Australian home values see biggest fall since 2022 | Sunrise

It is official, the numbers are in and Australian home values are falling.Over the month of June, those home values saw their biggest monthly fall since 2022, declining by 0 .4%.Sydney and Melbourne led the decline, each dropping by at least 1%.Other cities, including Brisbane and Perth, saw a sharp slowdown in growth, while Adelaide flatlined.That is despite Treasury figures suggesting the government's tax reforms would only trim just 2 % of house price growth over the next few years.For their take, let's bring in Housing Minister Clare O 'Neill and Shadow Attorney -General Michaelia Cash.

Good morning to both of you.Clare, congratulations.Home values are tumbling.That was the goal, wasn't it?

Well, Nat, let me share a bit of information with your viewers about what's going on here.Over the medium term, house prices in Australia will continue to grow.This is a cyclical market and the main thing that drives movement in house prices from month to month and year to year is what goes on with interest rates.The Treasury modelling, which spoke to the effect of the housing tax changes in the budget, showed that there would be a modest affordability impact of those changes, so about a 2 % slower growth rate than we would otherwise have seen in a housing market that grew something like 8 .6 % in the last year.What this budget was about was for the first time giving first home buyers a level playing field with investors.And if I just speak to your viewers at home, I think most of them see what I see, and that is we've got a broken housing market in this country, which is causing pain to millions of Australians.

We've got homeownership rates for young people around this nation falling through the floor.And it's not just about young people.I'm just as likely to get stopped by a parent or a grandparent who is fretting about how they're going to get the young person in their life.into housing stability.And that's why our government is stepping up and making real change to this system, not just through the changes in the budget, but through a big, bold, comprehensive agenda that's about building more homes, getting renters a better deal and getting more Australians into homeownership.

Yeah, look, you're right.I was talking to someone just the other day and they were saying, I want house prices to go down because I can't afford to get into the market.And this is my chance for me and my family.So why isn't your government celebrating this?Because on budget night, the Treasurer said, the housing measures that we are putting into place, we hope it will level the playing field and we hope it will give people a fair shot.Why aren't you celebrating this?

Well Nat, I'm just speaking to the facts and the facts show that the changes in the federal budget will have a modest affordability effect on the market.But what those changes in the budget will also do is give for the first time a level playing field for first home buyers around this country.And I just want to remind your viewers that up until this point, we've had a housing system where the young people of this country have paid taxes to subsidise investors to outbid them at auctions every Saturday.And in an environment where home ownership rates are declining so fast for young people, that's not a sustainable and good thing for the country.country.The fact that we've had widespread home ownership in our country over a long period of time, that's a foundation of an equal Australia and that is changing and that's why our government is stepping up and making change.

And we know that.I think everyone knows that.

It feels like it's hard to say that prices are going down, Clare.

Again, I just bring you back to the Treasury modelling.I'm just speaking about the facts here.

Let's forget Treasury modelling.Let's look at what's happening right now.Sydney down 1 .5 per cent in June.Melbourne down 1 .3 in June.If you own a $1 million house, let's say,in the past three months, you've lost about 30 grand.

So that's what you're aiming for, isn't it?

Well, that's not the case.And I'm just come back to the modelling for you.The Treasury modelling shows us that the impact of the government's tax changes will have a modest affordability effect on the market.And again, the main thing...

But why are we talking about modelling which was done months ago, weeks ago, when we're looking at facts right now, Clare?

I don't understand.Yeah, and let's come back to the facts again, Nat.The facts are that the main thing that drives the movement of house prices in Australia from week to week, from month to month, from year to year, is what happens in interest rates.And I just remind you, Nat, that the basic dynamics of what's going on in the market at the moment were happening before the Federal Budget.

It feels like you can't have two things at once.The Treasurer said on Budget night, we're going to do this so that you can have cheaper houses.Now that you've got cheaper houses, he's not owning it.Let's go to Michaelia.The Liberal Party and the Coalition wanted cheaper houses for young people too.So are you celebrating?

Well let's be clear, sadly Nat, the Albanese Labor Government have turned housing policy into an economic experiment.The test of a success of housing policy is this.Are more homebuyers, new homebuyers, getting into the market?Under Labor, no.Are rents coming down?Under Labor, no.

And is there confidence in the market?In other words, are more homes being built because investors are investing?And the answer is no.I mean, Labor have actually managed the housing policy trifecta failure.They have actually managed to attack first -time buyers.They've attacked renters.

But worse than that, they have attacked confidence in the market.Clare, you keep going on about the housing policy is broken in Australia.It is a factyou have broken it.Under the Coalition, 200 ,000 homes were completed on average per year.Under Labor and your policies, that has now dropped, Nat, to a 10 -year low of around 170 ,000.

But I think this is the most devastating statistic.Labor were actively encouraging Prior to Budget night, young first -home buyers accessed that 5 per cent home deposit scheme.Stretch yourself to get into the housing market.But worse than that, they made promises to them.They wouldn't change negative gearing and they wouldn't change capital gains.Young people did just that and Labor changed the rules.

So, Clare, can you tell the Australian people, because you refused to tell the Parliament, How many first home buyers are currently in negative equity in Australia?In other words, they relied on your promises, they stretched themselves, they bought a home and because of your policies those homes are now worth less than what they bought them for.You have actually managed to crash the housing market and sadly that's not something to celebrate.

Well, Nat, I'll just bring you back to the big picture here, and I'm really respectful of Michaelia's right to have her opinion and have her say on this.The big picture is you're crushing the market, Clare.Michaelia, I listen respectfully to you and I'd ask you to do the same in return.And I'd say just respectfully to Michaelia and her colleagues, we've got significant, long -term, widespread issues in our housing market, in our country, that are affecting millions of people.And if your viewers at home remember one thing, it should be this.A low income young person in our country is half as likely to own their own home today than they were in the year that I was born.

And that tells us that what's going wrong in housing in Australia is not just about the housing experience of Australians, this has changedour country and changing what fairness and aspiration mean.So what is our government doing about this?Well firstly we're acknowledging there's a problem and I don't hear that from the Liberals.I don't hear them expressing any understanding about the agony that this is causing for Australians.And I just say respectfully, just respectfully, when you're looking at, when, when, when, Michaelia, Michaelia, Michaelia, you need to be respectful.

So just to say to your viewers at home, just to say to your viewers at home, just to say to your viewers at home, What I want you to see about what's going on in Canberra is you've got a government in Canberra that sees the pain this is causing and is stepping up and making real change and three right -wing parties that consistently vote against first home buyers and say that there's nothing to see here and defend the status quo and that's not good enough.This is a real problem for the country and that's why we're stepping up and making a change.Can I ask you another question on behalf of the Australian people?

This is also a fact.First home lending since Budget night has decreased apparently by about 26 per cent.So, Clare, everything you just said is actually a load of crap based on the actual statistics.You've actually got to start living in the real world and take responsibility for the real world impact of your policies.You have hurt first home buyers.You have hurt renters.

But worse than that, you have actually stalled confidence in the market.If you can't deliver new homes, you you can't get new home buyers into homes.You've also got to slow down migration, for goodness sakes.You can't bring in 1 .4 million people and not actually build homes.You've got to take responsibility for your failures.

Thank you very much, both of you.We've got the boss of cotality on after the break.We're going to be talking about the causes of this fall in house prices.at which and he says it's cost of living pressures it is tax changes in the budget and it is also pessimistic sentiment so it's a whole range of factors but we're going to drill down after seven o 'clock thank you both we'll see you next week