Home buyer sentiment tanked in the June quarter amid declining affordability, according to NAB’s latest buying intentions survey:
New NAB research shows the number of Australians who thought now was a good time to buy a home fell to 29 per cent in Q2 (40 per cent in Q1).
The number of Australians who said they intend to buy a home in the next 12 months fell slightly to 13 per cent (15 per cent in Q1). Intentions for investment property were unchanged at 9 per cent.
State breakdown
Residents of WA (36 per cent) and SA (35 per cent) were the most optimistic about buying a home now. South Australia (28 per cent) lead the way for investment property.
Home buying intentions in the next 12 months are highest in NSW (15 per cent), just ahead of WA (14 per cent) and the ACT (14 per cent). Intentions for buying investment property in 2022 are strongest in the ACT (13 per cent).
According to Andy Kerr, NAB executive, home ownership:
“I think it’s primarily a reflection of the fast price growth”…
“I think what we’re seeing is that high price growth is starting to take a bit of steam out of the [home buying] intention.”
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The weirdest thing about the above results is that home buying intentions are highest in NSW, despite Sydney’s home prices being the most expensive and also experiencing the fastest growth.
QLD, which is one of the cheapest markets, also has one of the lowest buying intentions.
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness.
Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.
