February 8, 2023

As a result of increasing mortgage rates, decreasing costs, and the fear of investing in a sinking market, the number of first-time homebuyers has dropped to levels not seen since 2017. According to ABS data, only 7646 first-time purchasers obtained mortgages in December. New lending agreements have been relatively low since June 2017 (7,642). Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee stated that first-time purchasers were discouraged from purchasing due to the possibility of future Reserve Bank interest rate hikes and the associated ambiguity. Both purchasers and vendors were scared off, which reduced the number of houses available for sale and