Page 220 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 6 March 2007
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
It is critical that, before we delve deeply into the many issues on housing affordability and suggest solutions, we get a clear understanding of the context in which we are currently operating in the ACT. For example, in acknowledging the issues relating to housing affordability, we must not lose sight of the fact that the ACT has an exceptionally strong economy. Construction activity in the territory is at an all-time high. We have amongst the lowest unemployment rates—indeed the lowest—and the highest participation rate of all the states and territories. Territory residents have, on average, $200 per week higher incomes than the national average.
We also need to acknowledge that the ACT consistently performs well on housing affordability indicators. For example, the real estate institute’s home loan affordability indicator for the September quarter 2006 showed that housing is more affordable in the ACT than anywhere else in Australia and that ACT home loans were almost twice as affordable as those in New South Wales. In fact, the Real Estate Institute of Australia gave the ACT a rating of 52.5, compared with New South Wales’s rating of 27.5.
In the September quarter, our home loan affordability indicator was up one per cent, in spite of a 3.8 per cent increase in the monthly loan repayments due mainly to another interest rate rise and a 1.5 per cent rise in average loan size. At the same time, the national affordability indicator fell by 1.7 per cent. We need to remember the demand for housing is very strong.
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that during November 2006 the ACT was the only place in Australia to record a rise in the number of housing and finance commitments for owner-occupiers in trend terms. In the ACT, the number of housing finance commitments increased by 1.5 per cent in trend terms during November, while it fell nationally by 0.7 of a per cent. The ACT also recorded the largest increase in housing finance commitments for the year ending November, rising by 17.5 per cent in trend terms. The number of first home buyers also increased in the ACT, with commitments in original terms rising from 163 in October to 176 in November.
These results show quite bluntly the strength of the ACT economy and our capacity to ride out factors such as an interest rate rise. But the government recognises that not everyone benefits from the many strengths in our economy. We recognise that housing stress is an issue for people on lower incomes who risk being left behind. At the moment I do not dispute there are many who are despairing at their capacity to access affordable housing.
It is for this reason that we implemented the homelessness strategy, with $13 million in funding to reduce the level of homelessness in the community. It is for this reason that we have implemented new measures such as transitional housing and boarding houses for people in need of supported accommodation. It is for this reason we implemented the building for our aging community strategy, to guarantee an adequate supply of land for high-quality aged care accommodation now and into the future.
It is for this reason that we have allocated an additional $10 million a year over three years to increase public housing stock and are working hard to ensure that our public
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .