his changes would “make our tax system fairer to help more Australians into homeownership … this is about giving younger Australians a leg-up in the housing market”. The current downturn has seldom helped first-home buyers as most of the falls are at the top-end, while prices for cheaper homes have grown in some suburbs. Picture: Tim Hunter. The study by analytics group FoundIt – authored by Kent Lardner, a pioneer in Australian valuations data – measured interest rates, the average gap between wages and prices and deposit re...