Gimme shelter ('cause I can't afford to buy it)

Australian housing affordability slammed

Housing affordability in Australia is among the worst in the world....

[T]he release of the Annual Demographia survey rated every Australian city as "seriously" or "severely" unaffordable in a global study of 159 cities....

The Demographia Survey, released by the US-based Wendell Cox Consultancy, ... housing "unaffordable" when the median house price passes three times median household incomes.

Housing is "seriously unaffordable" when it passes four times median household incomes and "severely unaffordable" when it passes five times median household incomes.

Perth replaces Sydney as the least affordable city in Australia

The Housing Industry Association (HIA)/Commonwealth Bank Housing Affordability Index revealed affordability has dropped by 5.5% to 97.9 over the December quarter last year. This is the first time the index fell below the 100 mark since the measure was introduced in 1984. Over the last 12 months, affordability tumbled 15.5% as the full impact of three rate rises begins to bite.

An average first homebuyer now needs more than a third (30.7%) of their disposable income to service their mortgage - an increase of 1.7% compared to the September quarter. The monthly loan repayment needed on a typical home loan jumped by 6.3% to $2,332.

Affordability dropped across all metropolitan areas with ACT suffering the biggest decline. Affordability in the capital tumbled 7.9% amidst skyrocketing home prices. Sydney suffered a 4.7% decline while affordability in boomtown Perth fell 7.4% to 82.7, making the western city the least affordable in Australia.