‘Horrible time’: first-home buyers lose out despite housing price falls

Sydney’s housing slump, partly fuelled by recent government tax reforms, has slashed prices in much of the city but failed to improve affordability for the group that needed it most: first-home buyers. Analysis of recent PropTrack price changes has revealed a sobering reality for new market entrants: the few areas where prices are still rising are among those within most first-home buyer budgets. Meanwhile, across popular first-home buyer markets where prices did fall, the price declines were smaller than reductions in borrowing power resulting from this year’s three interest rate hikes. It comes as Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek recently declared “there has never been a better time to be a first-home buyer”. She added: “Not in my lifetime has there been a better time to be a first-home-buyer in Australia”. Data scientist Kent Lardner, head of research at FoundIt, said these claims didn’t match the reality facing many first-home buyers. Labor frontbencher and Minister for Social Services Tanya Plibersek said it had never been a better time to be a first-home buyer. Picture: Brenton Edwards “It’s a horrible time to be a first-home buyer,” he said, pointing to rising prices in th...