ECONOMISTS have slammed an international report sighting Port Macquarie as the third most unaffordable area in Australia.
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The only places slightly less affordable, the report claimed, were Sydney and Melbourne.
But data from the annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey may as well be comparing markets from different planets.
That’s the view of Australian Property Monitors chief economist Andrew Wilson.
“If houses here were so unaffordable, we wouldn’t be seeing the rush of buyers infiltrating the market and we would be seeing rises in mortgage defaults,” Dr Wilson said. “That would be the true indicator of people being unable to afford their homes.
Last year, the report said, Port Macquarie had the fifth most expensive market behind Hong Kong, Vancouver, Honolulu and Bournemouth.
“If houses here were so unaffordable, we wouldn’t be seeing the rush of buyers infiltrating the market and we would be seeing rises in mortgage defaults."
- Dr ANDREW WILSON
An uproar ensued with Port Macquarie-Hastings Council, real estate agents and Regional Development Australia arguing the
data was skewed.
This year, Port Macquarie again gained its “too pricey” position after the study divided median average incomes with median house prices in the area.
But Chris Koch principal of Laing and Simmons Port Macquarie has labelled the data as a joke.
“The figures are skewed, particularly when you take into consideration our large population of retirees,” he said.
He said, anecdotally, out of area buyers were continually drawn to the region for its affordable home prices.
This was similarly reflected in a PRDnationwide report released last October, which showed a growing number of prospective home owners were being attracted to the region for its affordability.
The average home in the Port Macquarie-Hastings came in at just under $400,000, figures from RP Data’s Spring Buyers Guide showed, almost $150,000 more than neighbouring areas of Taree and Kempsey.
But compared to Sydney and metropolitan areas, developers and industry stakeholders are adamant the area is highly competitive when it comes to pricing.
Each of Australia’s major markets has been marked as “severely unaffordable” for the past decade of the Demographia Survey.