Improving Housing Affordability May Spur Melbourne Property Sales

Melburnians looking to purchase real estate in Rowville may be interested to learn that housing affordability in the Victorian capital is steadily improving.

According to the latest research from the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV), the average household would have had to commit 21.4 per cent of its annual income to meet loan repayments in December last year – considerably less than the 26.1 per cent required during the same period in 2010.

The organisation attributed low interest rates, higher incomes and cheaper house prices to the shift in affordability – a trend that may interest those looking to make the transition to homeownership.

"Over the past five years, the only time affordability was better was in the June quarter of 2009 when the market was substantially affected by the global financial crisis," the REIV stated.

"As the market is the midst of a mild recovery it would be expected that the income required to pay back a loan will slowly increase making this autumn a good time to upgrade to a new home."

The data comes after the REIV released figures showing the Melbourne House Price Index increased 0.9 per cent in March – the sixth consecutive monthly rise.