{"id":26547,"date":"2026-05-17T12:32:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T12:32:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.joshteague.com.au\/?p=26547"},"modified":"2026-08-11T14:04:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T14:04:33","slug":"labors-cost-excuse-doesnt-add-up-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.joshteague.com.au\/index.php\/2026\/05\/17\/labors-cost-excuse-doesnt-add-up-9\/","title":{"rendered":"First home buying slumps in SA"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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First home buying slumps in SA<\/span> <\/h1> <\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/section>\r\n\t\t\t\t
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New data has revealed a concerning drop in the number of South Australian first home buyers entering the market, as other states experience a healthy rise.<\/p>

The\u00a0quarterly figures<\/a>, released by the\u00a0 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), show a 1.9 per cent decrease in the number of loans being entered into by new owner-occupiers in South Australia over 12 months.<\/p>

South Australia was the only state to see a fall in the year-on-year figure, with New South Wales, Tasmania and the ACT all seeing a double-digit percentage increase.<\/p>

South Australia also experienced the highest decline of any state during the March quarter, with the 6.1 per cent drop our sharpest since December 2022.<\/p><\/div><\/div>

State Liberal Leader Ashton Hurn said the figures showed the Government has a long way to go to tackle the housing crisis.<\/p>

\u201cFor first-time house hunters, the great Australian dream is slipping further and further out of reach,\u201d\u00a0Mrs Hurn said.<\/p>

\u201cWe have hard-working South Australians working their guts out to save a deposit, but they just can\u2019t keep up with the state\u2019s skyrocketing prices.\u201d<\/p>

In New South Wales and Tasmania – where there has been the largest increase in new owner-occupiers\u00a0\u2013\u00a0there are first home buyer incentives both new and existing homes.<\/p>

\u201cIt is no coincidence that more young people\u00a0 are able to get their foot on the property ladder in the States where they have support to choose the type of home they want to buy,\u201d\u00a0Mrs Hurn said.<\/p>

Shadow Minister for Housing Josh Teague said he\u2019s concerned the measures announced in the Federal Budget will fuel the crisis, with Treasury predicting the changes to Capital Gains Tax and Negative Gearing will see 35,000 fewer homes built over the course of a decade.<\/p>

\u201cIf first home buyers found it tough to buy a home at the start of this year, I fear things will only get even worse from here,\u201d\u00a0Mr Teague said.<\/p>

\u201cLabor Government policies are only focused on new builds, but with fuel and material costs through the roof\u00a0\u2013\u00a0most South Australians aren\u2019t finding\u00a0 this an affordable option.\u201d<\/p>

Wage data from the ABS<\/a>\u00a0has revealed that real wages fell by 1.78 per cent in South Australia over the past year, while\u00a0figures from Domain<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>show the state\u2019s median house price jumped 16.4 per cent over the same period.<\/p>

Shadow Treasurer Ben Hood said this paints a far more concerning picture than the Government has been willing to acknowledge, with key indicators\u00a0 showing South Australian workers are going backwards.<\/p>

\u201cThe Premier has stood in Parliament claiming that real wages were increasing, but the latest figures show the exact opposite is happening in real terms,\u201d\u00a0Mr Hood said.<\/p>

\u201cIn both the most recent quarter and across the past year, real wages in South Australia have gone backwards, meaning workers are effectively taking home less in real terms despite ongoing cost-of-living pressures.<\/p>

“Every grocery shop, every power bill, every trip to the petrol station is costing South Australians more, and their pay is not keeping up.<\/p>

“Falling real wages make the housing crisis worse, not better. Mortgage serviceability and rental\u00a0 affordability depend on what workers actually take home after the bills are paid.<\/p>

“The Premier can keep telling South Australians their lives are improving. The official data tells them what they already know at the checkout, they are going backwards under Labor.”<\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/section>\r\n\t\t\t\t

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New data has revealed a concerning drop in the number of South Australian first home buyers entering the market, as other states experience a healthy rise.<\/p>

The\u00a0quarterly figures<\/a>, released by the\u00a0 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), show a 1.9 per cent decrease in the number of loans being entered into by new owner-occupiers in South Australia over 12 months.<\/p>

South Australia was the only state to see a fall in the year-on-year figure, with New South Wales, Tasmania and the ACT all seeing a double-digit percentage increase.<\/p>

South Australia also experienced the highest decline of any state during the March quarter, with the 6.1 per cent drop our sharpest since December 2022.<\/p>

State Liberal Leader Ashton Hurn said the figures showed the Government has a long way to go to tackle the housing crisis.<\/p><\/div><\/div>

\u201cFor first-time house hunters, the great Australian dream is slipping further and further out of reach,\u201d\u00a0Mrs Hurn said.<\/p>

\u201cWe have hard-working South Australians working their guts out to save a deposit, but they just can\u2019t keep up with the state\u2019s skyrocketing prices.\u201d<\/p>

In New South Wales and Tasmania – where there has been the largest increase in new owner-occupiers\u00a0\u2013\u00a0there are first home buyer incentives both new and existing homes.<\/p>

\u201cIt is no coincidence that more young people\u00a0 are able to get their foot on the property ladder in the States where they have support to choose the type of home they want to buy,\u201d\u00a0Mrs Hurn said.<\/p>

Shadow Minister for Housing Josh Teague said he\u2019s concerned the measures announced in the Federal Budget will fuel the crisis, with Treasury predicting the changes to Capital Gains Tax and Negative Gearing will see 35,000 fewer homes built over the course of a decade.<\/p>

\u201cIf first home buyers found it tough to buy a home at the start of this year, I fear things will only get even worse from here,\u201d\u00a0Mr Teague said.<\/p>

\u201cLabor Government policies are only focused on new builds, but with fuel and material costs through the roof\u00a0\u2013\u00a0most South Australians aren\u2019t finding\u00a0 this an affordable option.\u201d<\/p>

Wage data from the ABS<\/a>\u00a0has revealed that real wages fell by 1.78 per cent in South Australia over the past year, while\u00a0figures from Domain<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>show the state\u2019s median house price jumped 16.4 per cent over the same period.<\/p>

Shadow Treasurer Ben Hood said this paints a far more concerning picture than the Government has been willing to acknowledge, with key indicators\u00a0 showing South Australian workers are going backwards.<\/p>

\u201cThe Premier has stood in Parliament claiming that real wages were increasing, but the latest figures show the exact opposite is happening in real terms,\u201d\u00a0Mr Hood said.<\/p>

\u201cIn both the most recent quarter and across the past year, real wages in South Australia have gone backwards, meaning workers are effectively taking home less in real terms despite ongoing cost-of-living pressures.<\/p>

“Every grocery shop, every power bill, every trip to the petrol station is costing South Australians more, and their pay is not keeping up.<\/p>

“Falling real wages make the housing crisis worse, not better. Mortgage serviceability and rental\u00a0 affordability depend on what workers actually take home after the bills are paid.<\/p>

“The Premier can keep telling South Australians their lives are improving. The official data tells them what they already know at the checkout, they are going backwards under Labor.”<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/section>\r\n\t\t\t\t

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For first-time house hunters, the great Australian dream is slipping further and further out of reach.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/section>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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