Housing affordability not so bad

Housing affordability in Australia is better than it was in the late 1980s, according to Macquarie Property. The researcher said that even with rate rises pushing up mortgage repayments and soaring property prices, housing remains affordable in historic terms. Between 1989 and 1991, mortgage repayments consumed 83 per cent of an average single person’s income. The gross male average wage was $596 a week in 1989 and on the median home value of $210,000 home repayments were $2,140 per month, assuming a 25 per cent deposit. At that time, interest rates were around 16 per cent. Now an average Sydney home costs $470,000 and mortgage payments are $2,697 a month. But the average wage is now $1,095 a week and weekly repayments just 56 per cent of that.