Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) President, Mr Hayden Groves, said with today’s interest rate rise to 1.35% inflation has become one of the major concerns for Australians.

Mr Groves said while the nation is feeling the pain, the rate rises have been no doubt a contributing factor in stabilising Australia’s record house price growth.

“The latest rise of 0.5% will certainly affect the housing market however other factors such as consumer sentiment due to uncertainty about inflation, access to building supplies and labor, along with worries about wage growth are impacting the current economic climate,” he said.

“Key concerns for the housing industry at the moment are the continued reports of builders going into liquidation as this hinders the future pipeline for homes for both sale and rent which will impact on supply, and in turn, affordability.”

Mr Groves said Australians still want to own their own home and have access to affordable housing - this will remain a priority and it needs to be dealt with a sense of urgency by governments.

“The latest Australian Bureau of Statistic (ABS) lending figures demonstrate this priority with the value of new housing loan and investment loan commitments rising over May 2022.

“First home buyers remain 6.9% higher than February 2020 levels before the onset of COVID-19.”

Mr Groves said the rise in interest rates reiterates the urgent need for a national plan that addresses housing affordability and supply which should be supported by both Federal and State Governments.

“While we support current government policies and will work towards abolishing prohibitive taxes such as the extremely high stamp duty payments until there is a true solution to unlocking supply interest rates will simply stabilise rather than significantly disturb Australia’s real estate market,” he said.