Australian Housing Market Inflated By First Time Home Buyers

I was very close to buying a home in Australia and the more I read about how inflated the housing market is the gladder I am that I didn’t:

THE average loan size for first-home buyers has risen by $52,000 –
or 23 per cent – in the past two years, raising fears that the
much-publicised government incentives for young buyers are artificially
inflating the market.

A report commissioned by Brandmanagement, a market research firm
specialising in the finance sector, says the average size of loans
being taken up by young home buyers is jumping by an “unsustainable”
amount, The Australian reports.

Drawing on Australian Bureau
of Statistics figures, the report has found the average size of the
loans rose by $11,400 in the three months to February, after rising by
$18,100 in the three months to November.

In total, the first-home buyer average loan size jumped by $52,000 to $280,600 in the two years to February.  [The Australian]