SYDNEY (March 26): Australia’s housing shortage may be driving prices higher but is locking out first-time homeowners and migrants needed to fill skills shortages across the country, the chief executive officers of Australia’s three largest banks said on Tuesday.
After years of ultra-low interest rates pushed home prices higher, Australia faces a long-term drop in the number of younger people buying homes, which could mean more people retiring in weaker financial positions, according to a 2023 government report.
At a banking conference in Sydney, the heads of Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac, Australia’s top 3 lenders, blamed a housing supply shortage and urged local governments to speed up planning approvals.
