Is Ballina unaffordable?

BALLINA has been listed as the fifth most unaffordable place to live in Australia in the latest report released by the Residential Development Council.

BALLINA has been listed as the fifth most unaffordable place to live in Australia in the latest report released by the Residential Development Council, compiled in conjunction with RPData.

But Brett Jones, from PRDNationwide in Ballina and Lennox Head, questions the figures, saying they are not a true indication of affordability.

With housing affordability dominating the headlines in 2008, the Residential Development Council, in conjunction with RPData, looked at the top 10 affordable and unaffordable places to live in Australia for the 2008 calendar year – with research revealing Ballina is one of the most unaffordable places to live.

Ballina came in at number five of the 10 most unaffordable places around Australia last year to purchase a house.

Caryn Kakas, Executive Director of the Residential Development Council, said those buying into Ballina in 2008 had to spend up to 74 per cent of their income to service mortgage payments.

Unit purchase was also unaffordable in Ballina in 2008, with mortgage repayments demanded up to 58 per cent of income, and rental payments were up to 31 per cent of income.

Ballina was also unaffordable to rent a house last year, with Australians having to spend as much as 31 per cent of income for rent payments. On the upside, unit rental in Ballina was affordable.

“This new research suggests that markets previously unaffordable may now offer better value,” said Caryn Kakas, Executive Director of the Residential Development Council.

“Regional centres continue to be significantly more affordable for both home buyers and renters.”

With the introduction last year of several federal housing affordability initiatives, Ms Kakas believes first home buyers are being enticed to climb onto the first rung of the property ladder.

“With interest rates falling and increased government assistance to first home buyers, deciding where to purchase is clearly a numbers game,” Ms Kakas said.

“The opportunities to buy into property strongholds such as capital cities may be more abundant in 2009, allowing those who are able to take advantage of the low interest rates and softening prices for long term gain.”

Mr Jones said Ballina was still one of the most affordable coastal areas.

“The report is not a true snapshot of what the market is,” he said.

He said PRDNationwide held 30 open houses last weekend, and about 100 people went to each one, which indicated the properties were considered affordable.

He agreed that basing the affordability on income brought into play retired people on lower-than-average incomes, but who were asset-rich and own their home outright.

He said a better indication of housing affordability was to look at how much people were borrowing to buy a property, whether it be 100 per cent of the price or nothing at all.

Originally published as Is Ballina unaffordable?