Investors pile into housing market as Noosa becomes unaffordable for most
Investors continue to pile into the housing market with almost $10 billion issued in loans in October, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Queensland was the most desired destination
It came as a report from CoreLogic showed Noosa, Coolangatta and northern NSW were the least affordable housing regions outside the capitals.
The CoreLogic affordability report found that in Noosa it took almost 19 years to save a 20 per cent deposit on a home. Last year it took 14 years.
The Richmond Valley, which includes Byron Bay in NSW, was the worst. A deposit took 20 years and 74 per cent of income to service a mortgage.
It also took 68 per cent of a borrower’s income to service a mortgage in Noosa.
Renting in Noosa took 54 per cent of income, the highest level in regional Australia.
Byron has a high level of investor housing servicing the short-stay market and attracts high income visitors.
In Coolangatta it took 16.5 years to save for a 20 per cent deposit.
The poor affordability extended to renting. In Noosa, rents took up to 54 per cent of income.
The ABS said the $9.7 billion in new investor lending was the highest level seen since 2015 while the value of lending has risen by 90 per cent in the past year.
Investors accounted for a third of all new loan commitments in October and in Queensland investor commitments were up 15 per cent, by far the highest in Australia if the volatile and smaller market of the Northern Territory (up 78 per cent) was excluded.
Owner occupied lending has gone the other way as affordability became a significant issue. For the ninth consecutive month this sector of the market has fallen, this time by 3.8 per cent. It was down 6.3 per cent in Queensland.