As Australia’s housing crisis continues to worsen, new research by Master Builders Australia has revealed a grim outlook from everyday Aussies struggling to keep a roof over their heads.
Despite the introduction of the government’s National Housing Accord earlier this year, home values have continued to rise in 2024, reaching record highs across much of the country.
And six months into the government’s plan to build 1.2 million new homes by 2030, the housing sector appears to have built more pessimism than properties, with new home commencements already 20,000 behind target levels.
The survey, conducted late last month, shows 85 per cent of Aussies believe the nation severely needs more homes.
Meanwhile, nearly three-quarters say the housing crisis has worsened in 2024.
Nearly half of those polled revealed they struggled to pay their rent or mortgage, with some even sacrificing essentials such as food and medicine to avoid falling into arrears.
The findings highlight growing negativity around home affordability, with Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn stating the numbers confirm the housing crisis is worsening.
“These are very sombre figures – households and businesses are hurting,” she said.
“This Christmas, while many will be decorating their homes, a large share will be trying to keep their home.”
Key Findings from Master Builders’ Housing Crisis Research
- 2 in 3 Australians rank cost of living as their top concern, up from 45% in May.
- 1 in 4 now see housing as the most important issue, up from 8% last year.
- 90% say buying or renting a home in Australia is unaffordable.
- 70% believe the Albanese Government hasn’t done enough on housing.
- 85% agree Australia faces a severe housing shortage.
- 7 in 10 say the housing crisis is hurting quality of life.
- 7 in 10 say the housing crisis has worsened over the past year.
- 68% of renters doubt they’ll own a home within five years.
- 1 in 3 Australians have skipped essentials to pay rent or mortgages.
Industry Experts Share Public Pessimism
Everyday Australians aren’t the only ones casting a downbeat view on 2025, with industry experts also echoing a pessimistic sentiment, painting a bleak picture for the year ahead.
According to Domain’s Chief of Research and Economics, Nicola Powell, chronic housing supply issues will continue to drive up housing prices even with affordability plummeting.
“We’re caught between high interest rates and an undersupply of housing, and that undersupply isn’t going to be fixed by 2025,” she said.
While market conditions are expected to soften at the start of the year, Powell forecasts property prices will rise again from July, spurred by anticipated interest rate cuts.
Property price projections for 2025
- Nationwide house prices are forecast to grow by 4%–6%.
- Perth, Adelaide, and Brisbane expected to see highest house price growth of 7%–10%.
- Rental prices are predicted to rise further in capital cities due to limited supply.
- Perth and Sydney rentals to be least affordable, with median rent over 30% of income.
- interest rate cuts mid-year could drive stronger price growth in the second half of 2025.
Domain’s 2025 Forecast Report predicts nationwide house prices will grow by 4% to 6%, with smaller capital cities like Perth, Adelaide, and Brisbane leading the charge as prices are tipped to rise between 7% and 10%.
“You do tend to see stronger growth coming out of those bigger capitals … but what we’ve seen over 2024 is that Perth, Adelaide, and Brisbane have been the standout performers, and that trend is not expected to change over 2025,” Dr Powell explained.
Government in the spotlight
With the 1600-strong survey also showing two-thirds of Aussies hold the Federal Government responsible for fixing the housing crisis, the Albanese administration is under mounting pressure ahead of next year’s federal election.
The public’s growing frustration underscores the need for bold action to address the chronic shortage of homes and skyrocketing living costs.
Master Builders’ Wawn said the election could become a pivotal battleground for housing policy reform and hopefully solving the nation’s housing crisis.
“85% of voters agree we don’t have enough homes in Australia, and the research shows that a swathe of solutions should be on the table to fix this.”
“The majority of Australians think the Federal Government has more to do to solve the housing crisis, and Master Builders agrees.”
However, Ms Wawn says unless the government introduces urgent changes to accelerate home construction and alleviate cost pressures on the building industry, the nation will continue to fall behind in its bid to build 1.2 million new homes by the decade’s end.
“The building and construction industry is ready to get on with the job after a difficult few years, but we can’t deliver unless governments do their bit to ease cost pressures and reverse declining productivity,” she said.
“Getting more skilled tradies both domestically and from overseas, speeding up planning approvals, simplifying workplace laws, bringing in an industry watchdog to hold unlawful unions to account, and building more critical infrastructure are just some of the policies that have majority community support.”
