Housing affordability is front of mind for many voters this election with both major parties putting forward ambitious initiatives.
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00:00If we look at Labor's policies to start with, there are three main policies for first home
00:07buyers.
00:08We've got the 5% deposit for new home buyers, we've got the 100,000 new builds for only
00:17first home buyers can access and also we still have an extension of the equity sharing arrangement
00:24where the government will contribute up to 40% of a home for first home buyers.
00:30So in terms of those three policies, if we just look at those, probably for the short
00:36term impact, those people who are looking at first home buying with the 5% deposits, probably
00:42something that's more short term and that may put a little bit of extra pressure on demand.
00:49If we look at the Liberal policy, the same thing can go for accessing the superannuation.
00:55I suppose the main difference there is that Labor already have a 5% deposit scheme, they're
01:01just extending that scheme, so that will probably be able to happen fairly quickly.
01:06They are not capping income and there's no capping on how many people can actually use that scheme.
01:13With the Liberals looking at the superannuation access for first deposits, that we'll need
01:19to have a change through Parliament, through legislation, but I still think that would probably
01:25happen fairly quickly, given that this is something where people were able to access their super
01:32during COVID and that's something that was able to be organised quite quickly.
01:37And I think that will also put some extra demand on housing in the short term.
01:42In terms of the longer term, having the ability to deduct interest from your taxable income
01:49for first home buyers, which is one of the Coalition's policies, that will probably be
01:55something that's a little bit more longer term.
01:58It is only focused on new builds, as is the 100,000 new builds from Labor.
02:05So both of those are going to be a little bit longer term, so probably not any immediate
02:10pressure on the housing market.
02:13Now we've got the Anglicare Australia report showing in its annual rental affordability snapshot,
02:19no rental listings affordable for people on youth allowance, less than 1% affordable for
02:23someone earning a full-time minimum wage.
02:26So let's look at that end of the market in terms of social housing, homelessness pledges
02:31and of course relieving this rental stress.
02:34Have we seen any bright spots in these spaces?
02:37I think there's a little bit there that Labor was talking about yesterday and they have had
02:43in their plan that has been approved is to actually release some more social housing.
02:50So I think that that's something that's going to be very helpful.
02:53So there's 55,000 new social housing plan to be built.
02:58Of course that will take some time so it doesn't provide immediate relief.
03:04There's also 1.2 billion that Labor have pledged to put into crisis housing.
03:08So I think that's something that is very welcome.
03:12And both major parties, they've ruled out changes to negative gearing, capital gains tax, of course
03:17the Greens have other things to say on that, they do want to see that tackled.
03:21But Anthony Albanese refusing to say whether Labor's increased supply of housing would lead
03:25to falling property prices.
03:27Peter Dutton says he wants to see house prices steadily increase and we've actually heard that
03:31housing prices are going to increase prices from both sides, except to rise, with incomes
03:35to rise faster is what they say.
03:37So how can housing be made more affordable in these parameters?
03:42Well, that's the big question, isn't it, that's very hard to answer.
03:46I think probably with some of the policies that are increasing supply, it will help to keep
03:53housing prices fairly steady, but we also have to remember that housing is part of the broader
04:00economy.
04:01So there are a lot of other factors that can impact on the affordability.
04:05So you talked about wages, of course, that's going to be very helpful, even with these deposits,
04:11these lower deposits or accessing super for first home buyers for their deposit.
04:17That will be helpful.
04:18But at the end of the day, the homeowners need to be able to repay their mortgage and show
04:25that they can service it.
04:26So wages will have a big impact there.
04:29Of course, interest rates also do have an impact on housing affordability.
04:33And there are many other factors that need to be considered.
04:36So it's not really an easy question to answer.
04:40Make sure to answer.