First-home buyers
‘Basically impossible’: Housing affordability is the worst on record
High interest rates and rising prices have pushed key measures of housing affordability to their worst levels on record, and experts say rate cuts won’t help.
- by Jim Malo
Latest
How - and why - it just got even harder to buy a home in Australia
Would-be home buyers have been hit by a lose-lose situation since interest rates began to rise and future cuts may not act as previously expected.
- by Jim Malo and Tawar Razaghi
Exclusive
Queensland residential property
How much do you need to borrow to buy in Brisbane?
With the dream of owning a home slipping further from many buyers’ grasp, our interactive calculator shows how much you would need to borrow to get a foot on the property ladder in your suburb.
- by Sarah Webb
‘A window of opportunity’ as Melbourne’s median house price falls $70,000 below peak
High interest rates, a listings bonanza and investors bailing out have pushed prices lower, giving first home buyers some hope.
- by Jim Malo
Exclusive
NSW residential property
Interactive calculator: How much you need to borrow to buy in each Sydney suburb
Exclusive analysis shows how unreachable Sydney’s property market has become for first-home buyers – and it’s even worse than you think.
- by Kristy Johnson and Elizabeth Redman
Exclusive
Home loans
Relaxing lending rules to help home buyers splits opinion
Rules governing mortgages are coming under fire by some groups who believe they are harming first time buyers. One idea says a change could help 50,000 people.
- by Shane Wright and Sumeyya Ilanbey
Why now could be a better time to buy a house
Prospective home buyers’ pessimism about whether the current moment is a good time to buy has dropped to its lowest level since the start of 2023. But are they right?
- by Elizabeth Redman
The type of homeowner most likely to fall behind on their mortgage
Interest rates are putting pressure on home borrowers, but some are feeling the pinch more deeply and have fewer options to manage.
- by Shona Hendley
‘A little piece of paradise’: The most affordable sea-change towns
Australia’s most affordable sea-change towns have just been revealed in new data that compares property prices with incomes.
- by Elizabeth Redman
‘Bulldozer’ PM blasts Senate in election clash on housing and environment
The Greens say Anthony Albanese is being a “bulldozer” like former PM Scott Morrison as Labor seeks to stare down the minor party over blocking reforms.
- by David Crowe
Where you can buy a house for less than $1m within 10km of Melbourne’s CBD
Hopeful home buyers don’t have to give up proximity to the city to buy something for less than Melbourne’s median house price.
- by Alexandra Middleton
Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/topic/first-home-buyers-1mri