Cheaper to buy home

HOUSING in the Far North is more affordable than it was in 2003, with many locations now cheaper to buy in than rent.

Data sourced from the June 2019 ANZ-CoreLogic Housing Affordability Report showed five FNQ locations among a list of 28 Queensland areas where mortgage repayments were cheaper than renting.

North of Cairns 27.4 per cent of household income was needed to service a mortgage, while 28.5 per cent was used to pay rent.

South of Cairns, however, that disparity was larger with just over a quarter of paycheques used to pay off a home and 30.2 per cent needed to keep the landlord happy.

Innsifail was by far the most affordable, with just 19.8 per cent of income needed for a mortgage and 27.7 per cent paid out on rent.

In Kuranda, 28.9 per cent of income was spent on mortgage repayments compared to 32.6 per cent for rent.

Real Estate Institute of Queensland Far North zone chairman Tom Quaid said Cairns’ home ownership affordability would only continue. “We’ve got very little rental supply so the cost of that will keep going up because of demand,” he said.

“And we have the situation where the interest rate keeps getting lower, so it is going to get to a point where as long as you have stable employment and plan to stay put somewhere for a while, it’s going to make sense to purchase.

“We’ve had hurdles the past 12 months where banks are making lending tighter and that might have been forcing people to stay in rentals but that is easing … hopefully we will see more people get finance approved and get homes.”

The report also showed over the past decade, median dwelling values across regional Queensland lifted by just 4.4 per cent and by comparison, household incomes rose 28.9 per cent.

“As a result of these conditions, all four of the housing affordability metrics calculated are lower than they were 10 years ago,” the report read.

“In fact, the value to income ratio and the years to save a deposit measure haven’t been this low since June 2003, while serviceability levels have increased slightly of late as has the rent to income ratio.”