The Australia Institute’s Matt Grudnoff recently made the important point that in order for housing affordability to improve, especially to reduce housing stress in covering rent, deposit, mortgage and purchase, a decline in price is the outcome.
Median prices for purchase and rent have become far out of step with local middle-income groups, and housing stress has expanded beyond the scope of targeted programs serving the most vulnerable groups.
The ACT Branch has endorsed in the National Policy Forum priorities a principle that rents return to a reasonable level compared with median incomes. This principle is progressing with some NPF endorsement to the next National Platform.