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The average price of an Australian home has surpassed A$1m ($652,000; \u00a3483,000) for the first time, as the nation grapples with a housing affordability crisis.<\/p>\n
Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) this week estimate the average home was worth A$1,002,500 in the March quarter, up 0.7% from the previous quarter.<\/p>\n
The nation is home to some of the least affordable cities on Earth, where buying or renting a place is increasingly out of reach for many Australians.<\/p>\n
Experts say the crisis is being driven by a lack of homes, a growing population, tax incentives for property investors, and inadequate investment in social housing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The country’s most populous state, New South Wales (NSW), continues to have the priciest homes on average, at A$1.2m, followed by Queensland at A$945,000, according to the ABS.<\/p>\n
The agency’s Mish Tan said the states of Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland were the “main drivers of the rise”.<\/p>\n
While the average price of homes climbed in all states and territories in the March quarter, the annual growth rate is slowing, she added.<\/p>\n
The figures take in Australia’s 11.3 million dwellings – including the full gamut of property types, from freestanding homes, to terrace houses and apartments.<\/p>\n
Michael Fotheringham, head of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, is not surprised to see the $1m benchmark crossed.<\/p>\n
Though a “daunting” and “compelling” statistic, he says it is the result of a years-long national trend of home prices outpacing wages and leaving the housing system “very strained”.<\/p>\n
“This isn’t just an affordability problem for lower income households – this is very much a problem for medium-income households as well,” he said. <\/p>\n
“Globally we’re seeing the term housing crisis being used in many developed countries,” he added, “[but] our housing prices have risen sharply so it’s one of the less affordable countries overall.”<\/p>\n
Rental availability has also been a problem in recent years, and there isn’t enough social housing to meet demand either.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n