First homebuyer loans in the ACT surge

First homebuyer loans in the ACT have jumped by 64.4 per cent in one year, according to a new report from PRDnationwide.

The Q1 2018 Key Market Indicators report released on Thursday showed the number of home loans in the nation’s capital in the September 2017 quarter at 684. This is up from 400 in the September 2016 quarter.

This is the second-highest growth out of the Australian states and territories, just behind NSW which recorded a jump of 70.9 per cent.

PRDnationwide national research manager, Dr Diaswati Mardiasmo, attributed the surge of first homebuyers in the ACT to interstate migration.

“Net migration rates in the ACT have jumped significantly, back in the June 2016 quarter the ACT’s net migration was at 56 and in the space of 15 months this has jumped to 316 in one quarter,” she said.

“There are a lot more people now living in the ACT who are going to need homes, and many of them are first homebuyers.”

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ACT also recorded the highest level of home loan affordability for the fourth consecutive quarter.

The report measures home loan affordability by giving states and territories an index score – this score is a ratio of the median family income to the average loan repayment.

ACT’s median weekly family income is $2652 and is the highest in the nation. The average monthly loan repayment in the ACT is $2122, lower than the Australian average of $2249.

“It makes sense that ACT is so high because of its low unemployment rate and high weekly family income,” Mardiasmo said.

The unemployment rate in the ACT is the second-lowest in the country at 4.7 per cent.

This is the second report released this week to show the ACT as an affordable place to repay a mortgage.

In the Adelaide Bank and Real Estate Institute of Australia Housing Affordability Report released on Wednesday, the ACT was found to be the most affordable place to repay a mortgage.

The report found the average ACT family spends 19.6 per of their income on mortgage repayments, compared to the Australian average of 31.6 per cent.

ACT’s median house price is $753,516.