Housing affordability concerns continue to grow

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Housing affordability concerns continue to grow

The property industry is increasingly concerned at Queensland’s deteriorating levels of housing supply, with respondents in the latest Property Council/ANZ sentiment survey yet again ranking housing supply and affordability as the key issue requiring attention from the state government.

Queensland’s property sector experienced a marginal reduction in sentiment from 112 points in the March 2023 quarter to 110 index points in the June 2023 quarter, putting the state only one index point in front of Victoria, which has the lowest confidence in the country. A score of 100 index points is considered neutral.

Alarmingly, the survey results highlighted a significant spike in house capital growth expectations around the country, including in Queensland.

Property Council Queensland Executive Director Jen Williams said the latest survey results reflect concern playing out across the industry in relation to Queensland’s ability to unlock the housing supply needed to address growing affordability concerns.

“Unsurprisingly, the latest results reinforce what industry has been experiencing on the ground, that housing affordability continues to deteriorate due to a range of constraints hindering the delivery of new supply,” Ms Williams said.

“Failure to deliver housing not only impacts the residential sector but has flow on effects to all other sectors as consumers tighten their purse strings to ensure they can stay on top of increasing mortgage payments and rents.

“This is evidenced in the latest set of data, with declining confidence across sectors including retail, hotel and office, as well as an overall decline in forward work expectations and staffing levels.

“While material costs and supply chain disruptions have eased, there is no doubting that labour costs and a solid forward work program of infrastructure projects are having a flow on effect to the ability of the industry to deliver new supply.

“The Property Council continues to work with all levels of government to identify solutions to increase housing supply and bring costs down.

“While many positive steps have been taken since the Housing Summit last year, it is crucial these are not jeopardised by policy responses that will diminish investment confidence and increase costs.

“In the current market, where the feasibility of projects is being challenged and many businesses pushed to the edge, government must adopt a ‘do no harm’ approach when considering policies that will impact the property industry and housing supply,” Ms Williams said.

 

ENDS