“Western Australia and the Northern Territory were the only states or territories to show improvements in both rental and home purchase affordability,” he said.
Mr Gunning said the number of loans also decreased across the country by 16.0 per cent, with falls in all states and territories including the largest decrease of 17.9 per cent in New South Wales and Victoria.
“Whilst some decline in the number of loans for this period, which includes the summer holiday break, can be expected, the reduction reflects a changing sentiment in the market.
“In Sydney and Melbourne – the two cities which have had the largest price increases over the past few years – the drop in loans is attributable to APRA restrictions on investment loans and more stringent home lending criteria,” he said.
“Since the last edition of this report the east coast residential property market has moved relatively quickly from a seller’s to a buyer’s market.
“The March quarter showed an overall decline in first home purchasers entering the market, with the Northern Territory experiencing the highest decline of 21.0 per cent. However, the number of first home buyers is 28 per cent higher than in the March quarter 2017 and represents 26.3 per cent of the total (excluding refinancing),” Mr Gunning said.
Read the March quarter 2018 edition of the Adelaide Bank/REIA Housing Affordability Report here.