+34
Between interest rate and petrol price rises and falling house values, Western Sydney residents say making ends meet is getting tough.
It's been a difficult time for new home owners in Western Sydney. Concerns are growing about the combined impact of falling house prices and interest rate hikes for Western Sydney home owners.
It comes as interest rates hit a 15-year high this week, with the Reserve Bank of Australia saying the move was necessary to help combat inflation. With half of his regular household income swallowed by mortgage repayments, new Western Sydney home owner Chris Shaw says there is little left over for anything else. We really want to start a family, and I'm not sure what will happen to our finances if we do.
"Really the only reason I think we could is because my parents have said we can fall back on them if we need to. " Mr Shaw, who is also a Labor Party member, bought his home in Rooty Hill in April, with his parents helping with the deposit. ABC News: Charlie McLeanHe said he was concerned new home owners would be disproportionately affected by rising interest rates, which hit a 15-year high this week.
"My parents, for example, they're fairly wealthy home owners, and they deserve a comfortable retirement because they've worked really hard to get to where they are, but interest rates don't affect them," he said. "Increasing interest rates actually helps their financial situation because they don't have a mortgage, but they have cash in savings that's paying them interest.
We need some more creative levers that can help to spread the load a bit more evenly because interest rates, as people say, is quite blunt and it hurts people like me and my wife far more than most people in the economy.
" The Reserve Bank of Australia board said economic growth and inflation were higher in Australia than had been expected, andwith a 1.4 per cent drop in home values recorded in Sydney in September. Adam Leto from advocacy group Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue said new home owners were among the hardest hit by the downward trend.
"I think a lot of new home owners will be battening down the hatches, hoping they can ride this thing out over the next year or so," he said. "There are a large proportion of mortgage holders in Western Sydney who were already under mortgage stress. Mr Leto says homeowners in Western Sydney are under pressure. Others were less concerned about the trend, with new Parramatta home owner Jonathon Noujaim, 26, saying he had no immediate plans to sell.
"I'm happy that are coming down because it means more young people like me can also get their foot in the market," he said. "As an owner-occupier, I'm not really concerned as much with the house prices … I don't really have any intention of moving anytime soon.
"ABC News: Charlie McLeanMr Noujaim said about 30 per cent of his income went on mortgage repayments, and he had taken care to be more "deliberate" in his spending as interest rates had increased. Associate professor of finance at the University of Sydney, Andrew Grant, said there were options available to people who were struggling to afford their home loan repayments.
"We are seeing a lot of people give up a lot of near-essentials to be able to continue to pay their mortgage and we are likely to see that, particularly if we have one or two more rate rises, things are going to get quite difficult for a lot people out there," he said. "You can talk to the bank and hopefully do that early so that you can at least be walked through some of the options you do face if you're in hardship.
"If house prices are going down and you need to sell your house, it's better to do it on your own terms than on someone else's terms. "
Nsw News Sydney News Western Sydney Sydney Housing Western Sydney House Prices Sydney Cost Of Living Rba Rba Interest Rate Interest Rate Increase Inflation Sydney Housing Market New Homebuyers First Home Buyers Cotality Home Value Index Home Values Decrease Sydney Home Value Sydney Property Market
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News: You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Zak Butters Chooses Western Bulldogs Over Geelong Due To Reluctance And Aggressive OfferNew reports reveal that Zak Butters decided to join the Western Bulldogs over Geelong because the Bulldogs were more proactive and offered a record-breaking nine-year contract worth up to 18 million dollars. Geelong was reportedly hesitant to detail a trade package with Port Adelaide, preferring Butters to formally nominate them first, while the Bulldogs demonstrated greater flexibility in negotiations to secure the restricted free agent.
Read more »
Fare and trip times set for direct shuttle link to Sydney’s new airportThe shuttle bus connection will offer passengers a quicker but more expensive journey than public transport to Western Sydney International Airport.
Read more »
Perth's western suburbs councils take steps toward mergerThe Town of Claremont in Perth's western suburbs is open to exploring merging with another council, with its mayor saying 'it is probably time' for the move.
Read more »
Nannup Four Search Intensifies in Western Australia BushlandVolunteers search Northcliffe bushland for the Nannup Four, missing since 2006. The group includes the McDougall family and citizen searchers.
Read more »