- Loan-to-income ratio is 24.8%
- Rent-to-income ratio is 17.8% in WA
- Average loan taken during December quarter was $416,746
Data from the Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) has shown that whilst housing affordability improved by 0.7% over 2020, this declined at the end of the year.
Of the states, however, WA is the most affordable.
Housing affordability is measured by the proportion of income to loan repayments – or in terms of rent, the proportion of income to rental payments.
The proportion of income required to meet loan repayments increased from 23.9% to 24.8% during the December 2020 quarter.
Only the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory were more affordable.
During December 2020, WA was also the most affordable state to rent with a rate of 17.8%, a slight increase from 17% as recorded in the September 2020 figures. Overall, this figure is up 1.1% compared to December 2019.
During the December 2020 quarter, the proportion of first home buyers soared, with a 41.6% increase.
Staggeringly, this was up 97.1% compared to December 2019.
Overall, first home buyers counted for just over half of the State’s owner-occupied market at 50.4%.
The number of loans taken out during the December 2020 quarter totalled 14,218, up by 42.4% on the September quarter and 71.6% compared to December 2019.
Emphasising the relative affordability of houses in WA compared to the other states is the average loan amount.
During the quarter it was $416,746, which is 4.5% higher than the September figures and 3.9% above the December 2019 quarter.
The average loan amount is 17.5% below the national average.
