It's getting harder and harder to afford to buy a home in Australia.
A Radio New Zealand business correspondent says housing affordability worsened by nearly 20% in the December quarter - due to rising prices, increasing borrowing costs and a winding back of subsidies for first-home buyers.
For the first-time buyers, affordability worsened at the fastest pace on record. The average loan is now $A280,000.
Not surprisingly, Sydney, remains Australia's least affordable real estate market, followed by Brisbane, Melbourne and Canberra.
And Radio New Zealand's correspondent says the rate of housing starts is still falling short of the number needed to meet population growth.
