AUSTRALIA: First-home buyer housing affordability crashed in the final
three months of 2009, as would-be purchases of homes confronted higher
interest rates and surging prices, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.
The affordability index’s slide accelerated 18.4% in the December
quarter, following a 3.3% fall in the September quarter, according to
the Housing Industry Association and Commonwealth Bank, which compiled
the data. The index dropped from 147.1 points in the September quarter,
to 120.1 points in the December quarter. The median monthly mortgage
payments in that time jumped to A$2505 from A$2087, the report says.