Young Australians shut out of housing as mortgage applications collapse
First homebuyer applications fell 20.1 per cent in August, the steepest annual decline since 2022, as interest rises lock younger Australians out of housing.
First homebuyer mortgage applications dropped 20.1 per cent in August compared to a year earlier, marking the worst annual decline since the Reserve Bank's last rate-hiking cycle in 2022. New South Wales saw applications fall 22 per cent and Queensland fell 22.6 per cent.
The decline is much steeper than the 14.1 per cent fall for all home loans combined, showing younger Australians bear the heaviest burden. New home sales plunged 10 per cent in August and are down 7.7 per cent on the year.
The RBA faces a 76 per cent chance of another rate rise by Melbourne Cup day in early November, which would take the cash rate to a 15-year high of 4.6 per cent.
- 20.1 per cent in August
- First homebuyer applications decline
- 22 per cent
- NSW applications fall
- 22.6 per cent
- Queensland applications fall
- 4.6 per cent
- Cash rate could reach
Why it mattersInterest rates and housing tax policy determine whether young Australians can enter the property market or remain locked out by affordability.
AustraliaAustralians under 35 are being priced out of homeownership and cutting back on all credit, signalling a broader slowdown in the economy and household confidence.
✓ Claims checked against the source. checked 9 d ago
