Recession - Australia

Property slump fails to make housing more affordable for young West Australians: CEDA

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Homeowners who bought in Perth two years ago are most likely under water on their investment right now.

But despite falling house prices, aspiring buyers aged under 35 are still facing major struggles to buy a house.

A report from the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA), called Housing Australia, found policy settings that favoured one generation over another have helped create the widening disparity on home ownership nationally.

Perth-based contributing author Professor Rachel Ong, who is deputy director of the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre, said negative gearing, changes to capital gains tax and the introduction of HECS fees for tertiary students had all contributed to make housing expensive for young people.

"It's the way that policy has been structured that's created this intergenerational tension. It is the way that policy has been structured that has actually pitted the young against the old," Professor Ong said.

Homeowners who bought in Perth two years ago are most likely under water on their investment right now.

But despite falling house prices, aspiring buyers aged under 35 are still facing major struggles to buy a house.

A report from the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA), called Housing Australia, found policy settings that favoured one generation over another have helped create the widening disparity on home ownership nationally.

Perth-based contributing author Professor Rachel Ong, who is deputy director of the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre, said negative gearing, changes to capital gains tax and the introduction of HECS fees for tertiary students had all contributed to make housing expensive for young people.

"It's the way that policy has been structured that's created this intergenerational tension. It is the way that policy has been structured that has actually pitted the young against the old," Professor Ong said.

(Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation )