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The 1Q25 Mortgage Choice Home Loan Report has revealed which housing-related issues carry the most weight with Australian voters in the lead-up to the next federal election.
The report collected home loan submission data from Mortgage Choice and a nationally representative survey of 1,000 consumers to highlight trends along with the intentions of Australian borrowers and potential buyers.
Anthony Waldron, Mortgage Choice’s CEO, said the research conducted for this report “sheds a light on which housing-related policies matter most to Australian voters, how Australians believe the Federal Government could help make home ownership more achievable, and on the purchase plans of prospective buyers and borrowers.”
The report found that an “overwhelming” 87 per cent of Australians consider housing at least somewhat important in how they will vote, with 93 of Millennials saying it would be a key factor when deciding who to vote for.
Making housing more affordable was found to be the most important influence on voters (65 per cent), followed by housing supply (47 per cent), more support for first home buyers (37 per cent), rent control (35 per cent), and tax incentives encouraging housing investment (31 per cent).
Looking at the generational breakdown, the majority of younger voters (Gen Z and Millennials) cited housing affordability and first home buyer support as the most crucial issues in the coming election, while older generations (Baby Boomers) are more concerned with boosting housing supply and keeping tax breaks – such as negative gearing – for property investors.
“The Mortgage Choice Home Loan Report reveals that those with a mortgage are supportive of increased government intervention to improve housing affordability (71 per cent), but opinion is divided on the measures used to achieve this,” Waldron said.
“While almost half (47 per cent) of survey respondents with a mortgage said that reforming tax policies would make housing more affordable, 46 per cent of mortgage holders surveyed currently negatively gear an investment property and would not like to lose those tax concessions.”
Further findings revealed a distinct generation divide around support of affordable housing developments, with 78 per cent of Gen Z respondents in agreement, while 68 per cent of Baby Boomers said they would support these developments.
Furthermore, across all generations was a unanimous agreement that bettering infrastructure in metropolitan areas would be essential to bolster housing growth. Baby Boomers were most in agreement with this at 89 per cent.
In terms of what would make home ownership a more achievable goal for generations to come, 58 per cent of respondents said lowering interest rates was the solution, followed by stamp duty reform (49 per cent) and lowering the serviceability buffer (37 per cent).
Waldron further said: “It’s no surprise that consumers feel a reduction in home loan interest rates would make home ownership more achievable – a rate reduction would certainly improve borrowing power and reduce home loan repayments.
“It’s interesting to see consumers’ awareness about the potential power of stamp duty reform, as I believe this tax presents one of the biggest barriers to first-time buyers.
“Shifting to an annual land tax levied on all properties would improve housing supply and in turn benefit housing affordability.”
[RELATED: Younger generations holding on to home ownership dreams]
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